Din Tai Fung

Some restaurants have loyal customers. Din Tai Fung has believers: people who will wait an hour-plus for dumplings without batting an eye, know each of their XLB has exactly 18 pleats, and refer to it exclusively as “DTF” (us included). This is the Santa Monica chapter of the congregation, and it’s not just another outpost of the Taiwanese dumpling empire. Perched on the third floor of Santa Monica Place, it has a turf-lined patio, ocean views, bamboo steamer-shaped booths, and a giant abacus by the entrance that no one really knows how to use, but is fun to slide the beads around anyway.

photo credit: Cathy Park

The food? Of course it’s good—it’s DTF. The soup dumplings are expertly folded and always arrive piping hot, the string beans are garlicked to perfection, and the spicy wontons swim in chili oil that deserves to be spooned over everything. The dishes are executed with crowd-pleasing consistency, but not in a boring way. Like watching Finding Nemo for the umpteenth time—you know what to expect, but it’s still kind of magical.

You could argue that there are better dumplings in the SGV, and you’d probably be right. But that’s not the point. You’re here to eat delicious soup dumplings with an ocean view and fill up on other Taiwanese staples you can depend on. As with any DTF, whether you’re sitting next to a family celebrating a birthday or a college student explaining NFTs to his parents, there’s always a rhythm to the operation, with hyper-efficient service and dishes landing on the table like a choreographed routine. And unlike some other locations that are booked out until the next eclipse, Santa Monica has plenty of easy-to-get reservations, so you can skip the chaos and go straight to filling your table with dumplings as you stare out at the waves.

Food Rundown

photo credit: Cathy Park

Drinks

Din Tai Fung sure knows how to do fruity drinks. The yuzu margarita and pear lychee martini go down like juice (in the best way), and the tea menu is customizable: milk tea, jasmine green tea, black tea, or lemon tea that you can add boba or sea salt cream to. The mango green tea is our favorite and tastes like someone blended an actual fruit into it, even though it’s just flavoring.

photo credit: Cathy Park

Cucumber Salad

If for some reason you’re not sold on cucumbers, the vegetable famous for tasting like crunchy water, this will change your opinion. Here they’re cold, punchy, and well-seasoned with chili and sesame oil.

photo credit: Cathy Park

Seaweed & Beancurd Salad

Proof that great salads don’t need any leafy greens. This slippery, vinegary tangle of bean curd, seaweed, and glass noodles is refreshing between mouthfuls of dumplings.

photo credit: Thomas Alexander

Kurobuta Pork Xiao Long Bao

The Beyoncé of the menu and an elite version of XLB with slightly translucent wrappers that are still sturdy enough to hold the soupy filling. These come out at the ideal temperature—steamy but not lawsuit-hot—so don’t wait long before nibbling the wrapper, slurping up the innards, and then dipping the whole thing into vinegar-ginger sauce to eat in one glorious gulp.

Shrimp & Kurobuta Pork Spicy Wontons

Another mandatory order. These slippery little blobs are lounging in chili oil, so give them a good mix so they’re evenly coated, and then hoard the leftover oil to spoon over the fried rice.

photo credit: Cathy Park

String Beans with Garlic

DTF’s garlicky green beans arrive glistening and blistered like they barely escaped the wok. You’ll keep reaching for more without even realizing that you’ve officially gotten your serving of vegetables for the day.

Noodles with Sesame Sauce

These look deceptively plain, but they’re our favorite noodles here—smothered in the sticky sesame sauce that clings to each strand.

photo credit: Thomas Alexander

Pork Chop Fried Rice

Very eggy, not-too-oily fried rice that’s topped with a slab of pork chop. The pork doesn’t have much crunch, but it’s a solid choice for a filling and carb-y dish to round out the spread.

photo credit: Cathy Park

Chocolate & Mochi Xiao Long Bao

Whichever DTF exec looked at the soup dumpling and thought “let’s fill these with molten brownie batter,” we salute you. Be sure to drag these through the sea salt whipped cream to complete the salty-sweet equation.