Dim Sum Quest

As a kid, I used to hate going to yum cha with the family. I much preferred what I thought was refined American cuisine - namely, ribs at Ruby Tuesday's or cheeseburgers at Dan Ryan's. When I was forced to eat dim sum, I would sullenly refuse everything save the cha siu bao's, and I'd sit at the table with my earphones on in an attempt to drown out the cacophony of noises from the surrounding guests.

Since coming back from university in Boston, I've grown to love dim sum and crave it on a weekly basis. I recently tried 2 establishments that have engendered an almost cult following: Tim Ho Wan (添好运) in Mong Kok and Lin Heung (莲香楼) in Sheung Wan.

Tim Ho Wan's owner, a prevous chef at the Four Season's Lung King Heen, opened this hole-in-the-wall dim sum joint in order to provide 5-star food to the local masses. It has since received much fanfare, most noticeably in the fact that it has now become a 1-Michelin starred restaurant. I was curious to see whether it lived up to its fame so ventured out on an early Saturday morning in hopes of beating the crowd. The restaurant is pretty hard to find and the lines were already forming when I arrived at 11:30am.

har gau

Probably my most enjoyed dish here. the skin was not too thick, had a pleasantly chewy texture, and the fillings were substantial with large, juicy prawns. However, there was a slight lack of flavour that I had to remedy with dousings of sweet soy sauce from the har cheong:

har cheong

This is my favourite dim sum dish but it turned out to be a bit of a failure here. I much prefer the version from Tasty Congee in IFC!

cha siu bao

The famed cha siu bao was also a let down. It felt really greasy and overly sweet. The one at Victoria City Seafood in Sun Hung Kai Bldg (Wan Chai) far exceeds this. While the version at Tim Ho Wan is much cheaper, i'd definitely fork out the extra money for Victoria City.

chiu chow dumplings

Skin was thicker than that of the har gau and it felt over-steamed. The texture was quite...wet? Pretty mediocre if you ask me.

We also tried the ham sui gok which was soo oily (again, prefer Tasty Congee's version and it's not even a dim sum restaurant!), and the lor mai gai which was actually decent. Too bad my iPhone photos came out poorly.

All in all, I found the dim sum pretty mediocre and I definitely wouldn't line up again for this - nor trek all the way to remote parts of Mong Kok at 11am! Sure, the prices are cheap but you can get much better quality in much more comfortable surroundings elsewhere.

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Last Sunday, I finally got around to trying Lin Heung, after walking past the restaurant on multiple occasions and vowing each time to give it a shot. This is a really old-school dim sum house where it feels as if nothing has changed since it first opened in the 1920s. Everything is utter chaos and you have to be prepared to hustle for your food. I felt like I was in a sporting match - whilst my friend preferred the analogy of a trading floor.

It was pretty amusing seeing some of the foreigners come in looking absolutely clueless, until I realised that locals were staring at my confused expression with quite the same delight.

Unfortunately, we arrived relatively late at about 1:30pm and a lot of the dim sum staples were already sold out. Nevertheless, we made do with what was on offer. Armed with our game plan (one of us would rush towards wherever the crowd was forming, hopefully bring back food, and then the next person would be sent into the fray - tag team style) we managed to procure a number of dishes:

beancurd roll

Really enjoyed this dish - the tofu skin was light and silky, and the fillings (chicken, pork, mushroom, and fish maw) were absolutely delicious! Each ingredient complemented the next and the dish was so flavourful.

pork spareribs

This was my favourite dish of the meal. This was succulent, juicy, and absolutely delicious. It was on the oily side but it would have paired beautifully with rice.

some kind of jioa zi with shrimp filling

I thought this was pretty ordinary, though I was surprised to see it stuffed with shrimp rather than pork.

siu mai

Pretty standard but packed with huge chunks of pork. I actually still prefer the siu mai you get off the streets though :P

lian rong bao

I've heard great things about the buns at Lin Heung and was looking forward to trying a cha siu bao but unfortunately they were all sold out by the time I arrived. This was the only bao left. The minute I picked it up, I was shocked by how heavy it was!! This was probably the densest bun I've ever had, akin to mooncake! The lotus seed paste was a little too sweet for me and I couldn't finish the whole thing. It doesn't help that I hate salted egg yolk as well.

my lai gou

This was good - Not sure if it's the best I've had but it held its own.

bo lei tea

Glad we ordered bo lei as it helped cut through all the grease in our meal!

