Ding Tai Fung

It is a famous brand, but I think it has no relationship with the famous brand originated from Taiwan. Don’t know where to start. We arrived on a Saturday evening around 5:30. It is 70% occupied, the waiters were cleaning some tables and collecting dishes, making very very loud noise, I mean really loud. It seems they don’t care about the customers dining there. We were quickly seated after the table was cleaned. We ordered some soup dumpling and fried dumpling. The soup dumpling was not too bad, holding up the standard, but the fried dumpling, it is not Shanghai style. I don’t know what kind of style, it is just not to our liking. We also ordered seafood soup, there was a lot stuff and veggie inside, but soup was bland, if you don’t like oily Chinese dish, order it. The meat had no taste, and too much fat though. Anyway, maybe we didn’t order the right thing. But the noise is something we cannot accept. It is a beautiful restaurant, it could have a decent dining experience if they pay more attention to the service.

I used to eat at Ding Tai Fung years ago, and was a huge fan of their soup filled dumplings. After years of absence, I came back with my family, and soon realized why we stopped coming. The meat inside the soup filled dumplings was rough and dry, not like what they were years ago when we liked them. There was very little soup inside the dumplings too, making them quite dry. The flavour wasn’t the same. The ribs didn’t fall off the bone and were a bit tough. We went at lunch time when most of the restaurants at First Markham Place were full; it wasn’t even half filled at Ding Tai Fung. The food was not as good as I remembered but the prices have gone up so much, a single main dish is more expensive than top grade sushi(lunch price). Sadly this will be the last time. The last time we came here the food was no longer as good and now we know it wasn’t just a one off.

Great Shanghainese place in Markham with the best hot and sour soup. Soup dumplings that are worth driving from downtown for. And the Shanghai noodles and string beans were excellent too.

Once in a while we have a meal that’s utterly disappointing. We were excited for Ding Tai Fung’s Shanghai centric dishes, yet all of the flavors were off for us. Mini soup dumplings tasted quite bland in terms of both the filling & the accompanying vinegar. Their Shanghai salted pork soup required us to add salt. By contrast the minced meatballs with cabbage were overly salty giving inconsistent flavours. It didn’t help that we waited 25 minutes for dishes to arrive mostly lukewarm including the dumplings out of the steaming station. Even the soy milk and soy-stewed pork rice took forever. This after waiting a while for a table during the dinner rush that had our hopes up for a good meal. The menu offerings were all on the pricier side including $12.95 for 6 dumplings. The only positive was the service, which was at least polite despite being inattentive.

I love Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables the most. Soup dumplings and other dishes are good, too.

Very disappointing overall. The sticky rice / beef rolls were stale and cold. Not fresh at all. The Xiao long bao were okay, decent soup and thinness. Other items were passable, but overall price was not worth it.

I’m so glad to say the food here is just as delicious as it was five years ago! Ding Tai Fung hasn’t missed a beat — the quality, flavors, and consistency are all still top-notch. Their original soup dumplings are juicy, flavorful, and perfectly made every time. If you're craving authentic and expertly crafted dumplings, this place never disappoints!

Food is good, and they speak English here as well (noticed quite a few non-Chinese patrons at this location compared to the Scarborough one). Unfortunately the seat we we chose was near the window and it was drafty so our food got cold a bit quickly, but the food itself is yummy and as you'd expect, and service is as you'd expect too.

Xiao Long Bao craving again! We usually go to Ding TF Scarborough location but we had several errands to do in Markham today so here we were. The main downside of Markham location is parking and crowdedness. Saturday around 1:30pm, took us 20 mins to find a parking and getting a table. If you are coming as a group then send someone to the restaurant immediately to get a waiting number while a driver is finding a parking. It will save time. Food was great though! XLBs were good as usual! Today we tried a few new food items: # 65 Fried Noodle with Pickled Cabbage and Chinese Mushroom This noodle looks simple and under-seasoned, but NO. It was robust, with nice dried shiitake flavor. The noodle was nicely chewy. # 100 Scrambled egg with minced fish: It was just OK. I had better ones elsewhere with better presentation and flavor-complexity. # 16 Steamed Chive and Pork Dumpling : It is more chives than pork - but surprisingly very juicy and smooth. The skin's thickness and doneness is perfect - tasted fresh! It was a nice interval food for a change between XLBs. Overall I was very happy about the food and service experience. I am glad we came here today.

Growing up, I've always loved coming here for the pan fried dumplings. I recently came back and tried them again, and they did not disappoint! They tasted as great as I remembered them! The price is definitely up there when considering dumplings in general, but this is a great spot for some dumplings when in First Markham Place!

We went here for soup dumplings where we got a pork and crab one and one with dried scallops. I honestly couldn't tell the difference between both but both were juicy and good. We have had the infamous din tai fung dumplings where this was pretty good but didn't seem as meticulously made as din tai fung. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just more of an observation since both have such similar names. We also had beef noodle soup, fried chicken dish, green beans, and scallion pancake with beef. Everything was tasty. My only criticism would be to add more raw scallions with the scallion and beef to have a little more contrast. I would come back and try other things on the menu, along with the soup dumplings.

For context, I've been to this DTF location ever since I was a child. They completed a couple of renovations, but the tall glass windows where you can watch your dumplings get made still remains. This restaurant can get real busy early in the evening so its best you make a reservation or take a card to reserve your queue in line. Soup and pan fried dumplings are always a safe choice with the Shanghainese fried noodles always being a classic pick.

I think by now, everyone knows that this is not the real Din Tai Fung. So my review will not talk about that very much - except to reiterate that you should not expect DTF level food or service. I was stubbornly not going to try this restaurant, but when I saw how many people were eating here, I knew I had to try it on the off chance that I was missing out on something amazing. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that. DTF Markham promotes itself as a Shanghai restaurant, but I really did not get that from the food or the menu. You can't just slap xiaolongbao on a menu and say it's authentically Shanghainese. Most people were eating the likes of sweet and sour pork, beef chow fun - traditionally Cantonese dishes. We did enjoy the Lion's Head Pork Meatballs, which are a traditional dish, and it had a good taste. The portion was decent too, for the price ($22). They also had Wuxi fried spare ribs, which were authentic - they were not fried at all! It was more of a stewed texture, which was disappointing. The taste was good however. We paid $90 all in for three dishes and three bowls of white rice. I didn't find this to be good value and likely won't be back. There is another Shanghai restaurant that opened at First Markham Place, so we will try that next.

Efficient service and great food! I came here for the vegetables and dumplings and both were flavourful!

The food here is soooooo delicious! We got pork soup dumplings and mini ones too and they were perfect. Also tried their mushroom noodles which looked bland however were surprisingly flavourful. Service was great and it wasn't too busy in there either. Washrooms were nice and clean. Highly recommend this place.

I came here with in a group of 9 on Saturday for lunch. There was a 30 minute wait, so we walked around the nearby mall until they called us. We were seated at a table set for 9, but it was very cramped, we bumper elbows and some of us could not get up without asking the neighboring table to move. There is a window where you can watch the chef's make the dumplings. They have a large menu, and you just check off the items you want on a piece of paper. We tried a large variety of dishes, a few types of Xiao Long Bao, pan fried meat buns, hot and sour soup, red Bean pan fried pancake, sticky rice wrapped around pork floss and fried dough, Shanghai noodles, stir fried pea shoots, two types of stir fried rice cakes, and more. Notable item is the red Bean pan fried pancake, I enjoyed that the most. Everything else was just ok. The stir fried rice cakes were rather bland, but maybe I'm just not used to that dish. I didn't like the flavour of the xlbs, compared to others I've had in Toronto. They were beautifully made, but mine didn't have much soup inside. There is a 10% cash discount. The washrooms are very small compared to the size of the restaurant. For 9 people, our total was 250 before tip. Servers are fast and efficient, but they did help us take some family pictures.

We visited the First Markham Place location. There's plenty of parking but it can get really busy. The restaurant is clean with an upscale feel compared to other Dumplings restaurants. We ordered the Soup Dumplings, Pork and Chives Dumplings and the Hot & Sour soup. The dumplings were delicious with their wrap on the thinner side just like I like them. The soup had a nice consistency and flavour. The downside is the cost is on the pricier side. Service was minimal but efficient. This is worth a visit!

This place is busy early evening and clears out late evening - but the wait time is reasonable. We went at 7:30pm and waited for 10 minutes for a group of 3. The menu is in both Chinese and English. The paper to order is only in Chinese but the numbers on the order paper match the menu to make it easier for people who cannot read Chinese (like me ). Most of the staff know how to speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese. The service is very fast despite the restaurant being full. The plates were bigger than I expected and I believe the portion size is worth the price ($15-20 per dish). The food quality itself is good - not super greasy (which is one of my major concerns regarding Chinese restaurants). They also will take into consideration food modifications (one of us was severely allergic to peanuts but there were no problems!) The food was also not salty as usually when I eat outside I have to drink at least 3 glasses of water but this time I only drank 2 glasses which was a very pleasant surprise. Lastly the restaurant's environment and bathrooms were clean, suggesting that their kitchen and utensils are also clean. Note: first Din Tai Fung Ive been to so I cant compare other chains.

Ding Tai Fung (which has a similar name to but separate from Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese restaurant chain that has a Michelin star) has a few locations in the GTA, including Markham and Scarborough. The concept is similar to Din Tai Fung, which specializes in soup dumplings and Shanghainese dishes. This Markham location is in the First Markham Place plaza, which is a hot spot for lots of good Asian eats. The interior is clean, bright, and modern. Ambiance is casual and relaxing. You get to watch the staff make dumplings by hand near the back of the restaurant. The ordering sheet they give you is not in English (it has Chinese characters only), but it's numbered, so you can look at the English menu booklet with photos, and indicate which items you want to order by matching the numbers from the menu booklet with the numbers on the ordering sheet. The menu isn't as big as those in most other Chinese restaurants, as their specialty is in the soup dumplings and steamed dumplings in general. There are limited vegetarian options, as there is only one vegetarian dumpling on the menu - but it's actually quite good. The vegetarian dumplings contain short vermicelli stands, small tofu pieces, shredded cabbage and mushrooms. Each order comes with 6 dumplings, and the size of each dumpling is pretty big. All the soup dumplings contain meat in them (mostly pork). The other dishes are pretty typical - simple and familiar, nothing fancy, yet satisfying. The Sliced White Fish with Wine Sauce and Eggs & Shrimps Fried Rice were decent - just as expected. The Bean Leaves with Garlic was okay. I liked that it wasn't too oily, but it did not contain any garlic at all (nor could I taste any garlic in the dish). I wish it came with lots of garlic.

I have been here a couple of times with family members. Overall, the food is good but they can do a better job in what order they bring the food. I.e. we should not be getting fried rice before soup

Soup dumplings. Shanghai noodles are the best! Fresh. Busy means lots of repeat guests. Pleasant and seated at big tables with others to speed wait.

I only came in for a small bite and everything was pretty decent. I really loved the soup dumplings and will get them every time! The shrimp dumplings were also good, I liked the presentation overall. Service was kind of slow and we were left to our own devices and had to remind our server we needed water but our server was nice. It would have been nice to have more choices but again, just popped in for a snack. I would give this restaurant a middling 2.5 stars.

This was my first visit to this worldwide renowned dumpling house franchise in Toronto anyway.  I've been to their flagship restaurant in Taipei, and a 2nd location there, and also one in Los Angeles.  Having experienced what I know they can do, this visit fell just a bit short of their normal 5 star food mainly due to the broth being too light and bland for the two beef noodle soups we ordered.  It's normally more rich and flavorful.  Their renowned xiao long bao (XLB) soup dumplings were the usual tip-top excellent though.  Our party of 6 ordered the following for lunch: - 3 bowls of hot soy milk, two plain and one sweet, and these were delightful refreshments to start. - Classic pork XLB's - Crab meat XLB's - Braised beef noodle soup - Beef tendon noodle soup - Stewed pork and mushrooms with rice Overall, still a very nice and enjoyable lunch, but like going to a worldwide famous steakhouse or famous whatever, I have to hold Din Tai Fung to a higher standard.  This location was packed to the gills until about 2pm and we had earlier made a reservation for a 1pm lunch while putzing around in the Markham Place Asian mall that they are adjacent to. The bill for this lunch visit - a modest $79 CD or $58.52 USD

Dependable spot in FMP for xiao long bao. BUT you must try the chili tendons!! The absolute best. Go on a weekday for least lines but still a busy spot all day long. Large open space with a view inside the kitchen makes for a great lunch atmosphere.

Not the famous Din Tai Fung but who cares as long as the food is as good as DTF. We ordered XLB, braised pork belly and stewed beef pancake wraps. They are good and we filled our hunger with satisfaction.

Looking for some northern chinese dim sum fare? Look no further. This restaurant is located in the busy First Markham Place mall on Hwy 7and Fairburn Dr. There is plenty of parking however expect to park pretty far as this place gets busy. We had a reservation for 10 people and we got a private room in the back. I wasn't able to do the usual pics for every dish as everyone cam very hungry. The dumplings are hand made in house and served fresh in large bamboo steamers. You can also order pan fried pork dumplings as well. Every dumpling was like a burst of soup. You can dip it in the ginger and red vinegar provided. We got vegetarian, pork and shrimp, pork and crab. All the dumplings were so fresh and you can taste the difference from the froEn varieties. The noodles were good but didn't look so appealing. The fried rice we got had like diced pieces of ham or dare I say "Spam?" The green onion pancakes were thick and fluffy with lots of scallions with every bite. When comparing this place with the other large chain I frequented recently, this place hands down exceeded my expectations. Only critique is that after all the orders came through the servers didn't come by to check on us to refill our tea pots. If you're used to Chinese service quality this was about on par with other places. My suggestion focus on the service aspect and you will certainly keep new customers coming back for more.

Are you down for Ding Tai Fung? YES! Any day of the week. Named suspiciously similar to Din Tai Fung (no G at the end of the Din), a chain originating from Taiwan that has a Michelin star, this place is a fine replica. Food is fantastic. Always busy. There really isn't much more I need to say about this place. It is great. Oh! yeah, get the XLB. Enjoy!

This was our first dim sum place this trip. The place is simple. Wasn't too busy when we arrived. It was about 10:30. The ordering process was simple and had pics. We order a few dumplings. There was soup in one. It was flavorful but was expecting it to be a little warmer. The dumplings had unique twists on some and then there was one that looked like a purse.

My go-to for Shanghainese good. Not the greatest, but not a lot of options in Toronto in general. A fave for dumplings and noodles, (esp rice cakes) Pricey for sure as you want to eat all the things!

Shanghainese style dim sum. We enjoyed the steamed or soup dumplings. The stream shrimp and pork dumplings exceeded our expectations and satisfied my husband who was skeptical about it at the start. The spicy and sour soup is just OK, I was hoping for a better version of it.

Really good dumplings and food! Super polite staff working here too and they were around when needed. Got a lot of the cooked food pretty quickly, it was all delicious. We got a bunch of different dumplings and I gotta say that the soup dumplings were the stars of the table. Highly recommend trying! Decent amount of vegetarian options available as well

Having heard about this restaurant in the GTA sharing a similar name as the popular internationally famed DTF yet still being a local favorite, I had to check the place out to see if it lives up to its hype. Ding Tai Fung (GTA) specializes in dimsum and their dimsum sure doesn't disappoint. Staff were very helpful with the menu and you can watch the chefs make each piece through the window. I will say, I was slightly disappointed by the xiao long bao (soup dumpling); they weren't as soupy as I would hoped for it to be. If anything the shrimp siu mai bao was even soupier. Would still recommend this place a visit if never checked out.

