Ask anyone who has been to Tim Ho Wan and they'll all tell you the same thing: Its all about those pork buns. Those amazing, incredible, delicious, salty-sweet, crispy, melt-in-your-mouth soft pork buns.
The story goes that chef Mak Kwai Pui
decided to leave the life of high end dim sum at the Four Season's
Lung Kee Heen in order to make dim sum in a more down to earth
atmosphere. From a small hole-in-the-wall store in Mong Kok, word
began to spread about Mak Kwai Pui's excellent dim sum – in
particular his signature dish – a char siu bao that was baked
instead of steamed, giving it a unique, deliciously sweet and crispy
outer layer. With a signature dish so delicious, Tim Ho Wan defied
the odds and gained a Michelin Star in spite of its modest
appearance. Soon it would gain fame as the cheapest Michelin Starred
restaurant in the world, causing an expansion to more branches within
Hong Kong and, more recently, in Singapore too. The queues for Tim Ho
Wan are legendarily long, with the original store's Michelin Star
appeal and small size equating to 3 hour waits during peak!
The original store has now closed due
to the ever-increasing rent in Hong Kong, but the second oldest in
Sham Shui Po remains. As the only Tim Ho Wan branch that actually has
a Michelin Star and with two 3-Star Michelin meals just behind us, it
felt fitting to make the Sham Shui Po store our next port of call.
Mind you we were still feeling rather full from Caprice, but those
pork buns were calling...
After again taking a wrong turn out of
the MTR and a very patient Alissa putting up with my freak out about
going the wrong way and perhaps now having to queue for our dim sum,
we corrected our course and were on the right path. From afar I saw
the green sign hovering over the street and knew we'd found the Sham
Shui Po store.
Perhaps because tourists now have much
easier options such as at IFC in Central and because 8:30am is fairly
early in the morning, we were able to get a table immediately upon
arrival. The room seemed clean but very spartan especially after the
opulence of Caprice, and the fluoro green uniform of the staff made
them look like council workers rather than waitstaff. After a moment
of confusion when we were given a Cantonese order form, our waitress
gave us an English form which we dutifully filled in with our
admittedly greedy order of tasty morsels.
First to arrive was one of Tim Ho Wan's
signature dishes – chee cheong fun with pig's liver, seemingly a
play on chee cheong meaning pig's intestines. Perhaps because we were
still on the come down from the overeating of the previous night,
Alissa found this dish a bit too rich for her liking, though we both
agreed it was delicious. Good chee cheong fun should have a very
silky texture, and this definitely was a success.
Next up was chicken feet. This is one
of my favourite dim sum dishes, and having missed out on having it at
Lin Heung Tea House I was glad to be able to order it. This was
excellent chicken feet; black bean can be a subtle flavour that is
easily overpowered by the other spices and yet this was very well
balanced. There was a nice chilli kick that permeated the meat,
something that is often lacking in other restaurants' preparation of
the dish. Definitely up there with the best chicken feet I've eaten.
A dim sum restaurant can largely be
judged on the quality of its har gao and siu mei, and Tim Ho Wan's
were both excellent. The har gao was juicy, well formed and with that
a perfectly cooked prawn texture.
The siu mei didn't look particularly special, but was a winner in terms of flavour. I felt the sui mei had a higher percentage of prawn to what is the usual, and the prawn and pork were mixed together so well I couldn't tell where the pork ended and the prawn began.
The siu mei didn't look particularly special, but was a winner in terms of flavour. I felt the sui mei had a higher percentage of prawn to what is the usual, and the prawn and pork were mixed together so well I couldn't tell where the pork ended and the prawn began.
The Teochew-style dumpling was also
very good, with the peanut bits giving it a a great contrast of soft
chewiness and crunch. I don't order this enough to pass further
judgment, but its made me a convert at least.
Next came the Lo Mai Gai – easily up
there with the best I've eaten. Often times Lo Mai Gai can be very
oily and almost too sticky, but in this case it was just right and
very tasty.
Our second last dish was our dessert of
Osmanthus Jelly, another famous dish of the restaurant's. Alissa
by this stage was getting very full so I ended up eating most of it.
This was an excellent, floral jelly. Too often I find Asian jellies
used agar agar instead of gelatine and/or result in a consistency
that is a much harder jelly than I usually prefer. This jelly had a
nice wobble to it, and as someone who usually skips dessert for dim sum I was very glad we ordered it.
Perhaps they knew to save the best for
last, as the last dish they brought out to us was our double serving
of their famous Char Siu Bao (single serving pictured). As we were very full by this stage we
were concerned we'd overordered, but we soon realised anyone can fit
in an extra pork bun if its from Tim Ho Wan. Wow. Photographs and the
hype cannot do these buns justice. Where to start? First you bite
into a crispy, sweet outer layer that gives way to the softest bread
you've ever eaten. Then the sweetness of the outer layer meets the
salty-sweet barbecue pork filling and – to borrow a term often used
by a good friend of mine – its orgasmic.
The Verdict: Exceptional
Considering our greed compelled us to
over-order, the price for the meal still came in at around $25 – an
absolute bargain for dim sum of this quality. For days after Alissa
and I have been thinking abou those pork buns and even tried to get
some before leaving Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the IFC store was not
open in time for us, but it only gives us more reason to return
again. This should definitely be added to everyone's 'must travel to
eat' list.
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