Xiaolongbao is the ten-pleat Shanghai soup dumpling that Din Tai Fung canonised on Xinyi Road in 1972. Hot pork-and-soup parcels, dipped in ginger and black vinegar.
Xiaolongbao arrived in Taipei with the 1949 mainland refugees from Jiangsu province. Yang Bing-yi and Lai Pen-mei opened Din Tai Fung as a cooking-oil shop at 194 Xinyi Road in 1958, pivoted to dumplings in 1972 when tinned cooking oil killed the retail business. The signature ten-pleat fold and 21-gram weight standard are house inventions of the early 1980s. The New York Times named the Xinyi Road original one of the world's top 10 restaurants in 1993. The chain now operates in 14 countries, but the Xinyi Road original is the canonical pilgrimage.
4 editor picks for Xiaolongbao in Taipei, ranked by editorial score. All Taipei signature dishes · Xiaolongbao across every city.
Din Tai Fung Xinyi ★ 4.7
daan · No. 194, Section 2, Xinyi Road, Da'an District, Taipei City 106
Din Tai Fung's Xinyi Road original is the xiaolongbao counter that turned a 1958 cooking-oil shop into a global chain. Bib Gourmand; queues from 11:00 sharp.
Yang Shin Vegetarian ★ 4.5
zhongshan · 2F, No. 128, Songjiang Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City 104
Yang Shin opened 2013 as Taipei's first vegetarian dim-sum tea house. An all-meat-free Cantonese menu beside Songjiang Nanjing MRT, three sittings daily.
Kao Chi ★ 4.4
daan · No. 1, Yongkang Street, Da'an District, Taipei City 106
Kao Chi opened in 1949 and is Yongkang Street's second xiaolongbao counter in Taipei, often shorter than Din Tai Fung's queue. Bib Gourmand listed.
Hangzhou Xiao Long Tang Bao ★ 4.4
zhongzheng · No. 19, Hangzhou South Road, Section 2, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 100
Hangzhou Xiao Long Tang Bao is the off-Yongkang xiaolongbao counter for Taipei locals near CKS Memorial Hall MRT. Bib Gourmand, crab-roe xiaolongbao.