Shi Lin: A worthy alternative to Din Tai Fung

I have made my love for Xiao Long Bao known on this blog. And until Din Tai Fung arrives here in Manila, I had to make do with Crystal Jade. That was, until Shi Lin came along.

I first read about Shi Lin in Chuvaness, then read about it again in Desserts Come First. Both bloggers gave the food glowing reviews, so I was excited to try it out, to see for myself if the Xiao Long Bao is, indeed, close to Din Tai Fung’s.

So last Saturday, I dragged my whole family to the Podium to try Shi Lin, finally. I was paying, so I had first choice as to where we were eating. We arrived at a little past 7:30 pm, and were second on the waiting list. The restaurant looks tiny from the door, but it’s in one of those oddly shaped spaces in the Podium that curves to an L-shape out of sight. And the food comes out pretty quickly, so the wait shouldn’t be too long, unless you’re a ridiculous # 14 on the waitlist or something like that. As with Crystal Jade, though, you need to keep watch that no one just walks through the door and takes the table meant for you (as my sister said, “What is this, a McDonalds?”). A woman stole our table, and she better thank her lucky stars that a couple of tables were freed up at the same time, or there would’ve been hell to pay. I don’t understand people who cut in line, whether it be in a restaurant, or the queue for taxis or the MRT.

But enough harping about bi***es who don’t know how to wait their turn. Let’s get to the million dollar question. How does Shi Lin’s Xiao Long Bao compare to Din Tai Fung’s and, as its direct local competition, to Crystal Jade’s? While I sang praises of CJ’s, Shi Lin wins it for me. The broth tastes lighter, cleaner and does not have the slight aftertaste that Crystal Jade’s had. The dumpling wrappers are also much closer to the standard of thinness and consistency that DTF has set.  But the ultimate test, of course, is how close they are to Din Tai Fung’s?

Heaven wrapped in a wanton wrapper

I am extremely delighted to report that these are as close to Din Tai Fung as you can get without actually going to Din Tai Fung. The broth, as I already mentioned is light, clean and filled with the flavor of the pork. The pork is tender and the wrappings thin and delicate. Shi Lin also lets you blend your own dipping sauce of ginger strips, black vinegar and soy sauce (Crystal Jade gives you the dipping sauce ready-made).

It's quite embarrassing how happy this little dumpling makes me

We also ordered the pork chop rice. The rice was lovely. The pork chop had similar flavors to Din Tai Fung’s but falls disappointingly short of expectations. Compared to DTF’s flavorful version, Shi Lin’s is rather bland. Maybe they should go heavier with the seasoning?

This was alright, but disappointing compared to Din Tai Fung's

On the other hand, I was definitely NOT disappointed with Shi Lin’s taro dumplings. These piping hot bundles of sticky goodness were as delicious as I remember them from Din Tai Fung. I daresay even yummier than DTF Singapore’s. No picture though, because the dumplings were gone the moment they landed on the table.

But even if the taro dumplings were a bust, I would’ve been happy. I have found a worthy alternative to Din Tai Fung to tide me over until the time the king of Xiao Long Bao finally comes to our shores.

Shi Lin is located at the 3^rd floor of The Podium.

Din Tai Fung: Dumpling Heaven!

I was in Singapore last week, and what I ate of my own discretion (as opposed to work-sponsored lunch and hotel buffet breakfast) could be classified into two major food groups: Din Tai Fung and chicken. I’ll get to the chicken soon enough, this one’s about Din Tai Fung.

Although Crystal Jade has finally come to Manila and, to some extent satisfied my cravings for the world-famous soupy dumplings, there’s nothing like Din Tai Fung Xiao Long Bao. So much so that we went to DTF twice over a five-day period.

Din Tai Fung at the basement of Paragon Orchard

And the Xiao Long Bao was as good as I remembered. The dumpling wrappers were so thin, you could see the broth through the skin of the dumpling.

Little pockets of soupy heaven. Yummm...

The pork meat inside was juicy, flavorful and tender. But anyone will tell you that it’s the broth that makes or breaks a Xiao Long Bao. And though I sang praises of Crystal Jade’s, the broth in DTF’s dumplings tastes purer, cleaner and more flavorful.

Inside the DTF Xiao Long Bao

It’s hard to make the comparison if you’re not having the dumplings together, but with one sip of that fragrant, steaming hot broth, I knew (drama! Haha): that DTF’s Xiao Long Bao are the best I’ve ever had. I was actually even nodding my head while going “mmmmm…” with that first slurp, as if confirming to some invisible higher being that, yes, DTF if the king of Xiao Long Bao (consequently prompting a raised eyebrow from my mom).

