Working on the resolutions

I've already been working on my resolutions. I didn't have anyone over tonight and therefore got some stuff done around the house and did a couple errands I put off last week because I was so busy! I returned some ornaments I bought but didn't use and I went to exchange one of the two copies of the new Barefoot Contessa cookbook I received for Christmas. I picked out a Korean cookbook that looks good and a copy of the 2007 Zagat Survey for Los Angeles. If I'm going to be eating out at least one new restaurant a month, I'm going to make sure it's a damn good one.

Speaking of... On New Year's Eve morning, we went to Din Tai Fung for breakfast. They serve soup dumplings. In short, it was amazing. Everything we had was wonderful!! I can't wait to take my sister there the next time she visits because she loves dumplings.

I'd highly recommend the following dishes:

• Juicy pork dumplings
• Soup dumplings - only served on weekends
• Appetizer - That's what it's called, it's shredded tofu and bean sprouts. Very tasty!
• Pork fried pan noodles - similar to chow mein
• Sesame buns - if you like sweet, warm sesame buns
• Vegetable dishes - We didn't order one, but someone else at our table did and it looked so good. I think they have only a few veggies each day. I'd recommend trying those. I am going to next time.
  

If you're planning on going (and trust me when I say it's worth the drive and getting up early on a weekend morning) and you don't want to wait for 45 minutes - 1 hour, I'd recommend getting there by 10:15 AM on weekends. They open at 10:30 AM and we got there around 10:20 AM and we were the last people seated inside. Unlike dim sum restaurants, their dining room is very limited.

After you sit down, you write down your order on the sheet (kind of like a sushi restaurant) and they start bringing it out ASAP. The waitresses spoke English, so they were able to make recommendations and answer all of our questions. Once you're done eating and paying, if you don't vacate your seat relatively quickly, they will *subtly* nudge you out. After all, they have a line of people clamoring to get in and eat some dumplings! Don't take it personally, it's just the way the restaurant works.

You can expect to spend between $15-20 depending on how much you order. Afterwards, we hit up a boba shop in the next shopping center that had a smiley face on the yellow glass for its logo. I'd highly recommend that place too. It took about 5 minutes for them to make our boba though, which to me, seemed like a long time.

Din Tai Fung
1108 S. Baldwin Ave.
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 574-7068

Hours:
M-F Lunch 11:00 AM - 2:30 PM Dinner 5:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Sat Lunch 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM Dinner 5:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Sun Lunch 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM Dinner 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM