I like to travel to places I find interesting, fully believing that not every trip needs to be an Instagrammable mountain pose followed by copy-and-pasted inspirational quote.
When I get to these places, I like to kick back and enjoy a good cocktail. But not just any cocktail. An Old Fashioned.
In fact, fair or not, I judge a lot of places on their ability (or more specifically their bartenders ability) to make a great drink, or miss the mark completely.
Then I blog about it because why not?
November 2020.
Brand new to the Las Vegas Strip for 2020 is a West Coast favorite Din Tai Fung.
The acclaimed Taiwanese hotspot that is known for its Xiao Long Bao and noodles opened its doors on October 19 inside the luxurious Aria Resort & Casino.
And while the noodles, wonton, and Shrimp & Kurobuta Pork pot stickers definetly have new fans in my stomach and wallet, the evening would be summed up in how well their DTF Old Fashioned performed.
The DTF Old Fashioned consists of Mars Iwai Whisky, Taiwanese Oolong tea syrup, orange bitters and a grapefruit peel.
I, like so many other whisky scribes, have a love-hate relationship with Mars Iwai Whisky. While I don’t quite share the disdain others vent about, I realize that the whisky itself is a bit limited in taste and scope.
It’s not one of my favorites, and definitely not on my ‘pass’ list, it’s just sort of there, which isn’t necessarily what you want in your Old Fashioned.
Such is the case here. It was a solid OF. Taste was as expected, although I didn’t get a grapefruit peel I don’t count that against a newly opened restaurant less than a month out.
Workers were flying around making sure any mistakes were mitigated and fires put out as quickly as possible. So I refuse to knock the hustle.
Overall though, I always grade better on drinks I want more of, and this one was fine. I finished it but it was nothing spectacular.
Score 6/10