Yes it's a rip off of the original Din Tai Fung offering similar Shanghainese dishes. It's not as fancy - decor is different, the dishes aren't as upscale, they aren't as tasty, service isn't as good, etc, etc, the list goes on. However, if we think about whether it can be compared to places like Asian Legend, it's not bad. It's about the same level as that. This location in First Markham Place isn't the biggest. The thing about FMP is that there's limited parking and about 100 different places to eat, so it's almost like there isn't enough parking available to make a line form that big. We got there on a busy holiday Monday with a party of 6. We were told it was only going to take 15 minutes or so for a table. That was pretty accurate. We were given a hardcover menu and a paper menu to make our selections on. The hardcover menu lets you look at pictures so it's handy to have. A lot of the dumplings are going to taste quite similar since they're from similar pork bases and soups. One surprise that was good was their sweet and sour pork. It was very crispy with a lot of pineapple to go around.

Need to downgrade here. All the dumplings were too thick and undercooked. Disappointing. I'll have to go back to Shanghai.

Food is decent for the most part. Capacity is limited to 70. Staff was all wearing masks and they did a good job in separating the tables! However, they were not very efficient in removing the used dishes from our table. The "Shanghai" food was quite good and portion size was decent. We did have an issue with the really really small portion size of the "side" dish of sweet and sour pork. This $15 dish is like a half serving which is unfortunate because it does taste decent. Guess we will stick to the traditional food here.

The food is ok, not as good as those in the LA one. The service is good, the waitress will always look out for the quantity you ordered and give you good recommendations. The ambiance is ok.

this restaurant has the best siu lung bao. we ordered crab and pork and original siu lung bao. they are heavenly. u seldom ordered desert but my daughter wanted tong yun. so we had 桂花湯圓。it is pricy 10 bucks for only five tong yun. but they are very good. worth it.

Delicious food, great service, and OK ambiance. The Shanghai Noodles, Xiao Long Bao, and Spare Ribs with Bok Choy were delicious and very filling.

Beware this is not the famous Din Tai Fung from the States and looks to mimic them. Note the one from the states is spelled the same just doesn't have the g in Ding. The dumpling and food is on the pricy end but the taste doesn't live up to the price point. It was a one time try but I wouldn't come back here again.

This is a replica of the famous Din Tai Fung. Food was not up to par. Probably one of the worst sheng jian bao and shanghainese noodles I've tried. The service isn't great.

Tired of all the scams and shysters in the world who hawk crap merchandise, illusions, faux dreams and dubious schemes to rip you off and bilk your money? Sick of cryptocurrency like bitcoin, NFT and deeds to non-existent bridges? Had it with snake oil salesmen? Upset it with false advertising and marketing that empties your pocket? Enough is enough! I have a surefire way for you to make money. It is guaranteed and all you need is your car and willingness to wake up late to start work before noon. Ready? (Drumroll)... park your car and grab a spot (or two or three or as many as there are cars you can borrow from your friends/family/investors) at First Markham Place and then give up the spot to one of the hundreds of cars that endlessly circles the vast parking lot looking for an available spot in exchange for cold hard cash (or feel free to accept credit cards of course, but never crypto cause that crap is going to lose value/be hacked by the time you get home). You are welcome! For a background on this restaurant and some context you can read my earlier review. Ding Tai Fung is a restaurant that serves a number of meal options including meat or vegetable dishes, but most come here for Shanghai style dimsum. It is nice to see a restaurant whose quality is consistent and does not decline overtime like most restaurants do. It is not the best of the best, but for a good dimsum option it is the place to go including chive dumplings, green onion pancakes, crab dumplings, my favourite, namely xialongbao, and more. They have an open kitchen, which is an idea borrowed from the chain they copied (see my earlier review), a large dining room, are relatively clean and offer a bright space and good food. The chicken/cashew and rice, the jellyfish appetizer (don't forget to add vinegar), the dumplings were all very good. I did not like the dry shiumai at all and hence have deducted points. The restaurant was half full at 11:30, but by noon it was jam packed and so was the parking lot with car swirling like predators all the way up to Highway 7 (see my money making tip above). The washroom was acceptable (say 'hi' to Nemo on the way) and the waitresses were quite friendly, prompt and service-oriented. All the ladies seemed genuinely caring, but one in particular called Ying was the model of kind service. Good food, good and prompt service and cleanliness. Just do better with the shiumai and either add parking spots or stop being greedy and limit the number of businesses.

