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I can't give you the address of this most unusual and famous Taiwanese restaurant as I haven't yet mastered the art of deciphering Chinese characters. Fear not! Your hotel concierge will guide you, as this is the most important Dumpling Restaurant in the capital of Taiwan, Taipei.

The first thing that strikes you about this bustling country is its friendliness - the locals smile at you constantly. The palpable economic dynamism is tempered by culture, the greatest collection of Chinese Art in the world is exhibited in The Palace Museum, making it well worth a visit.

On Day Two, you will want to eat authentic food and Din Tai Fung is the place to find it. The atmosphere is absolutely fascinating. You arrive and take a number, rather like the deli counter at your local supermarket. You then peruse the dumpling menu and order when it looks as though your number is about 10 minutes away - the queue is generally about 25-30 minutes long and sprawls about outside on the street. When you are finally ushered in, everything arrives instantaneously!

However, before that mouthwatering moment I need to describe the route to your table. You get there past an array of Dumpling Chefs, hard at work! First you see the dough chef making the dough, kneading it, stretching it and then making it into little parcels to contain delicious pork or crab or vegetables or, best of all, the soup into which the dumplings are dropped! All this takes place inside a room the size of a tiny magazine kiosk. Try to go with some locals, or if not ask someone else waiting outside what to order.

Do any of you have any baking memories? Mine is going to the Hovis Bakery, aged 4, in Walton Street, London S.W.3. to see the nineteenth century ovens hard at work and then being given a Chelsea Bun with extra sugar on top. There is something about seeing bakers wrestling with dough that really makes one very hungry indeed. Din Tai Fung is no exception - please try it!

Charles Pelham, Taiwan, August 1999

I managed to get a translation for you after all!
Din Tai Fung, Downtown Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Telephone:2321 8927/8
(Closed Mondays, open every other day 10.30-2 and 4.30-8.30)

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