I still have three food reports to come from Seoul in February/March and one more from New York in May. I’ll get those done by the end of the month. But I’m first going to sneak in the first report from our ongoing trip to California. First up is our first meal out, eaten at the start of last week. The boys had asked to eat soup dumplings/xiao long bao on this trip and so we decided to kick off our gorging at the Costa Mesa location of Din Tai Fung. This was the missus and my first visit to Din Tai Fung in more than 11 years and the first time with the boys in tow. That first visit was not to this branch, of course, which is much newer; it was to the Arcadia branch (I’m not sure if it is still extant). I reported on that meal in August 2013. I noted then that while the meal was fine, it was nothing out of the ordinary and not worth the hassle associated with eating at Din Tai Fung. What did we think of it this time around? Read on.

This time we didn’t have to rush to arrive before opening time so as to beat the line. This because we had made reservations via Yelp. Accordingly, we arrived in a leisurely manner for lunch at 12.15 on a Monday. And we were very glad we’d made a reservation. The Costa Mesa branch is located in the tony South Coast Plaza mall and is much larger than the Arcadia location, with multiple dining rooms, inside and out; but it was still jammed. Every table was accounted for and there were many people waiting who had not made reservations. Despite having made a reservation we still had to wait a while, but the wait was nothing untoward. And while waiting we made a start on deciding what we wanted to eat and on filling out the order sheet they’d handed us.

We turned in that order sheet as soon as we made it to our table—past the open kitchen where the chefs can be seen making dumplings. What did we get? In order of arrival at the table, our initial order comprised the following: seaweed and tofu salad; braised beef noodle soup; shrimp and pork shao mai; crab and pork xlb; cod dumplings; and string beans with garlic. To these we then added on an order of noodles with minced pork and an order of pork xlb.

Most things were quite good but the missus and I were again not particularly taken by the soup dumplings. They were fine but not particularly juicy—and in the case of the crab and pork xlb not even very hot (we got that second order of the pork-only xlb for that reason and that lot were better). The boys, however, enjoyed all the soup dumplings. They agreed with us though that the shrimp and pork shao mai were lackluster despite looking attractive (I realized later that I’d said the same back in 2013). The two dishes we all agreed were very good were the braised beef noodle soup and the noodles with minced pork. The missus and I also rather liked the seaweed and tofu salad and the cod dumplings.

For a look at what we ate, click on an image below to launch a larger slideshow. Scroll down for cost and thoughts on service and the overall experience this time around.

Service was fine—quite attentive at first; less so later. With some soft drinks, tax and tip the total came to just about $160. Which felt more than a bit high for what we ate. As to whether there’s a premium being paid for the South Coast Plaza location or this is not par for the course at Din Tai Fung, I don’t know. I suspect the latter. And their xlb continue to not inspire great excitement in the missus and me. Yes, they are constructed very well and look great, but they just don’t have that special oomph you want in a great soup dumpling. But if you’re based in Orange County, this is probably the best option without having to drive so very far. It was an easy drive from Seal Beach for us but next time we might just seek out further pastures.

Alright, my next restaurant report will be from Seoul and will take in another high-end meal (though not quite as luxe/expensive as lunch at Mingles had been). That’ll be this weekend. And I might just squeeze in another California report as well (if you’re curious about where we’ve been eating, you can follow along on Instagram).