G/F, 9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon // 2788 1226 Who wouldn’t want Michelin starred food for a price that is beyond reasonable. Who wouldn’t want Michelin starred food especially when it’s Michelin starred dim sum that is almost dirt cheap. The answer is no one. And because the answer is no one, if you want to get your hands on the cheapest Michelin starred food at Tim Ho Wan – Dim Sum Specialists then you have to be prepared to wait in queues that could last up to three hours. Luckily for my mum and I, we had a game plan. The night before typhoon eight was supposed to hit HK we came up with the ingenious plan to hit up the furthest Tim Ho Wan branch early next morning to capitalise on the typhoon and the hopes that because of the bad weather no one would be venturing far outside of their homes. So, the next morning after a tumultuous night of thundering, heavy howling winds and non stop rain, my mum and I made our way to Sham Shui Po. The journey was busy as the storm had subsided and people from all nooks and crannies of Hong Kong were coming out and joining the hustle and bustle to get to work. Nervously we sat at the edge of our underground seats, hoping that people wouldn’t be thinking like us and making their way to OUR lunch spot. We were so excited that we actually ended missing our stop and went a little too far. Classic Finally, we got to Sham Shui Po and the walk to Tim Ho Wan was pleasant itself, there is always something so enchanting about the atmosphere post typhoon, the streets were puddly but there was this clean freshness in the air, compliments to the heavy rainfall earlier. Sham Shui Po is a very old area that used to be full of factories. The population is comparatively older and there are many hardware, fabric and repair shops lining the street. 
You get a sense of old Hong Kong here as many people are still semi stuck in the olden ways with repair shops filled with shirtless old men wiping sweat off their brow as they mend cars and other machinery using hand held tools. It was a relief when we saw the giant Tim Ho Wan sign against the backdrop of beautifully run down buildings. There was a small gathering of people outside the store and when we asked for a ticket we were greeted with the “I’m to busy for this” bark of “46”. We were ticket forty six. My face fell as I pondered how forty six people could be in front of us in the queue. It was a bloody typhoon eight last night, stay at home people.
I was coming up with all these horrendous scenarios in my head – “oh my god we are really going to have to wait three hours” and “I’m tired and hungry already, what am I going to do???” All of a sudden miss ‘bark a lot’ gave us a coy smile and beckoned us inside the shop. The double doors opened and we were greeted by the glorious smell of success – a grand total waiting time of five minutes. I really don’t know how that happened.
The restaurant was tiny and it was nothing fancy. It was a true testament that showed that dim sum doesn’t need to be served on glass plates with fancy decoration. The dim sum here is created by former chef to Four Seasons Hotel’s Michelin starred Chinese restaurant. At Tim Ho Wan you get the same brilliant quality dim sum for a fraction of the price. No need for all the extra fanciness, here everything is simple – the menu, the interior, the service. Everything is simple in order to let the real winner shine through – the dim sum. The Must Tries – snowy baked roast pork buns – har gao (shrimp dumplings) – steamed rice rolls – stuffed bean curd sheets The snowy char siu pork buns is a must try. It is probably the best roast pork bun I have ever had. The dough is chewy and the crisp topping is sweet. These buns encase a glorious sweet and salty mix of lean roast pork. So so so so good. I have no other way to describe these buns of treasure apart from the fact that they were so so so so good.
Har Gao (majestic shrimp dumplings) These were so unbelievably juicy. The casing was not too thick and floppy and the shrimp filling was large, generous and so fresh. Stuffed Bean Curd Sheets The stuffed bean curd sheets were so full of flavour. The bean curd had been previously fried and then steamed in a thick flavoursome gravy to give it this wondrous texture.
Steamed Rice Rolls The casing was thick without being too doughy and gloopy. We chose the beef rolls and the beef was cooked with interlacing bits of water chesnut, the beef was moist and tender and so juicy.
All the other dim sum was so good. The flavours strong, the dishes simple, but simplicity always had such an understand elegance. We enjoyed other dishes such as – – fried dace cakes – pork liver and stomach Siu Mai – purple yam and custard sticky cakes – sticky rice My only minor complaint has to do with the sticky rice. Let me first start by saying that at twenty dollars a piece you really are getting a bargain. The sticky rice is huge. After eating it you would be so full. The only problem is that it was too big, I prefer my sticky rice parcels to be small and individually wrapped to ensure the flavours from the meat filling are fully infused into the rice casing. This sticky rice parcel was too big and there was so much rice I found myself digging into its depths in hopes of getting some filling. However, that said, the filling was super, the sticky rice was cooked using traditional ingredients such as fatty pork which is often cut out of modern dim sum recipes as it is deemed too unhealthy. Whatever, hit the gym people there is a reason why people used it in the first place – because it is so damn good!
Sticky Rice
Fried Dace Cakes
Purple Yam and Custard Sticky Cakes
Pork Liver and Stomach Siu Mai
My beautiful mother eyeing the dim sum…. You probably will have noticed that I used the word
juicy
a lot in this entry. It is because everything was so god damn juicy. None of that dried out
I’ve been laid out since six am this morning
dim sum business. Fresh, simple, delicious. That is Tim Ho Wan and finally… Price – $ Value for money – 10/10 (For two of us, we had eight plates of dim sum and the bill came to a total of $167 HKD – the tea charge was $2 HKD per person!!!!) Food – 9/10
hanging with a hung 