Munkey Munchies: Din Tai Fung

High & welcome back Happy Munkey Fam! For this installment of Munkey Munchies we take our adventures on the road yet again to the Las Vegas Strip! Since last month we highlighted a spectacularly lowkey hole in the wall, this month it was only right to hit y’all with a globally known fine dining staple. The February “Munkey Munchies'' is none other than Din Tai Fung! Originally hailing from Taiwan, Din Tai Fung is known for their classic and exemplary Huaiyang cuisine, one of Four Great Traditions in Chinese cuisines (Cantonese cuisine, Shandong cuisine and Sichuan cuisine are the other three)! I first had Din Tai Fung during a visit to Taipei in 2018, and ever since then I craved both their insanely delicious food and exceptional service. That’s why when I saw a billboard for Din Tai Fung on our way from the airport, I knew my trip would not be complete without taking the crew to eat there.

The day we had reservations we parked our car in the Aria Hotel parking lot and made our way through the casino floor to find the restaurant. After asking what felt like seven different hotels employees and a few wrong turns we made it to Din Tai Fung! Hitting the Puffco right before exiting the car turned the group around, but being way too high in a Las Vegas casino knowing I was about to devour some Chinese food was an amazing vibe. Only made better by the walk to our table where we passed by an active display of Din Tai Fung’s chefs masterfully crafting their world famous Xiao Long Bao “soup dumplings”. To order, the table filled out a thin paper menu with the entire meal, from appetizer to dessert, to then be coursed out. Having been to Din Tai Fung before, I took the liberty of setting it off with an appetizer order of Sweet & Sour Pork Baby Back Ribs, a Fried Pork Chop, Hot & Sour soup, and for greens we went the sauteed route with the sauteed bok choy, sauteed broccoli with garlic, and sauteed string beans with garlic. For the main course I placed an order of their famous Xiao Long Bao “soup dumplings”. We also had to run up their regular dumplings menu with orders of the vegetable & mushrooms dumplings, sticky rice & kurobuta pork shao mai, kimchi & kurobuta pork dumplings, . We topped off the meal with a side of fried noodles and kidori chicken & mushroom bun. We decided to skip dessert because we were all way too full and had to run to a business meeting right after. Nevertheless every bite of our meal was exceptional!

Big shoutouts to my stoners out there that have a dynamic pallet and appreciate both the luxury and nuance of fine dining. Eating at Din Tai Fung was a dynamic journey of flavors that brought me right back to my nights in Taiwan. If you happen to be in Las Vegas, or another city that has a location, don't sleep!