I'm glad we came to this restaurant. While the food definitely won't blow you away, the atmosphere is something you'll be hard pressed to find elsewhere. It was quite exhilirating to fight for your food and I felt a huge sense of accomplishment when I managed to wrestle my way to the front of the crowd and return to my table victorious! It certainly gave an added appreciation to everything I was eating :) I only wished I was there earlier to try the cha siu bao's and cheong fun's. That said, I doubt I'll be back anytime soon. One time was more than enough excitement.

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Tim Ho Wan
Shop 8, Taui Yuen Mansion Phase 2
2-20 Kwong Wa Street,
Mong Kok

Lin Heung Teahouse
160-164 Wellington Street
Central

ABC Kitchen

I really enjoy ABC Kitchen, though surprisingly never really liked M at the Fringe. The food at ABC is hearty, good value, and served with a whole lot of love. What's more, the fact that it's in a cooked food market means I get to sample food from the other stalls too :) I've tried the 饺子 at 老北方饺子馆 which were delicious, as well as the 扬州炒饭 from 陈财记, but today we opted to pair ABC with Indian food.

We started the meal with delicious bread rolls. Usually I'm not a fan of their homemade bread which I find too doughy. However, they seem to have changed their rolls from the herb ones they usually offer to these:

It tasted almost like cheese bread and was absolutely delicious, served fresh out the oven! I didn't want to fill up on bread but couldn't help polishing these off.

First dish to come was my favourite dish at ABC:

linguine carbonara ($58)

Usually I prefer tomato sauce to cream, but this is an exception. The sauce is pretty rich but somehow, doesn't make me feel sick as normally happens - perhaps because I make sure to exercise portion control when it comes to this dish :P But the pasta was cooked perfectly, served with a generous amount of ham, and is always an absolute delight to eat. It helps that it's great value too! Note: you have to order it off-menu during dinner service.

chicken satay

We also sampled some chicken satay and naan from the Indian restaurant next door. I took one bite out of the satay and passed on the rest. I really miss good Malaysian/Singaporean satay!! The naan was alright but I preferred the homemade bread from ABC. Here's our array of "starters":

Bizarre combination eh? :)

Moving on to what everyone comes to ABC Kitchen for:

roast suckling pig ($118)

Mmm...The crackling skin was delicious and the meat is super tender and juicy. The only complaint I'd have is that there's quite a bit of fat, but after careful carving I had perfect mouthfuls of skin and meat, sans fat. I love the mashed potatoes as well. The portions at dinner are significantly larger than the ones during lunch, although I believe they cost the same?

All in all, this was a delicious, comforting meal and I left with a big smile. Probably went a bit overboard on the ordering as there were just two of us plus a whole lot of carbs!

A precaution though - I've come to ABC quite a few times now and my regular orders tend to be the linguine, suckling pig, and perhaps the soft shell crab or chicken. Some of the other dishes haven't fared as well. The steak diane came out tasting like mushy hamburger meat, the pizza (available at lunch) was definitely not a pizza, and their desserts once drove me to ordering a McFlurry later on in the night. Needless to say, I declined to order any this time round. Also, while I love the fact that it's in a cooked food market (prices are cheap, you can order other food, and they still spruce it up with cute chequered tablecloths), be prepared for the inevitable fly or two.


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ABC Kitchen
Shop 7, Queen Street Cooked Food Market
Sheung Wan

Just a Restaurant

I've never actually eaten at 798 but I've come to JAR on 3 occasions now and must say, I'm rather torn. I like the ambiance, which is simple and fresh; the service, which is efficient and friendly; and above all the complimentary bread, which always leaves me wanting more.

On my previous two occasions (once for lunch, once for dinner), I've enjoyed a couple of their dishes, most notably the tagliatelle with tiger prawns, served with a very refreshing lemon cream sauce and sizeable prawns. However, their grilled flatbread (which I had heard so many rave reviews about) was uninspiring and left me craving either a plain pita or at the other extreme, pizza. Perhaps my expectations were too high? Worse though was the Secreto de Iberico which I found dry, tough to chew, and served lukewarm (though to be fair, the apple-rhubarb chutney was a hit and I doused all my meat in it). That dinner ended with earl grey panna cotta which I was really excited about. However, the consistency was a bit strange being more rubbery than creamy - perhaps too much gelatin. Or again, my overly high expectations.

The lunch menu is good value and I enjoyed their salad bar and vanilla bean ice cream, though my main of risotto with slow-braised oxtail was unmemorable.

