Din Tai Fung, the Taiwanese dim sum brand famous for its xiao long bao, is opening a fifth London site in King’s Cross. Founded in Taipei in 1958 by Yang Bing-yi, the brand started life as a cooking oil retailer before switching almost entirely to xiao long bao once demand took off, and has since grown into a global operation with more than 170 restaurants across Asia, the UK, the UAE and North America.
The brand will take over the former Babel Beerhouse site on Lewis Cubitt Walk, which closed in May, after a competitive process for the site. It’s a notable landing spot. King’s Cross is an estate already packed with big-name food and drink, and Din Tai Fung slots in as one of the few genuinely “obvious” gaps left to fill, a rare concept the neighbourhood didn’t already have covered. The Lewis Cubitt Walk site puts Din Tai Fung right in the thick of the estate’s other big hitters, alongside the likes of Dishoom, Barrafina and the Coal Drops Yard shopping strip, giving King’s Cross regulars a fifth London outpost without having to trek into town.
The group describes this latest restaurant as its first “lifestyle-led destination”, which includes its first dedicated alfresco dining space, a dining room designed to host events and dumpling masterclasses, and a bigger focus on the bar programme. The 160-cover restaurant will also feature the brand’s signature show kitchen, where you can get a front row seat to the process of making THOSE xiao long bao.
The delicate soup dumplings, folded by hand with an exact number of pleats and filled with a broth that bursts the second you bite in, are what have helped Din Tai Fung build its rep. Pork is the classic, but there are versions filled with crab, chicken and truffle too, alongside a much wider menu of noodles, fried rice, dumplings and small plates. It’s the kind of place with an open kitchen so you can watch chefs folding dumplings to order, and precise enough about it that portion sizes and cooking times barely vary from branch to branch, which is part of why it’s built such a loyal following across its four existing London sites. The brand’s Hong Kong outpost has held a Michelin star five times over the years, and currently holds a Bib Gourmand in the 2026 Michelin Guide, no small feat for a chain known as much for its consistency as its craft.
It also lands at a good moment. London’s appetite for Hong Kong-style dumplings has been steadily booming, with wonton noodle soup and modern xiao long bao spots popping up across the capital, so Din Tai Fung’s King’s Cross arrival slots neatly into a trend it’s arguably been leading in London since 2018.
Key Information
Opening date | December 2026
Address | 1 Lewis Cubitt Walk in King’s Cross, N1C 4DL
For more information | dintaifung.co.uk
