Update: Din Tai Fung in Arcadia has now moved to Westfield Santa Anita
The Taiwanese restaurant Din Tai Fung serves up some of LA’s best dumplings. It is a very popular place and they do not take table reservations, so you will have to wait your turn (usually there is a line all the way out on the parking lot). Upon arrival, you are handed a queue number and asked to fill in an order form, while you are waiting, so you are ready to place your order as soon as you are assigned a table.
Din Tai Fung is famous for soup dumplings, xiao long bao, stuffed with pork and/or crab along with a spoonful of soup. They are served piping hot and you eat the dumpling in one bite, so be careful not to burn your tongue.
• Din Tai Fung is in Arcadia, so if you are staying on Sunset Strip, expect a 30-45 minutes drive.
• In the same plaza, there is a Taiwanese bakery and an Asian beauty store, which is also worth a visit.
• Din Tai Fung is best for lunch since it takes a while to get there and there is not much else to do in the area.