鼎泰丰

Cuisine Chinese
Price $$$ (31-50)
Rating 6/10
Last Visit Aug. 15, 2018
Location Los Angeles: Los Angeles
General Notes

This famous Chinese restaurant, well-known for its soup dumplings, is good but definitely overrated. I think that the soup dumplings are decent but not incredible like everyone else says they are. Surprisingly, I found all of the other dishes to be very good - they were cooked well and with precision.

Positives

> Depending on the place you go to, you can usually see the cooking process, with people making the soup dumplings.

Negatives

> Excruciatingly long lines. Even at off-hours you can easily expect to wait for an hour.
> The food itself is relatively expensive.

Dishes Tasted
  • ★★★☆ Vegetables -- I don't really remember what exactly I ordered, but all of the stir-fried vegetables were well-made and precise.
  • ★★☆☆ Braised Beef Soup -- Decent, but too sweet
  • ★★★☆ Chicken soup -- Nice and flavorful with a good texture on the noodles
  • ★★☆☆ 年糕 -- Shanghai style stir-fried rice cakes. Honestly, mine are much better.
  • ★☆☆☆ 粽子 -- The flavor is OK, but the meat is really dry
  • ★★★☆ 小笼包 -- The wrap is excellent, but the filling is mediocre. The filling is one giant lump (not enough water) and there is too much ginger.