I even prefer their ginger, vinegar and soy over Crystal Jade’s, where they give you the sauce ready-made in those small sauce bowls. In DTF, you get to blend the soy sauce, black vinegar and chili sauce to your own preference.

Sawsawan heaven!

Their soy sauce is really mild, and the ginger is cut into such thin strips, the taste does not overpower the soup at all. Add a touch of chili sauce, and I’m in sawsawan heaven.

Salty sour ginger-y goodness...

We also had their beef noodle soup, which was good, warm and comforting, although it has to be said, Crystal Jade’s noodles win the noodle battle.

Perfect for a rainy day

I also ordered their steamed yam dumplings for dessert, which weren’t bad but were still disappointing, given how good I remember the ones I had in Taiwan were.

Definitely not disappointing, on the other hand, was DTF’s fried porkchop. I wanted to order this with rice (apparently, the rice is very, very good), but my mom wanted noodles, and it didn’t make sense to order both. It’s a good thing you can order the porkchop alone, because I really had my heart set on finally trying this. It’s perfectly tender and juicy, and they trim the fat from the chop, so it’s not oily at all.

Next time, I will order this with the rice!

I don’t know how to describe the flavor, because it’s not something I’m used to, but there was definitely a little spice to it, and a lot of very Chinese flavors. Not very helpful, I know, but take my word for it and order the porkchop rice the next time you’re in Din Tai Fung.

But it’s not like I need the porkchop as further motivation to eat at Din Tai Fung. If they only sold Xiao Long Bao, I’d still go and come back again and again.

Can I go back to DTF tomorrow?

Now who do I talk to to finally get DTF to the Philppines?

Food Wish Come True: Crystal Jade

My blog is turning into a food blog, which was not my intention when I started this. Uh-oh.

I’ve been a Xiao Long Bao convert since my first bite into a steaming, soupy dumpling from Din Tai Fung in Taipei in April 2008. So much so that every time I’m in Taipei for work, my colleagues and I go to DTF 2-3 times. Over the 6-day business trip. They’re THAT good. While in Bangkok, we visited Crystal Jade, a Singapore-based chain that specializes in the dumplings, too, with the same frequency. While I still rank DTF higher, Crystal Jade’s are a very, very close second.

Unfortunately, I’ve haven’t come across a local Xiao Long Bao that comes anywhere near the high standards Din Tai Fung and Crystal Jade have set. The ones I’ve had usually have too-thick wrappers and none have gotten the flavor right. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’ll only have authentic Xiao Long Bao abroad.

So imagine my delight when I heard the news that Crystal Jade was opening a branch in Manila. Even better, they were opening one in Greenhills, minutes away from where I live. I’ve waited for months and months for the restaurant to open, which it finally did on September 9. And last weekend, I finally had one of my food wishes come true.

The menu outside, to make you even hungrier while you wait

We got to the restaurant at around 11:30, half an hour after they officially open, and there was already a big group of people waiting to be seated. Lesson learned: if you want to eat at Crystal Jade for lunch and not wait one and a half hours for a table like we did, be there early. And I mean, even before opening, especially if you’re going as a group of 3 or more. The queue for a table is based on the size of the party, and, understandably, groups of 3 or more take longer to be seated (they do, however, accept reservations for groups of 8 or more, but limits the number to 3 reservations per lunch/dinner). Tables for two become more available faster. I wanted to just break up the family into pairs so we could all eat earlier, but my mom raised her eyebrows at the suggestion. Haha.

I actually felt bad for the hostess, as she was being harangued by the hungry people in line. Stomachs were growling and tempers were flaring, but that’s not an excuse to terrorize the lady who’s doing the best she could with the limited restaurant space (note to Crystal Jade owners: your next location better be bigger). And no matter how famished you are, there is absolutely no excuse for trying to steal other people’s tables. My family’s table almost got stolen by a group of three people, whose reservation number was called the same time as us, who wanted to be seated at our table for six. Lucky for them, the Crystal Jade staff didn’t allow it, or I would’ve bitchslapped the lot of them, with my mom’s help. Another party of 3 tried to pull the same stunt with another group’s table, but, again, the restaurant staff didn’t let them.

Between harassing the hostess and/or getting in a brawl to protect your place in line, there’s something else you could do while waiting for your table. The essential part of Crystal Jade kitchen, the La Mian and Xiao Long Bao-making part, is open to public viewing through the huge, gleaming windows. Through the glass you could watch Chinese chefs hand-pull dough into noodles for Crystal Jade’s famous noodle dishes.

