Ding Tai Fung

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Address: 3235 Hwy 7 #18B, Markham
Phone: (905) 943-9880

Ding Tai Fung, not to be confused with the famous Taiwanese franchise “Din Tai Fung”, is a casual Shanghainese restaurant that is known for its Shanghai-style dumpling and noodles. Ding Tai Fung has two locations one at First Markham Place in Markham, and the other at the Chartwell Shopping Centre in Scarborough.

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There was a bit of drama when this restaurant first opened up, as many loyal Din Tai Fung customers were outraged that the restaurant was blatantly trying to copy the name to its world-renowned counterpart. However, as Din Tai Fung is more focused on Taiwanese cuisines, Ding Tai Fung’s specialty lies in their Shanghai-style dumpling and noodles.

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Being a more casual dim sum spot, the decor of this restaurant is quite minimalistic, but still designed in a way that’s apparent it’s a Chinese restaurant. To give it a modern, yet traditional look, most of the decor and furnishing are primarily made of wood or wood-themed. They also have an open kitchen where you can see the chefs preparing the dim sums fresh by hand and made-to-order.

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Their menu is quite extensive, with over 100 menu items divided into categories: dim sum, rice dishes, chicken dishes, pork dishes, desserts, and more. To order, you’ll be given a sheet of paper with all the menu items on it, and you simply have to note down how many servings you want for a particular dish. The paper menu is all in Chinese, so if you don’t understand something the staff are happy to help.

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One of their specialty dishes is their Xiao Long Bao or mini soup dumplings as it’s commonly referred to in the west. The soup dumplings are served in a bamboo steamer with 6 dumplings per order. When eating the soup dumplings, it’s important to know that it’s extremely hot and you can easily burn yourself if you eat it in one go. To properly enjoy the soup dumpling, it’s best to first bite a hole from the dumpling skin and drink up the soup and then eat it.

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Some of their other popular dim sum items are pan-fried dumplings, spicy wonton, and Shanghai noodle in soup with shredded pork. Be sure to save some room for dessert, as their sweet dumplings are also a must-try.

If you are looking for a quality dim sum spot with consistent quality, you can’t go wrong with Ding Tai Fung. When visiting, make sure to call in advance as this place can get pretty busy, especially during the weekends.