I came here with a friend during a weekday evening and it was a little busy but there were still many tables available. They checked our vaccination status at the door and we were then escorted to a large table. The food, although on the pricier side, is absolutely delicious. I have to recommend the differnt Xiao Long Baos. It's the best I've had from all of the dim sum restaurants I've gone to in Toronto. The food came out piping hot and tasted very fresh and flavourful. The service was just alright. I think there was a little bit less respect for my friend and I since we didn't speak Cantonese and/or Mandarin but they were still polite and attentive. Overall, it did not ruin the experience. Parking for the restaurant is great too. It shares the large parking lot with First Markham Place so there is plenty of parking. However, if you want to park close to the restaurant, you may have some trouble finding a spot since the parking lot is usually pretty packed closer to the actual shops and restaurants. If you don't mind a short walk, then parking is no issue at all. Transit isn't hard either since there is a vivaNext stop close by First Markham Place. It may be harder to bus from Scarborough since you will need to transfer from TTC to YRT, but the food is definitely worth it!

The food is always outstanding. The service is impeccable. The price is just right. We were very lucky to be in the neighborhood, and if you are familiar with Chinese dumpling houses, the name of this restaurant is very close to A favorite dumpling House that has many locations around the world. The name left us with high expectations, and the food was not disappointing. It was excellent, and we will go back when we are in the area.

Food overall are good. They offer 10% off on cash payment. The staff are friendly. Food are a little salty may be personal preference.

If you like XLB, you'll like this place! We also ordered vegetarian dumplings which I thought the wrapper was too thick, the fillings were great. Garlic Chinese broccoli was refreshing and tasty and the fried rice was my son's favorite! The service was average, we actually also ordered a seafood tofu soup but the lady took the order forgot to put it in the system and when I asked her to check, she never followed up. I finally asked another waitress and she told me the order wasn't placed, by then we were already done with our dinner. The ambience was good, the restaurant was clean.

The original Ding Tai Fung is a chain that started in Taiwan; this is not part of the famous chain, despite having the same name and very similar menu options. Overall, I think they do a decent job and I had a great time here. If you are here, obviously, Ding Tai Fung is known for its dumplings, so you should order at least one of their dumpling dishes. Like other Taiwanese dim sum places, there is a glass window you can watch chefs at work. It is very very busy on a weekend night, and you're likely to wait at least 20-30 mins, but this restaurant is in a strip mall that makes you feel like your' in Asia. The strip mall has Chinese medicine shops, clothings, other restaurants, and the population is quite impressive for Asian American density in Markham overall. We ordered the fried calamari, which is a great choice! The calamari wasn't too rubbery and was tender and a perfect crisp on the outside. The soup dumplings were good for us; I know it's hit or miss or other folks, but we had a good night. The soup didn't soak through the dough and rip; skin remained intact even when hot or cold and lifted cleanly into the soup spoon. Other dumplings were also good; flavors were accurate the the folds on top were on point with craftsmanship. Note, dim sum and dumplings are oftentimes heavy and will make you full; you will get full with just 3 orders of dumplings for 2 people. Dim sum is often hearty and heavy. Seafood soup was calming; I don't like artificial crab or fish cake too much because I feel they taste more starchy than protein-y for my liking. So this soup I would avoid if you're not one for artificial meats. Service: not harsh and rude like other Chinese establishments I've been to. Expect to wait a long line if you're here on the weekend, but I liked that the staff never made you feel bad about asking for refills, changing seats, or accommodating for younger children. This, I think is their strong point that a lot of other Chinese establishments can improve on. Restaurant is clean and bright; dishes also came relatively quickly. I don't think we waited longer than 15 mins for our dishes. You can also have even 12 people in your party and still have a big round table. Great for fam and friends.

