meeting beansprouts cafe @ din tai fung, world square

At long last, I got to meet the lovely Ja who happens to live close to where I work. It took us a couple of times to get dinner organised and finally on the day, I was still frantically texting her an hour to dinner time letting her know that I was stuck at work and running late. Sorry Ja! We'd originally planned to meet outside Din Tai Fung (where we were having dinner) but ended up meeting at the main bus stop near by work to catch the bus down together. I nervously waited and was glad to see a big smile that greeted me (like Chef Gena from Sweetness had told me - Ja is so petite and dainty and such a lovely girl!)

Ja had suggested Din Tai Fung and I was keen; it'd been awhile since I last went (probably a good couple of months/half a year). And well to top things off, Din Tai Fung is also in this year's City Entertainment Book so I was armed with a 25% discount voucher to spend.

Xiao Lung Bao (Steamed Dumplings), Drunken Chicken and a Vegetarian Tofu Salad (these are all recommended dishes on the menu). I've actually had two of these before but really, the oldies always turn out to be the favourites!

Spicy Pork & Vegie Dumplings with Noodles. You can also get the dumplings without the noodles. I liked how spicy this one was and it was good to know that Ja also shared a fondness for anything spicy.

Dessert - Steamed Taro Dumplings.

Inside a steamed taro dumpling. I was saying to Ja how this one could've tasted better with chunks of taro rather than the paste. For me, these dumplings also smelt overly of flour which could be improved.

Me & Ja. We set at a shared table (which was the only way to get in quickly and avoid the huge queue) and more than once, we attracted the odd glance/smirk of fellow diners when we whipped out our cameras to take pictures of the food. Bah!

And guess what, chocolate and caramel frosting cupcakes made by Ja for me to take home! Guys and girls, watch out for this girl - she is going to be an up and coming baker for sure! Testimony to this is that I got home late and the next morning, I had mum waking me up telling me how good these cupcakes were and asking me questions about who made them. These cupcakes weren't overly sweet which mum thought was fantastic and actually ate for breakfast which is not something she usually does. I had one later that day and as mum put it, these cupcakes were fantastic! They were moist inside, the icing wasn't overly sweet. They looked just as pretty as they were to eat. Tops Ja!

The conversation that night at the restaurant resolved heavily around food, from food at home, our respective time at LCB, our plans, our blogs, MasterChef, the restaurant, I'm pretty sure everything food related we managed to cover. I was overwhelmed to hear from Ja that she'd been inspired to study at LCB after reading my blog and well, a year on, she's actually gone even ahead of me and finished the whole LCB Patisserie Course. Would love you to stay in Sydney Ja and I'll have an eating buddy for life! Lol, anyway, I know you need to go home at some point but let's go a few more foodie adventures before then!

Great to finally meet you Ja! I thoroughly enjoyed dinner and I hope you did too!