Jin Din Rou has garnered quite a following for its Shanghai soup dumplings or Xiao Long Bao, which are typically filled with pork and chicken. But that’s not all you’ll find at the modern, stylish Taiwanese-style eatery.
After chatting up manager Bob Suzukawa, we learned that they’re quite accommodating at the South King Street eatery. Suzukawa assured us that although the Xiao Long Bao aren’t available vegetarian-style, Jin Din Rou will prepare some dishes to order for you, omitting the meat or fish. (Although, if we nudge the cooks a bit, maybe they’ll come up with a vegetarian soup dumpling, maybe substituting mushrooms for meat — hint, hint.)
Looking beyond the dumplings (for now), Ma Po Tofu ($9.50), always a favorite Chinese restaurant staple, is just as spicy-good without the pork, and the cooks are more than happy to leave it out.
Suzukawa says the sauce is a bit spicier and thicker than what you’ll find in typical Chinese restaurants, not very sweet and full of flavor. To accompany your ma po tofu, if you just ask, they will stir up a meatless vegetable fried rice. The noodle dishes, such as Noodles with Vegetables ($9.99), although made with chicken broth, can be adjusted to your taste as well. Just ask, and they will substitute a vegetable-based broth.
After all, as the saying goes, the customer is always right.
Now, about those dumplings…
Jin Din Rou
- Where
- 1491 South King Street, Suite 105
- Honolulu, HI 96814
- Call
- (808) 947-1133
- Hours
- Open daily
- 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. (lunch)
- 5 p.m. – 11 p.m. (dinner)
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