It's been awhile since I've eaten from here. I recall the food here is pretty good but also a bit pricey. I was surprised that they weren't offering any takeout discount during Covid. I'm not sure if that is a smart business idea as I know for me it really makes a difference for me to order again. The only reason for ordering from here recently was that I was craving for xiao long bao (steamed soup in bun/dumpling) and this place came to mind. They really make this dish well and they didn't disappoint me this time. The other dishes were okay like the shanghai noodles and pork ribs but I can get similar dishes like these elsewhere for a lower price. The only dish that I disliked was the wonton in chili oil. Overall, we enjoyed most of dishes especially the xiao long bao so we'll still come back for these dumplings!

We were lucky there was no wait. Service was quick and friendly. Ordered a bit of everything. Appetizers like the kaufu was good even though the pieces for me were oddly shaped. (They were symmetrically cut into squares and not how I had them growing up) The sticky rice rolls were very good but feel was missing the salted or mustard pickled vegges. Other food was tasty, and the soup dumplings were just ok. Need a bit of quality control, though, since some soup dumplings didn't have any soup and some of the skins were thick and not chewy. The scallion pancake with beef looked so appealing to the eye but fell a bit short on flavor. The rice cake with pork was cooked and seasoned very well. If we are in the area, we will come back. Hopefully, the food will be excellent

Consistency is Key!! I've been to this jewel of Markham more than once and I keep coming back. One virtue that Ding Tai Fung has that keeps it on my favourites list is the consistency. Every time I visit I have the same great experience, right from the caring and attentive staff, who greet you warmly as you arrive, to the servers who take their time to explain the food and recommend items, to the food itself which is always fresh, and great tasting. This is a classic dim sum joint that pays homage to the Shanghai Style of cooking. On this visit for the review, we came on a busy day, waited only ten minutes as we did have a reservation but also know that this is a busy place. I do recommend a reservation as I've had people tell me they have waited a long time in line. This was a group visit so we ordered a plethora of dishes some common and some new. The servers brought the food out slowly, which was great as we had little room on the table to put many of the dishes. It also gave us a pause between dishes so we could actually enjoy it hot and right from the kitchen. I have been to so many Dim Sum places that just simply pile the dishes on the table and then take off and leave you in an uncomfortable situation and afraid you'll spill something. All the dishes that came out were of high quality and a good standard of presentation and flavour. I really enjoyed the soup-filled dumplings, the stir-fried lamb and the shrimp fried rice. I typically enjoy most of the dishes at this restaurant. I highly recommend this place and I will be back.

When Din(g) Tai Fung came across my radar, my initial reaction was what is this knockoff doppleganger 'Din Tai Fung' copy cat place in Toronto? Upon more research and reviews, there was a lot of positive feedback so we decided to actually give it a chance. What did we have to lose? : ) Atmosphere: Firstly, this place has no association to the widely successful and well-known Din Tai Fung that's all over. Don't try to correlate or compare the two in any such way. That being said, this place has a nice old school banquet dim sum ambiance. It was large and clean when we came in with a lot of group table seating all around. Great for groups or even for those families that have a stroller they can definitely accommodate you. Service: Standard typical asian demeanor and behaviors in my opinion. Decently helpful, don't expect some top fine dining level service, but they get the job done. Nothing wrong here for me. Food: Pleasantly surprised. Firstly, I want to say that everything was delicious. The food was on point and I would like to say that you would not be disappointed if you decided to come here for a nice morning dim sum meal. I know I said not to compare but yes, it's a step below the famous Din Tai Fung locations but we were happily full after and the quality was definitely above average. We ordered the: *Pork Xiao Long Bao - Came in a groupings of 6 pieces. The skin was really thin and the soup was oily, tasty and all that goodness. I usually measure the quality of the Xiao Long Baos by how well you can do the skin and the flavors of course. This was up there with some of the best. *Pan Fried Pork Buns - Very yummy! My partner does like her buns a bit more pan fried below but the buns came out pillowy soft - just the way I like it lol. Also, there are soup juices inside so be careful when you attack that bun! Came in a grouping of 5 pieces. *Hot Soy Milk (sweet) - I'm just a huge fan of getting hot soy milk with my asian breakfasts. I love that sweet with savory combination. The soy milk tasted very authentic and I didn't think the sweetness was too much. *Rice Roll with fried crueller and pork floss inside (Fan Tuan) - This was the only let down for me. The fried crueller wasn't crispy and the rice wasn't packed as well. Taiwanese joints really know how to do this the best in my book. (OK RYAN SHOUTOUT! : ) ) I'd probably recommend passing on this unless you're just in a mood for it. Summary: Don't be thrown off by their copy cat name, Ding Tai Fung in Toronto does Dim Sum just as well as some of the rest. I believe they have 2 or 3 locations so find the one closest to you and come on a weekend or weekday brunch for some solid Dim Sum. Don't hesitate because of their name. I would highly recommend getting the Pork Xiao Long Bao and the Pan Fried Pork Buns. Both are executed really well and the skin was very fine and thin on the Xiao Long Bao. Very delicious and in y book, you won't regret it.

