Crab and pork soup dumplings (xiao long bao) at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant at Washington Square Mall in Tigard. (Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

So it's finally here. Nearly a decade after Din Tai Fung first landed in the Seattle area, the global soup dumpling chain once named one of the world's 10 best restaurants by The New York Times

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For its first four weeks, the Taiwan-based restaurant operated under a reservations-only policy: no walk-ins, no waiting list, no (effective) way to snag a cancellation. Beg as you might, if you failed to reserve in advance, your only Chinese food option at the mall was Panda Express.

That changes Jan. 14, when franchise owner (and former Intel marketing manager) David Yang Wasielewski will ditch the restaurant’s Yelp reservation system and go walk-ins only. In other words, if you go now, you will probably get in, but you might have to wait in line.

With that in mind, restaurant reporter Michael Russell and arts editor Amy Wang led a group of staffers through a broad swath of the menu to answer an important question: Now that you’re likely to wait, is Din Tai Fung really worth your time and mon

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(Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

Russell: I can't tell you how excited this restaurant would have made me in 2010. That's when Din Tai Fung first opened in Bellevue, the wealthy suburb east of Seattle. Around the same time, some good friends of ours moved from New York City to Issaquah, not far away. Just a few years earlier, I had moved to Portland from Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, where I had visited the relocated original Din Tai Fung.

We were able to eat at the Bellevue Din Tai Fung a half-dozen times in the first year alone. Not only were the soup dumplings very good, but the larger menu featured some of my favorite Taiwanese dishes, things that were next to nonexistent in Portland -- cold tofu noodle appetizers, crispy fried pork chops, beef noodle soup, etc. After my first visit, I cold-emailed Din Tai Fung asking when they would be taking the franchise south.

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(Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

It only took eight years to get a reply. In that time, a couple of things have changed. First, Portland now has a full-fledged Taiwanese restaurant in Sellwood’s Wei Wei, which recently reopened under new ownership, and at least two decent soup dumpling options in downtown’s Duck House and North Portland’s XLB. Second, Seattle dumpling fanatics have already moved on to Bellevue-based Dough Zone -- as kids like to say on the internet, Din Tai Fung is tired, Dough Zone is wired.

Before we dissect our recent meal, tell me, Amy, what were your expectations going in?

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Noodles with minced pork sauce at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant at Washington Square Mall. (Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

Wang: I grew up on my mother's Taiwanese cooking and I've been to one of the bigger Din Tai Fungs in Taipei, so I was pretty excited to hear that Portland was getting its own outlet.

The soup dumplings are Din Tai Fung’s claim to fame, of course. But I was also psyched about just having more Taiwanese food in Portland in general. It’s hard to describe Taiwanese food succinctly because it’s the product of so many influences: southern Chinese, Japanese, the cooking of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, southeast Asian, and more. If you forced me to pick one word to sum up Taiwanese food, I’d go with “savory.” The flavors are complex and pronounced, and Taiwanese cooks like contrast: They’ll pin a salty condiment against a mild vegetable, put pickled vegetables alongside plain steamed white rice. I was really looking forward to revisiting those tastes and textures.

But my experience with Din Tai Fung specifically was limited to one takeout order from the Bellevue restaurant and one meal in Taipei. Michael, how does this Din Tai Fung stack against the others you’ve been to?

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(Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

Russell:

Given the iron-clad consistency I’ve found from the Taipei Din Tai Fung to three of the four Seattle-area locations, I figured the floor for Portland’s location would be the best mall restaurant, the best Taiwanese restaurant and the best soup dumplings in Oregon. (The ceiling would be a restaurant good enough to be

.) After today’s meal, I’m pretty sure this Din Tai Fung clears the first bar. I’m not so sure about the others.

That starts with the signature dish. The world’s best soup dumplings hold not just piping-hot pork broth, but also a suspension of disbelief: a dough thin enough to be translucent, yet strong enough to stay intact when gently lifted from their steamer basket. The soup dumplings made by the legion of white-clad cooks behind Din Tai Fung’s front window are technically sound, from the pleats at the top to proper steam time to the seasoning in the broth. But they’re also compact, taking away some of the high-wire tension that makes them so fun.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

That’s not unique to Washington Square. And on my visits, I've had just as much luck with dishes from the greater Taiwanese menu that impress the most. That wasn’t the case on this visit. From the (not-very-spicy) spicy beef noodle soup to the (boneless) peppery fried pork chop to the egg fried rice, almost every dish felt like it was missing something.

Sometimes that was a textural issue. Other times, it was a lack of seasoning. Even the Q*Bert-style pyramid of a cucumber salad was too skimpily adorned with just one small slice of garlic and one small slice of red pepper -- I missed the spicy-sauce-soaked slinky version of this dish found at Dough Zone. For a Taiwanese exchange student living at the Portland State University dorms, I don’t think Din Tai Fung is offering much you couldn’t cobble together from Duck House and the handful of downtown Portland Chinese food carts.

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Cucumber salad at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant at Washington Square Mall. (Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

Nothing -- save a flavorless house beef noodle soup -- was particularly bad. And some things, including the seaweed and tofu slices in vinegar, the sauteed green bean segments and the wontons in spicy sauce, were quite good. Most dishes seemed just 10 percent away from being very good or even great. And Many restaurants get better with time. But given how consistent the Seattle openings have been, this early meal -- when the franchise’s full attention is on Oregon -- makes me nervous.

So how about it, Amy? Now that Din Tai Fung takes walk-ins, would you return?

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Seaweed and tofu in a vinegar dressing at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant at Washington Square Mall in Tigard. (Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)



Wang: If I happened to be walking by when there was no wait or only a short wait, I would return. Din Tai Fung has a decent selection of steamed dumplings and buns that I'd like to try. But you won't find me standing in a long line to get in. As you point out, nearly every dish fell short in some way. Take the Taiwanese cabbage dish we ordered. It came cooked with garlic, and that was about it. The classic Taiwanese version typically includes tiny salted shrimp, cooked briefly in oil, as a condiment. It doesn't seem like much of an omission, but it makes a world of flavor and textural difference.

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Beef noodle soup at the new Din Tai Fung in Washington Square Mall. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Shrimp and pork wontons in spicy sauce at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant at Washington Square Mall in Tigard. (Jamie Hale/The Oregonian)

DIN TAI FUNG

11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday, Washington Square (southeast entrance), 9724 S.W. Washington Square Road, Tigard; 503-768-9888; dintaifungusa.com

-- Michael Russell and Amy Wang

See more dishes and scenes from the new Din Tai Fung below.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A look at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant at Washington Square Mall in Tigard.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Sauteed string beans at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant at Washington Square Mall in Tigard.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Xia long bao at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant at Washington Square Mall in Tigard.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Boba milk tea at the new Din Tai Fung restaurant at Washington Square Mall in Tigard.

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MORE PORTLAND DINING

Don't miss our earlier guides to Portland's 10 best new restaurants, our 2018 Restaurant of the Year and the city's 40 best restaurants, period. Plus:

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