King Ping Tea Restaurant, Taipei

This was our first meal in Taiwan. I was not really hungry because before we left Manila, I ate our obligatory Jollibee meal ( a Jolly Spaghetti ) at the airport and also ate the breakfast meal served on board the plane. So basically I was still full by 12 pm. Anyway, Uncle Chris took us to this dim sum place close to our hotel called King Ping Tea Restaurant.

The story of this restaurant goes some chef from the ever famous Din Tai Fung resigned there and built his own restaurant which is the King Ping Tea Restaurant. Let's now see if this exceeds the former restaurant.

Upon entering, the place was packed with locals and tourists. Lots of Japanese were seen and they are known to be picky eaters.

STEAMED GREEN VEGETABLE AND PORK DUMPLINGS NT$160

It tasted normal.

GREEN VEGETABLE AND PORK WONTON SOUP NT$130

Good broth.

STEAMED LOOFAH DUMPLINGS NT$230

LOOFAH? I laughed out loud when I read this on the menu but according to Uncle Chris, loofah is a real vegetable. It's called Patola in Tagalog. OWSSS????

STEAMED MINI PORK DUMPLINGS WITH SOUP NT$250

Hmm... I feel Din Tai Fung's xiao long paos are still the best.. This was just moderately good.

TURNIP-FILLED PASTRY NT$60

Dry.

STEAMED CHINESE STYLE LAYER CAKE NT$60

I don't like red beans and the cake was filled with lots of it.

Overall I would definitely go back to Din Tai Fung and not this "copycat" one.

While waiting for our tour bus, I roamed around the restaurant to take more pictures. Like Din Tai Fung, it also has an open kitchen where you can see chefs clad in all white uniform ( again, same as chefs of Din Tai Fung ) making dumplings in a very precise manner.

The store also sells teas in beautiful tin cans. These are excellent pasalubongs for family and relatives back home.

After waiting for 20 minutes, our bus arrived and took us for a half day outside the city tour at Jui Fen Old Street.

Have A Lovely Day!