The noodle man, with the freakishly large forearms

The noodles are pulled to order, so they go straight into boiling water to cook, then straight to a bowl of broth/chili oil/peanut-sauce and to your table. Any fresher, they’d have to mill the flour in that kitchen, too. Only one chef pulls the noodles, and his forearms are so worked that they are freakishly way bigger than his upper arms. You could see from the picture that the top of his left forearm is narrower than his elbow, instead of the forearm widening into the elbow.

Further down the kitchen is, to quote the popstars who go on MTV Cribs, where the magic happens. The efforts of three chefs combine to make the wonderful, soupy and brothy goodness that is Xiao Long Bao. One rolls out the dough to make the paper-thin wrappers, one fills the wrappers with meat and the other one seals the dumplings ever so carefully. The plump little packages are then placed into the bamboo steamers in groups of five for cooking.

The magic men...

Of course, watching the chefs only made us hungrier. The initial plan was to just have dumplings and noodles, and that would be it. But after one and a half hours of waiting and watching people cook and eat food, those plans were out the window. I’ve waited this long, I’m going to eat what I want, dammit!

Thankfully, the food came quickly, and first up was the noodles with peanut and chili sauce and dried shrimp (the dish names might not be exact, I was too hungry to take note of them). The combination of chili and peanut was surprisingly good. I was initially worried that the soup would be peanut buttery, but the spice perfectly balanced the nuttiness.

Crystal Jade La Mian with Peanut Sauce, Chili Oil and Dried Shrimp

My parents loved this, but I preferred the noodles with beef in chili oil. No photo of that one, since by the time I remembered to take a picture, it was half-gone. I’ve always been a fan of beef noodles, and this was top-notch, although I would’ve preferred it to be spicier. And the noodles for both were absolutely perfect. They were firm and not mushy at all, and not stringy. They were delicate, but could still stand up to the strong flavors of whatever soup it was put in. You could really tell the difference between these handmade noodles and the ones you get in other local dimsum and noodle places.

Then came what we’ve all come here for in the first place. The Xiao Long Bao. I was worried that they wouldn’t taste as good, since you always hear that the quality in foreign franchises don’t stand up to the original. Thank goodness, this wasn’t the case for Crystal Jade, at least, not to a disappointing extent.

The Xiao Long Bao steamed up my lens

The wrappers were not thick at all (I do remember Din Tai Fung’s to be slightly thinner, though), and that broth! Oh, that broth. Really light and simple, yet full of flavor from the pork. I love them as is, without the ginger and Chinese vinegar. I find Crystal Jade’s vinegar too strong, I prefer DTF’s subtler vinegar. The dumplings are lovely on their own, the fragrant broth doesn’t really need any additional flavoring to enhance it. However, they are yummy with a few drops of chili sauce, just for a little kick.

Good, but not awesome...

We also ordered pork dumplings in chili sauce. They were nice, but nothing to write home about. As usual, I would prefer the dish to be spicier. It may be intentional, that Crystal Jade’s chili sauce isn’t as spicy as, say, Le Ching’s (which I looooove), so that the flavor of whatever it’s served with isn’t overpowered. But I’ve inherited my parent’s taste for all things spicy, so my threshold is now much, much higher. I imagine the dumplings would be good with rice, though, with the rice drenched with a generous helping of the chili sauce.

We also had the requisite vegetable dish (to allay the guilt of another all-out pig-out sesh) broccoli sautéed in garlic, which was really good. It was the first thing, surprisingly enough, that we finished. Or maybe we were just feeling guilty about the unhealthy eats to come. For something with a semblance to a “real meal” (apparently for males, dumplings and noodles does not a real meal make), we also had the chicken with cashew that was served with Chinese pancakes. This was good, too, but as with the dumplings, would be probably better with rice. Dessert, which was mango pudding, was unremarkable.

But I didn’t go to Crystal Jade for mango pudding anyway. I went there for Xia Long Bao and La Mian, and it delivered on both fronts, meeting my lofty expectations. Finally, we have in Manila Xiao Long Bao worthy to be called the name.

Wish fulfilled!

Now if only Din Tai Fung opens a branch here, too.

Crystal Jade is located in between the Greenhills Theater Mall and V-Mall, behind the Häagen-Dazs kiosk. They’re open 11am to 2pm for lunch and 5:30 to 9pm for dinner. Budget would be 400-500 PhP per person.