So I finally made my way down to the new(er), extended Westfield food court on Pitt Street Mall, Sydney. And my how things have changed since the renovated Westfield complex first reopened it’s doors. Marveling at the wide open spaces, adorned with deep blacks, shiny polished metal and brilliant modern lighting, you can’t help but feel sorry for the Myer Food Court just across the mall.Oh well!

The extension to the Westfield food court is nothing small, it has quite literally more than doubled it’s size! Very impressive. What’s also impressive is the incredibly diverse variety of restaurants and cafes now available for your picking. You’ve got no choice but to to visit again and again to sample all that the food court as to offer. Now that’s marketing :)

Okay, enough about the new Westfield Food Court. Din Tai Fung Dumpling Bar is a restaurant that I had heard lots about from my friends. They kept telling me how amazing their dumplings are and that I have to go. So I guess I had very high expectations of this place to begin with. Which is probably the reason why I was a little disappointed by the food.

Firstly, for a restaurant known for it’s dumplings, I was disappointed to find out that they only had a handful to choose from. I guess I was expecting all kinds of weird and whacky mouth-watering combinations. Although, since this is the food court version of the restaurant, maybe their menu is limited?

One thing to note is how mesmerising it is to see the chefs preparing the dumplings right in front of you (pictured above). Wow!

Also, I love how the food is ordered here. You’re given a menu order card, from which you simply select how many portions of any dish you want and present that to the service staff. When it comes to selecting dishes from a foreign dialect, this really does help :)

Since my partner wasn’t too hungry, we only ended up ordering the following two dishes.

Steamed Shrimp & Park Jiao Ze – 4pcs ($6.50)

Having received the dishes only a minute after ordering, I was very doubtful of their freshness. Thankfully the dumplings were fine. These tasted quite nice with plenty of flavour bursting through with every bite. My only qualm is they they seemed a tad overcooked and as a result a little plasticky.

Crumbed Chicken Fillet ($8.80)

This dish was my ‘safe option’ – which I really need to stop doing! :) I should just bite the bullet and try something new every time! *sigh* I wish I had done that because the Crumbed Chicken Fillet was not nice at all. It tasted like it was cooked a while ago and it was just a greasy, fatty pile of crumbs with some chicken here and there. For $8.80 I was very disappointed and didn’t even finish the meal.

After walking away without finishing everything, would I come back to Din Tai Fung Dumpling Bar? Yes I would. When it comes to eating out, I am very optimistic :) So I’m keen to see how Din Tai Fung’s other dishes fare up. If anything, I really want to try the one located in World Tower. Being a full sized restaurant, I’m sure there will be more on offer on the menu!

• Food 6/10
• Ambience 7/10
• Service 7/10
• Value 5/10

• Name:
• Website: http://www.dintaifungaustralia.com.au/
• Phone:
• Location: Level 5, Westfield Pitt Street, Sydney. NSW.
• Opening Hours: Monday – Wednesday: 9.30am – 6.30pm
  Thursday: 9.30am – 9.00pm
  Friday – Saturday: 9.30am – 6.30pm
  Sunday: 10.00am – 6.00pm
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