The top floor of trendy department store Selfridges is seeking to transform itself into a dining destination. The elevation allows guests to see parts of London in a new light, with the Shard, London Eye and other landmarks just visible, even if there are still moments where you have to remind yourself that you’re eating in what’s basically a glorified food court. Din Tai Fung is probably the best of the bunch of outlets currently open at Selfridges and represents a London showcase for this established food venture. I have not been to any of the group’s other 170 worldwide outlets, but if you’re after dumplings served by robots in London, then this is the place to come.
Of course, there’s more to Din Tai Fung than this. Diners entering the restaurant are treated to the site of a large open kitchen where the chefs can be seen plying their trade. The restaurant’s interior is kept minimalist, letting the views (and presumably the food) do the talking, although we did like the wooden tree centrepiece of the room, decorated for our visit with spring adornments. While there was ample time to marvel more generally at the meal’s end, service – robots notwithstanding – was discordant throughout. My dining comrade and I felt almost indecently rushed at the beginning of proceedings, while our final dish took over quarter of an hour to arrive. The robots (which deliver the food to the tables, where it is then lifted out of the machine by a human) make for a novel talking point, but did not seem markedly to make the servers’ lives easier.
Onto the food and the fear that often strikes when eating dim sum or similar struck here: when presented with a book of a menu, what to order, and how much? This is tyranny of choice in spades. We eventually settled on commencing with two starters – honey and vinegar ribs plus a dish of spicy cucumber. The former felt gelatinous and unsubtle, but the later was a much more graceful combination with just the right level of salting and piquancy. The main event of dumplings did impress, even if we were faced with far too many dishes simultaneously adorning our rather small table (probably more the fault of the service than our ordering). Fortunately there were no fails here, with chilli crab and prawn pork combinations pleasing most. Wontons were much less of a success – far too greasy – although a mixed vegetable and garlic platter redeemed the restaurant.
Diners beware: ordering multiple small dishes priced generally at just below the £10 mark can see the bill quickly add up. The wine (a German Gewurz from the Pfalz) was priced competitively, but once a bottle of water and service was added in, we were approaching £70/head. A trip to Pizza Pilgrims on the opposite side of the food court would have been considerably cheaper. This reviewer’s advice: come just for the dumplings and the view.