Dim sum delights on Orchard Road

For dinner, it was back to Orchard Road and back to the malls. More specifically, to Din Tai Fung in the Wisma Atria mall.

This Hong Kong-style restaurant was packed, with a 45-minute wait. On top of that, everybody preorders their food, handing in slips as they sit down - yet the wait was still that long!

As a starter, we got two small plates, one with celery and garlic and the other water spinach with sesame seeds. The celery was great, snappy and with bite from the garlic, while the spinach was only so-so, a bit soggy and lifeless.

As a noodle dish, there was noodles with fragrant mushroom. The mushrooms were meaty without being overwhelming and the noodles were the right degree of cooked. This dish stayed on the table for awhile, but eventually everyone's attention turned to it and it was gone.

For vegetables, there was pea shoots with minced pork. These were superb, immediately. The pea shoots were very light but also had an earthy flavor. The pork was just a hint and kept things interesting.

As the main event, there was xiao long bao (shanghai soup dumplings). Each one was like a little present. The accompanying vinegar and ginger would be placed on top, then a nimble bite into the dumpling and a quick slurp. With some of the hot soup removed, the rest of the dumpling could be safely eaten whole. All the flavors were so well-balanced here. The texture was also right on, getting the right thickness on the dumpling shell.

As a companion piece, there were also vegetable dumplings. These were not the best, as the veggies were a bit grainy. Also, the proportions were off with the dumpling shell and so the bite was not satisfying.

With the first wave cleared we were still craving some more dumplings. In addition to a second round of xiao long bao, we also had some Chinese pulled dumplings in vinegar and chilli. These were delectable, perfectly sized. The vinegar was so vinegar-y, so it was best sparingly.

To appease our sweet teeth, we finished with a couple of sweet yam paste bao. These were gorgeous on the outside, so-so to eat. Too much yam paste with a monotonous flavor got a little old after awhile.