D.A.D.S. and Din Tai Fung

Today the D.A.D.S. (Dads Appreciating Down Syndrome) fathers-only group held its first meeting, an exciting one that turned up many suggestions, concerns and ideas. Hubby told me one plan was to set up a social enterprise which would provide community and business/job opportunities for people with Down syndrome, a means to help them achive further independence. There are also some projects already underway in various spheres, things we never knew about.

Less exciting are the food options around Bishan Junction 8 (the Down Syndrome Association has a branch located at the office block, where the meeting was held). Lots of eateries abound but none too good. We thought we'd give Din Tai Fung a try to see if it may be better with time - we had both found it disappointing many years ago when the Paragon outlet first opened.

Appetiser Vegetables, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

Food arrived quite quickly enough, despite a full house. Of course, some stuff like the appetisers, were ready-made and just had to be delivered to the table. For this dish, I only liked the seaweed and tanghoon (mung bean vermicelli).

Hot and Sour Soup that's neither, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

A big, generous bowl (small, $6) of hot and sour soup that looked good but wasn't. You can add your own vinegar and szechuan pepper oil to try and save it but it still doesn't quite work.

Shrimp and pork dumpling noodles in soup, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

Bland soup, bland dumplings, bland noodles (overly soft too). Wonder if their fried rice is equally bland.

Crabmeat and Pork dumpling, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

Actually the only things worth eating here (out of all the stuff we had) were the xiao long bao (XLB) and steamed dumplings. Above is a small portion (six dumplings).

Bite inside and see crabmeat, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

The crabmeat and pork dumplings were quite tasty. The steamed dumplings held their shape well and had thin skins. Soup within quite a mouthful too. Pity these dumplings are gone in a flash.

Yuck! That came from underneath the table, originally uploaded by Camemberu.

Oddly, I kept getting smears from under the table. Who on earth spread soy sauce all along the bottom? Bleah.

Well, a filling lunch but not the most satisfactory. Pretty much confirmed that we can skip Din Tai Fung (in Singapore anyway) in future.