We made it to the new Din Tai Fung in Santa Monica Place, particularly intrigued after hearing about reservations only crowds and a beautiful dining area by the ocean. On that basis it was a total disappointment. The crowd was small and while the dining area was pleasant, there was nothing special about it.
And that description extends to the food. I’ve been to numerous Din Tai Fung locations and never had a problem with any of my meals there. But something was missing here. We didn’t even finish the order of (unsoupy) XLB until I stepped in and took one for the team. Mrs. Chandavkl was particularly incensed by the rice cakes which were lacking any char. She complained to the server who called over the manager. The manager didn’t know what we meant by lack of char, so one of us said no “wok hei.” “What’s ‘wok hei’? I’m not Chinese.” (Guess he’s Korean).
Probably not coincidentally we were the only Chinese diners there.
I have been to Din Tai Fung Santa Monica twice now.
I do agree that the space is pleasant (though not groundbreaking), and I also noticed some inconsistency in food preparation compared to Century City. Nothing alarming, just some dishes a tad under/over-seasoned. But not overly so. Living on the westside with a dearth of good Chinese restaurants and having a relatively unsophisticated palate for Chinese food, my reaction was much milder than yours - I still thought it was good, better than any other Chinese restaurants in the area, and I will undoubtedly be back when I am in the area and craving XLB (FWIW, our XLB were sufficiently soupy). But I understand how for someone like you that has a sophisticated palate for Chinese food and numerous better options close to where you live, that it’s not worth settling for a 2nd tier Din Tai Fung.
As for the space and whether it’s cursed. Yes, definitely. I went once for lunch and once for dinner, both at primetime, and there were a bunch of open tables at lunch and a handful of open tables at dinner - unheard of at DTF, especially for a brand new location. DTF Century City had multiple hour lines for months after opening. I asked our server at our last visit how business has been - he said that day (it was a Monday) had been dead. DTF corporate seem to be savvy operators - I imagine they got the deal of a lifetime to agree to build out and open in what they knew was a ghost town of a mall.
The crowds didn’t die down, because there were no crowds to start with
They allocate most tables to reservations, and it’s pretty easy to get in - plenty of slots even for this upcoming Saturday night. Consider this, I guess, a more readily/easily accessible DTF.
Yes, but finally an excellent Hot and Sour Soup on the Westside, we get it to go, so the mall like atmosphere doesn’t really matter, easy 10 minute picking up to go parking on 2nd st.
