San Gabriel Valley : PIGMON's Xiao Long Bao Odyssey Pt. 1

As I’ve indicated in some of my previous posts, PIGMON and I thoroughly planned our dining itinerary for the three days that we were to be together during our recent (and respective) trip(s) to Los Angeles. One of the agendas that PIGMON established and hoped to “sell” to me on was a xiao long bao (Shanghai-style steamed dumpling) tour of sorts in the San Gabriel Valley. As you might already know, PIGMON has a fairly comprehensive understanding and appreciation of this unique dumpling form, and he was very curious to check out the much-touted xiao long bao “scene” in that decidedly Asian, and specifically Chinese, enclave of the greater Los Angeles area. Long story short? It wasn’t a tough “sell,” but I did have one request and that was to order at least one non-dumpling item at each of his intended destinations. “No problem,” he said, and a deal was struck.

As this was PIGMON’s “project,” I will largely refrain from commentary on the various dumplings themselves, instead focusing my efforts on the snacks and pre-dumpling nibbles we ate along the way. Anyway, the truth is that I found all of the dumplings most enjoyable, and would have a hard time choosing one establishment’s preparation over another.

So, without further ado, I present you with our first stop of the day...


...the wildly popular taiwanese import, din tai fung


peering through the glass...


baskets hit the steam kettles before the opening bell...


dumpling seasonings: vinegar and soy sauce


house chicken soup (steamed)


juicy pork/crab dumplings


venting the steam...

Dumpling Notes: Unbelieveably delicate flavour; beautifully assembled and quite “juicy.”

Other: The "house chicken soup" was highly-recommended by one of our fellow diners at Urasawa, a couple days before our visit to Din Tai Fung. The soup was truly phenomenal; a mandatory order, in my opinion.

"Engineering 101" [Jonathan Gold @ LAWeekly]

"What to order at Din Tai Fung?" [Chowhound]

"Road Trip: Mei Long Village - San Gabriel(LA)" [mmm...yoso!!!]

"Mei Long Village and The Wild Hare" [Eating L.A.]

Din Tai Fung (Official U.S. Site)
1108 S. Baldwin Ave.
Arcadia, CA
626.574.7068

PIGMON'S XLB ODYSSEY PART 2

E.M.

after talking to pigmon twice in the last few days, urasawa is the one i'm most interested in hearing about from your point of view. in the meantime, i'll be holding my breath...

1 of our fave items @ DTF beyond the various baos is the hot and sour soup. obviously it's as cliched as Ameri-Sino food goes but... it's my personal fave iteration in the country.