Mr.N and I visited Kuala Lumpur last year and just by chance in a mall stumbled upon what I now know to be the world’s best dim sum/dumpling restaurant! Din Tai Fung (“DTF”) originated in Taiwan in 1958 and now has over 100 branches all over the world including Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and USA to name but a few! DTF is also served on Eva Air’s First and Business Class cabins- fancy, hey!

From the moment you walk in you are welcomed to witness the world-class showmanship of DTF’s chefs within the open concept kitchen. The restaurant was heaving with locals-always a good sign. The food ordering system is just like Ping Pong, paper and pencil at hand. The great thing for newbies is that there are small symbols on the menu next to the restaurant’s signature dishes and these symbols largely steered our choices.

We ordered DTF’s most famous and celebrated dish, xiao long bao. This dish is so well known that you get given a special laminated instruction guide on how to eat it! I kid you not! Xiao long bao is a small, strictly weighed, hand crafted dumpling full of piping hot soup and a filling, the most popular being the pork and shrimp. I understand that the dumplings are intricately folded 18 times for luck! WARNING: You must gently pierce the dumpling with your chopstick before shoving the whole thing in your mouth otherwise you can expect a severely burnt tongue!

We also ordered the too-tempting-to-not-order deep fried marinated pork chops. I still remember the immensely moreish, crispy and peppery pork. Despite xiao long bao’s popularity, for Mr.N and I it was the shrimp and pork wontons that blew our minds and is to date one of the most memorable dishes we’ve ever had anywhere in the world. The skin is wafer thin, the meats are juicy and tender and the sauce, oh god the sauce, it’s a bit sweet, a bit spicy, a bit perfect!

DTF has been named one of the top ten restaurants in the world by the “New York Times” and in November 2009, the restaurant’s first Hong Kong branch at Tsim Sha Tsui, was awarded one Michelin star. The following year, the restaurant’s second branch in Hong Kong at Causeway Bay, was also awarded one Michelin star. I tell you what, if my bank account was as generous as Beyonce’s, I would fly to DTF in my private jet, have a meal and fly back to the UK. I can always dream! Speaking of the rich and famous, Tom Cruise, amongst other celebrities, is a fan of DTF but don’t let that put you off!

I visited Hong Kong on my own for few days after Kuala Lumpur and you can hazard a guess, yes, I ended up eating at both Michelin star branches during my three day trip! If you order four-five dishes between two people, you’re looking at a £15-20 (USD $28-33) bill which is an absolute bargain for the supreme quality of food you’re getting!

Last month we were in Dubai and like die hard DTF fans, we got the train over from our down town hotel to the Emirates Mall especially to treat our palettes once again to this gastronomic playground. Of course, in Dubai there is no pork on the menu and this initially worried me, what if the Dubai branch couldn’t quite live up to the high standards of its cousins in South East Asia? The restaurant was by far the busiest out of all its peers in the mall. Confidence restored. What is usually a pork dish was replaced by chicken. We had sautéed string beans with minced chicken, ja jiang noodles with chicken, xiao long bao and of course, chicken and shrimp wontons. Once again, a flawless meal!

I walked out forgetting my sunglasses on the seat next to me only to rush back after 10 minutes to find the staff had comically stapled our receipt around my sunglasses! That, my friends, is class service.

Though much of Taiwan’s food is heavily influenced by China, Taiwanese cuisine in generally healthier, less heavy and it tastes incredible! If anything, it’s a welcome change from the frequently greasy sweet’n’sour chicken, overrated black bean sauce and tediously common chicken tikka masala dishes that we have been punished with for too long in the UK.

The big question is: when is DTF opening in London? I recently listened to a BBC interview with DTF’s owner and it was meant to open by the end of 2015, however, still no sign! Honestly speaking, I think it’s only a matter of months before Hot Dinners lists DTF as the must-go-to new kid on the block and when it does, I have faith that it will revitalise London’s dim sum scene.

Food: 9.5/10  Atmosphere: 7/10  Value: 10/10*

* in Taiwan and most of South East Asia, DTF is still a lot more expensive than other dim sum joints but for a western tourist, it’s incredibly reasonable compared to what we are used to paying.

If this restaurant were a fictional character it would be…James Bond 007- consistently delivers in style, supremely impressive in its execution and internationally known.