Din Tai Fung at Tsim Sha Tsui - the one Michelin Star experience

Finally had a chance to try out the Din Tai Fung at Tsim Sha Tsui, the only DTF which was awarded a 1 michelin star, but I must say the experience was not much different from the DTF experience back in Singapore NEX or Paragon outlet, service or cleanliness wise.
The food also tasted more of less the same. I've tried DTF in Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and Hong Kong, and I must say the Xiao Long Bao tastes the best at the original DTF in Taipei. Of course I had to queue the longest at the Taipei DTF, but when you taste that original taste which started the franchise, you'll know the reason why DTF has become such a successful franchise the world over.
In terms of variety of menu options, shanghai has the most starters and desserts, and Singapore has the best cooling longan red date iced drink (which is my hubby's all time favourite).
I love the chicken soup and we always order the zhajiang mian and sesame buns.
In Hong Kong, as it was 1 day before my birthday that we went to DTF, I also ordered the longevity buns to take away (frozen) and they tasted wonderful after they were freshly steamed. Even my baby loved them! (of course she only gets to eat the skin) plus they looked so cute & petite in pink!
We also ordered the most expensive truffle Xiao long bao at the Hong Kong TST DTF, but unfortunately it was too strong tasting and did not taste as good as the ones we had tried at DTF Paragon Singapore. Could also be me & hubby's tastebuds have been spoilt by Tetsuya's truffle butter, (which we had during our wedding anniversary celebrations in Sydney back in Jan), which just makes any other truffle creation pale in taste-comparison.
Tsim Sha Tsui Din Tai Fung is located at Silvercord, exit Kowloon Park at TST MTR. Queues for lunch start as early as 1030am and be there at 530pm if you want to be seated within half an hour.

Ippudo Hong Kong

Couldn't resist checking out the latest most famous ramen place at TST Silvercord - Ippudo Hong Kong. It's founder wanted to created a ramen restaurant that women could comfortably stroll into and feel safe to eat ramen without being judged. Well, I think he achieved his goal as I strolled in with baby and we were seated and served quite quickly.
There was a good selection of starters but I chose my Japanese Kyuri (cucumber) which was chopped neatly and mixed with a slightly spicy wafu dressing and sprinkled with katsuo flakes (bonito).
It turned out to be a good choice as I had chosen the Aka miso soup base, which was supposed to be the most flavorful and spicy of the soup bases available. It was delicious!!! The waitress asked me how I would like my noodles - hard, soft or medium - I just told them to do it the "osusume" style ( what they would recommend) so my noodles were not too soggy and very chewy. I added an Onsen tamago (runny egg) and my ramen was plain heaven!!!
The restaurant was also very helpful as they offered to help me cut the strawberries I was feeding Kyo into smaller pieces and were also quick to offer me hot water and plate & utensils for Kyo's carrots & buns I had brought on my own.
To round off the meal, I ordered a fancy miso pudding, but it just tasted like a good creme brûlée and I could not detect any miso taste 
All in all, a good experience, and go during off peak hours as it makes the experience even more pleasant if you don't mind a late lunch or early dinner as the staff are more attentive and you still get the same good service!