It’s not a trip to the Bay Area without a trip to Din Tai Fung. I know that I have one in LA, but who can resist going to one of the best chains ever. DTF in the Bay Area is in the Santa Clara mall, which is much nearer to San Jose than San Francisco. The mall itself is a Westfield (interestingly, the same brand as the one in Arcadia) and is huge, with both fast fashion and high-end brands such a Gucci and Prada there. I went with my intern friends who also love Din Tai Fung.

The restaurant had a super long wait, as always. So in the intervening time, we walked around an empty mall at 7 at night. It wasn’t super interesting, because all of the shops were closed. What we did get were dragon balls. Or dragon breath. Whatever the name is, it was my first experience having them. For those that don’t know, they are essentially puffed froot loops that have been chilled with liquid nitrogen so that they are super crunchy and let off cold air. Although they don’t have any taste, it was quite fun to shove them in my mouth and have all the cold air come out through my nose. Like a real dragon!

As for our meal at Din Tai Fung… what else can I say but that it was delicious. My only problem with the Bay Area DTF is that although the Xiao Long Bao are the same price, you only get 6 or them instead of 10. What a disappointment. I always want more of those delicious bao to eat.