Sky high

Din Tai Fung (Santa Monica)

RESTAURANTS • First Person

I love a mall. And I love a mall restaurant. I even love a chain, especially a reliable, upscale one that maybe serves spinach-artichoke dip and crispy chicken sandwiches (see: Hillstone).

While Din Tai Fung doesn’t serve dips or sandwiches, it does check the rest of those boxes. And in my years in LA, I’ve become smitten with the Chinese mall-restaurant-chain and its multiple locations in the Los Angeles area (as well as a newish one in New York City). Known for its xiao long bao, made with the “golden ratio” of hand-folding and weight, Din Tai Fung recently opened perhaps its most beautiful LA location yet — and its first on the Westside — on the roof of Santa Monica Place.

The dining room is gorgeous: Sky-high windows and ceilings flood it with light. The large rounded light-wood booths and hanging light fixtures are reminiscent of the steamer baskets that transport those succulent soup dumplings to tables. As with other locations, diners can watch the dumpling-making, thanks to a windowed room. There’s a giant outdoor patio, too; one elevated section gives diners views of the Pacific.

The menu sticks to DTF classics, ordered via checklist. Is the cucumber salad still the prettiest you’ve ever seen? Yes. Are the spicy chicken wontons still bathed in the perfect amount of chili sauce? You bet. Are the rice cakes transcendent? They are. On a recent visit, I skipped the popular green beans and ordered the Taiwanese cabbage, which didn’t disappoint: Studded with golden cloves of fried garlic, it had a little bite to go with its hint of sweetness.

There’s a full bar, from which I’d suggest the DTF Old Fashioned, mixed with house-made oolong tea syrup for extra depth. You can also find that drink at any of the other locations, but there may be no better place to enjoy it than on this rooftop at the zenith of mall-chain-restaurant sophistication. –Karen Palmer

→ Din Tai Fung (Santa Monica) • 395 Santa Monica Pl • Daily 1130a-9p • Reserve.