Irvine’s Paper Lantern Dumpling House Takes on Xiao Long Bao Champ Din Tai Fung

Photo by @ocwmktgdirector It’s hard to talk about JA Jiaozi without comparing it to Din Tai Fung. Outwardly, there are obvious similarities. Both give you a paper checklist onto which you scribble your order. Both focus on handmade dumplings,...

Two of the hottest things to debut last year were Pokinometry and Din Tai Fung. The former for poki bowls, which are basically cubes of raw fish dressed in flavorful sauces served in bowls of rice; the latter for xiao long bao, a.k.a. juicy pork...

I was, I confess, expecting to see a lot of mournful faces in the line outside the original U.S. Din Tai Fung in Arcadia last weekend, only a few hours before it was scheduled to shut down for a remodel. The faded strip-mall restaurant may not...

Whenever anybody in Southern California eats xiao long bao, our first instinct is to mentally compare the Shanghai-style soup dumplings that we’re currently eating with the more famous ones at Din Tai Fung. Are these as delicate? Are they as...

Hello, xiao long bao. Photo by Edwin Goei If you’ve never been to China or aren’t familiar with the more esoteric offerings in LA’s San Gabriel Valley, you’ve probably never heard of jianbing, let alone eaten one. I tasted my first jianbing only a...