Finally had time to get some Din Tai:
Seaweed and Bean Curd $4.30 (Huh, my second favorite dish at DTF is still this simple dish)
Pork Xiao Long Bao, $9.50 (Still delicious, skin texture is perfect, juicy filling, clean porky taste)
Truffle Pork XiaoLongBao, $22.50 (!)
Chicken Fried Noodle, $9
We were planning to go Monday night to avoid waiting, but it didn't happen. Today we arrived around noon, signed in, asked the lady how long the wait, and was told 1-2 hours. Kid's hungry, so we went across the street to Bella Cuba to start grubbing. Had a great meal there, came back, shopped a little and got our text to line up in 10 minutes. It was exactly 2 hours since we first put our name down. Still pretty full from Bella and taste buds are very garlicked out so not ideal for DTF. Oh well, we hardly get time off together on a weekday, dumplings or bust!
Nice decor for a chinese place, the dumpling making showcase booth is a bit spartan, and since most people are walking around the mall waiting for their text, I think the booth is underutilized. They should've had the booth in the front of the restaurant so people can see it. Lots of non-chinese wait staff/manager, so that's new. We'll see if they last before they truck in the cheaper mainland laborers.
So on to the food. The seaweed/beancurd appetizer is a great palate cleanser. I can eat this 3 meals a day. Oh, they have alcohol! Got a Sculpin' on tap, not bad for $6.50. Pork XLB is good as always. Only got one tray since we were still pretty full from Bella. The truffle XLB is ok, but not worth the $5/dumpling. At least we tried it. Also got pork chop soup noodle and a chicken fried noodle. More for lunch tomorrow. They still don't do takeout, which doesn't make any sense to me. So your kitchens can't handle the food orders? Hire more people? Maybe?
I bet DTF is a godsend for SCP, lots of mainlanders here: shop for 2 hours then dine at DTF, a win win!