Din Tai Fung Westfield Sydney

Din Tai Fung is a very successful chain of restaurants that first started in 1974 in Taipei. Since then it has grown globally and has restaurants in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, USA etc. In Sydney, there are currently 3 outlets; World Square, The Star and Westfield Sydney.

We decided to check out the Westfield Sydney branch for a Friday lunch. Somehow during winter, I get a craving for warm, soupy dumplings. And as we have started winter in Sydney, what a perfect opportunity to try some of these world famous dumplings.

Level 5 Westfield Sydney was packed to the max. We had trouble finding an empty table, not surprising at all.

We queued up to place and purchase our order at the Dumpling Bar. I was fascinated by the small army of dumpling makers standing in line with masks on. What a sight!

Shrimp & Pork Wonton with Spicy Sauce - this was marked on the menu with a 1 red chilli symbol with a thumbs up sign. Verdict: Wowzah! We loved it so much that we bought another serving after we finished our initial order. The sauce was full of flavour with a nice chilli kick!

Chat Thai Westfield Sydney

For some reason, I have not had the chance to check out this very popular Thai restaurant. It may be due to the fact that Sydney has such an abundance of restaurants and cafes. I struggle to keep up with the new openings and then have to decide which ones to check out and when.

We recently had a farewell lunch organised for an ex-colleague. As my office is located near enough to Westfield Sydney, a group of us decided to have it at Chat Thai. When I sheepishly admitted that I had not dined there yet, I did cop a bit of flak from my colleagues!

We found out that they didn't take group bookings for lunch but my colleague YY managed to garner a booking. However it was on the condition that the group only arrived at 1.15pm and we had to place all our orders in the morning to allow the cooks enough time to cook the food at the right time without us having to wait a long time once we arrived. That was a very reasonable request and one I am glad we did, considering the number of us attending.

There were 18 of us at the table so it was very difficult to take photos of all the dishes but I think I took enough to get a good feel of the variety of dishes that you can get at Chat Thai. Only a few had an entree, everyone had a main and a few had desserts.

Fresh spring rolls (Entree) - fresh spring rolls of smoked fish sausages, chicken and crab, with caramelised tamarind relish.

Nahm Dtok Nuea (Spicy Char Grilled Beef Salad) - TJ said it was delicious!

Khao Na Bped - Roasted duck with ginger and duck gravy, served with rice.

Som Dtum Thai - Green papaya salad with peanuts and dried shrimp. It had the spicy, salty and slightly sweet flavours. TH asked for very spicy and boy did she get it spicy as! But she throughly enjoyed it.

Paak Boohng Dtai Laow - Fried school prawns and angel hair rice noodles

Mhu Grob Padt Prik Khing - Stir fried crisp pork belly and wild ginger in red curry paste. I among many ordered this dish. I was very surprised at how much pork belly there was. It was deliciously crispy but I did struggle to finish it.