DIN by Din Tai Fung in Southkey Mid Valley Mall serves delicious chicken Xiao Long Bao, including a sambal flavour that caught us by surprise!
Non-pork Din Tai Fung in Johor Bahru (JB)? Prayers have been answered! After DIN by Din Tai Fung opened its first Malaysia outlet in Kuala Lumpur, another outlet quickly followed in JB’s Southkey Mid Valley Mall.
How does non-pork version of Din Tai Fung taste without its iconic pork Xiao Long Bao? Here’s a full food review of DIN by Din Tai Fung:
DIN by Din Tai Fung Menu
DIN by Din Tai Fung’s menu is almost identical to other Din Tai Fung menus, except that pork items have been removed or mostly replaced with non-pork alternatives. Its best-selling pork Xiao Long Bao has been substituted with a chicken version too. The variety of appetisers, steamed dim sum, rice, noodles, vegetables, meat, and soup remain extensive. Click on the menu images to enlarge.
DIN by Din Tai Fung Price
Din Tai Fung in JB is known to be much cheaper than in Singapore, but the food prices in DIN by Din Tai Fung seem to be more expensive. It’s even comparable to Singapore’s! 🤔
| Menu | Price (MYR) | Approx. Price (SGD) |
| Oriental Salad | RM 14.70 | $4.90 |
| Spicy Pickled Cucumber | RM 14.70 | $4.90 |
| Spicy Sichuan Chicken | RM 22.60 | $7.50 |
| Chicken Xiao Long Bao (6 pcs) | RM 17 | $5.70 |
| Sambal Chicken Xiao Long Bao (6 pcs) | RM 24.50 | $8.20 |
| Lamb Xiao Long Bao | RM 26.40 | $8.80 |
| Shrimp Fried Rice | RM 26.40 | $8.80 |
| Chicken Chop & Shrimp Fried Rice | RM 45.30 | $15.10 |
| Romaine Lettuce with Garlic | RM 30.20 | $10.10 |
| Spinach with Shrimp | RM 35.80 | $11.90 |
| Lemongrass with Lime Juice | RM 12.30 | $4.10 |
| Jasmine Pearl | RM 21.70 | $7.20 |
DIN by Din Tai Fung Review
The signature appetiser, Oriental Salad (RM 14.70 / SGD $4.90), is a must-order. It consists of seaweed, beancurd, glass noodles, and beansprouts tossed in vinegar and soya sauce – a perfect combination to work up an appetite!
The Oriental Salad was a little sour compared to other Din Tai Fung outlets, perhaps the vinegar ratio was off that day, but we still enjoyed it nonetheless.
Oriental Salad: 4.5/5
Another iconic Din Tai Fung dish is the shrimp fried rice with pork chop, so we ordered the alternative Chicken Chop & Shrimp Fried Rice (RM45.30 / SGD $15.10) to try. The shrimp fried rice tasted just as good – full of eggy and scallion flavour, with distinct and tender grains.
The chicken chop was equally delicious – the crispy batter was a perfect contrast to the soft, juicy meat. As one of our colleagues put it, “It’s like the refined version of Taiwan’s Shihlin Night Market fried chicken cutlets.” He’s right!
Chicken Chop & Shrimp Fried Rice: 5/5
Balanced diets are important to us, so we got Spinach with Shrimp (RM 35.80 / SGD $11.90) to ensure we hit our fibre and vitamins intake for the day. The spinach was lightly stir-fried with fragrant garlic, and the shrimp was naturally sweet without the shrimp frozen taste. For its price, we felt the portion could be bigger.
Spinach with Shrimp: 4/5
Now that we’ve worked up an appetite, it’s time to taste the iconic Xiao Long Baos in chicken form. To start off proper, we ordered the signature 6-piece Chicken Xiao Long Bao (RM17 / SGD $5.70).
It looked exactly the same as the Xiao Long Bao you would get in Din Tai Fung. As we bit off the tip of the Chicken Xiao Long Bao to enjoy the soup, we were treated to hearty, savoury chicken soup with hints of sweetness.
We thought that the chicken meat filling might be chewy dry, but we couldn’t be more wrong. The chicken was tender soft, and with every bite, the chicken flavour got richer.
Chicken Xiao Long Bao: 5/5
We were also feeling adventurous and wanted to try a special flavour, so we got ourselves another 6-piece Sambal Chicken Xiao Long Bao (RM24.50 / SGD $8.20).
How would sambal and Xiao Long Bao even go together? We were skeptical about the flavour at first, but the moment we took the first bite, we were sold. The sambal wasn’t overpowering as we expected. Instead, it added a light, warm, spice flavour to the chicken Xiao Long Bao – a pleasant surprise! Now this is a novelty flavour.
Sambal Chicken Xiao Long Bao: 5/5
Will we return to DIN by Din Tai Fung?
Overall, DIN by Din Tai Fung’s food quality is consistent with Din Tai Fung’s main outlets. The non-pork versions of the Xiao Long Baos are delicious, and they didn’t feel like substitutes to the original Xiao Long Baos at all. In fact, the chicken flavours had its own unique taste that were distinct enough for us to indulge in.
However, DIN by Din Tai Fung’s food prices are comparable to Singapore’s Din Tai Fung outlets. Unless you’re on a non-pork diet, you can stick to City Square Mall’s Din Tai Fung outlet for much cheaper Xiao Long Baos while on a JB weekend getaway.
That said, I’d still recommend you to try the chicken Xiao Long Baos at least once for the novelty – if you don’t mind them being pricey by JB standards.
DIN by Din Tai Fung
Operating hours: 10.30am to 10.30pm daily
Address: LG-005, Mid Valley Southkey, No. 1, Persiaran Southkey 1, Kota Southkey, 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
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