YET, I still returned for a third dinner visit.

warm bread rolls, served in a sack filled with hot stones :) cute.

baby spinach & sweet corn salad with bacon and poached egg ($88)

i enjoyed everything about this salad except the egg. it was so bland and may have been the biggest disappointment of a poached egg i've had in a while. where's the salt???

chargrilled squid & chorizo ($65)
quite enjoyed this, especially the squid.

half roasted farm chicken ($150)
sorry you can't see much of it but the skillet was too heavy to turn haha. it was a huge half chicken though and the manager was sweet enough to offer to carve it up:

looks like he's carving peking duck! yummmm

he even did the corn :)
though watching him was the most enjoyable part of this dish. the chicken was cold, dry, and lacked the crispy skin i look so forward to in roast chicken.

creme brulee ($5o)
this was huge. not much to complain about.

peking duck carving became the norm throughout the night. though i wished that was what i was eating rather than bland chicken...

Hm...so will I return? Maybe for a lunch as I've been wanting to try their Boston lobster roll, something I've yet to find in Hong Kong elsewhere. But I'm in no rush to head back for dinner.

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Jar
2/F, 8 Lyndhurst Terrace
Central

Le Parisien

After a session of kickboxing, the best reward is something deceptively simple: Joel Robuchon's baguette parisienne. This tastes almost like the ones I used to get while living in Paris. I was lucky enough to live next door to Arnaud Delmontel, a boulangerie that won "la meilleure baguette de paris" in 2007, the year I was there. It was great being able to trek over in my jammies for an early morning fix of freshly baked baguettes - plus each morning trucks would come to cart over baguettes to the Palais de l'Elysee for Sarkozy to eat! Made me feel all the more privileged.

Joel Robuchon's don't quite live up to those in Paris, but they definitely come close. Whenever I'm missing Paris, I always turn to this:

sandwich parisien - w/ camembert cheese

While I love ham and camembert cheese, I would be just as satisfied eating this baguette with a generous serve of butter. I love l'ancienne, these traditional baguettes with the pointy-ends. The ones at Robuchon are great with a hard crust, chewy texture, and insides that are...a bit of both! Plus with large irregular air holes, you know they weren't made industrially :)

Baguettes are bliss. I miss those days in Paris where 60 centimes could buy such happiness!


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Le Salon de The, de Joel Robuchon
Shop 315, 3/F
The Landmark
Central

Sushi Hiro (TST branch)

Sushi is something I never tire of and I love the sushi at Sushi Hiro! The first time I tried it was in the Causeway Bay branch at Henry House, home of many Japanese restaurants. On a side note, I always want to call it Oh Henry house - I guess because I'm permanently missing and craving this:

Why oh why can't you find them in Hong Kong??

Further tangent... I discovered Lays Ketchup Chips recently when a friend brought them back from Toronto. They are AMAZING and I can't believe I never tried them in the States. Anyway, I finally found them in Hong Kong, right by where I live!! There's a small grocery store on Third Street called MiniMart (they have a facebook page) which stocks a bunch of US products. I often drop by to get my fill of Quaker's Hot Oatmeal (Maple & Brown Sugar) - this was my go-to breakfast on cold Boston mornings. Anyway, they finally started stocking Lays Ketchup Chips!!!! They're charging a pretty hefty premium - each small pack costs $15. But they are so worth it. And I guess the price is a good thing, it means I might be able to exercise some self-restraint :p

Anyway...Sushi Hiro. I tried the TST branch for dinner one night and I think I might have enjoyed it even more than the one in CWB! Sure the restaurant is pretty no frills and the service isn't exactly up to par, but the price you pay is for the quality of the fish which definitely exceeds expectations (so many sidenotes but 'exceeds expectations' always makes me think of Harry Potter and his OWL results)

chu toro was delicious and better than o-toro which I find too fatty.

selection of sushi. loved the scallop.

assortment of sashimi. again the scallops and tuna were amazing :) hamachi was great too and i loved how thickly cut the sashimi was!

cod fish sashimi was my favourite though. this was my first time trying it - it's a bit tougher to chew but the texture really grew on me.

grilled halibut cheek.

perfect end to any meal.

Definitely recommend going to Sushi Hiro for their lunch sets too. I always get their Sushi Gozen - a selection of 9 sushi's and one roll for only $140. Definitely a steal considering the quality. Their toro taku don is really good too, though I'd be just as content eating the ones at Doraya:

Cheap, hearty, real comfort food.

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Sushi Hiro
7/F, Toy House
100 Canton Road
Tsim Sha Tsui

MiniMart
Shop 72K
Fook Moon Building
Third Street, Sai Ying Pun

Doraya
Basement
10, Cameron Road
Tsim Sha Tsui