I took an hour and half of bus to come to this place, only to disappointedly realize that this place is a despicable knock-off of the genuine Din Tai Fung. The taste is different, the menu is different too. I checked online and here is the article: (https://nwasianweekly.com/2013/05/blog-the-real-and-the-fake-din-tai-fung/) According to Din Tai Fung owner David Wasielewski, a Taiwanese immigrant, Toronto's Ding Tai Fung is not a part of the Taiwanese chain, although the restaurant's name has the same Chinese characters. The only difference is the English translation -- the "fake" one is spelled Ding, the chain leaves off the "g."

Dimsum selection is somewhat limited. The dimsum we ordered was tasty though. The English menu was somewhat confusing and the wonton soup was kinda bad. I probably won't come here again, overall.

Had a craving for Dim Sum and I found this place on Yelp. I made the 35 minute drive out to Ding Tai Fung. We ordered a few dishes: crab soup dumplings, pork potstickers, chicken and egg fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and fried noodles with broccoli and mushroom. Like other reviewers have echoed, the soup dumplings were phenomenal, some of the best I've had. Plus, they make them fresh to order (you can watch it happen through a glass window. The pork potstickers and fried rice were both delicious as well. Unfortunately, the other two dishes, which I believe were the priciest, were the worst. The sweet and sour pork was far too small of a portion for $17. It was swimming in sauce, there was almost as much bell pepper as there was pork, and the pork was riddled with bones. Stick to the dumplings!

A decent shanghai place to go with family and friends. Nothing too special about their food but it's not bad either. We ordered the classic xiu long bao and pan fried dumplings and it was pretty good. I would come back again but probably will also look for new shanghai restaurants.

Out of the Shanghai places available in Markham, I enjoy Ding Tai Fung's dumplings the most. Thin dumpling skin with juicy meatball inside. Their onion pancake isn't oily with a decent amount of onions unlike some where they taste only batter. Their gou choi dumplings are also flavourful and full of greens. Not the biggest fan of their stir fry meats but their fried rice and noodles are good quality and packed with flavour. Lastly, customer service here is great compared to many other Chinese restaurants. Try their sesame paste filled dessert dumplings, those are pretty good too. Not too sweet and has great sesame flavours as I believe they use real black sesame.

This is my go-to place for braised beef noodle soup. Very nice noodle texture and perfect broth, tender pieces of beef. Very nice! They also have amazing "xiu long bao" (soup dumplings) What are soup dumplings? No, they're not dumplings in soup. Rather, they are dumplings that have meat juice inside them. Price is a bit on the high side though reasonable. It's in First Markham Place, so expect parking to be a complete nightmare. Come during off-peak hours whenever possible.

The food was subpar as was their service. I was there on a double date with my partner and her sister's partner as well. Most of the food there was either very soupy or very oily. I wouldn't go here by choice again but if I was in the area, I would probably go here. The price was not too bad for the quality and the portions.