Hype Put to Rest: Tim Ho Wan, the Best Dim Sum in HK? World?

While the best signifies a place only one can claim, it is funny how this little dim sum place which has been awarded 1 Michelin Star is claimed by the residents to be the best dim sum compared to the 3 Michelin Star one in Four Seasons Hotel.  Or maybe it is just the aunties and uncles. Nonetheless with journalists from all over the globe adding to the hype, the wait for the best dim sum was a catastrophe. Just try for yourself, get on Google and type Tim Ho Wan.  xD.  Major newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald had it featured in its travel section in one of the few weeks before X’mas.

Mom and I came about 10 am to join the already waiting queue when the restaurant had just started opening its doors to customer.  People from all races were in the queue! There was this guy which looked like Mika Hakkinen too ahah.

The insane line which is about 3 to 4  shops long.

As the shops were about to open, the waitress started passing out numbers so that the crowd would disperse. I was no. 22!!!  We waited for awhile until my dad and sister joined us to wait for the dim sum.  And after awhile a Caucasian family came with their translator and asked for a number. I think they got no.200+ HAHAHAHA! They’ll probably only come back @ night since this place is open till 10pm daily!

After waiting for more than an hour, the number was still stuck at no.11 because there was this family of 16 people still inside oh my gosh!! I was astounded when I found out about that family being in there… 16 people @@. O well my hungry tummy could no longer wait so we headed somewhere for a light meal:

Jeng Jeng Jeng.  Super Crispy Roast Pork :P  This place was nearby the dim sum restaurant so we just chilled there for awhile.

No idea what the name of the restaurant is.

Mongkok in B&W.

Even after the pork roast slices, I was still starving.  God my, the hypes fadinggg but as the number gains its paces towards no.22 I was getting stoked.  RWARrrrrrrrr and YESSSS we finally got in after 2 hours of wait @@!

The kitchen that makes all the food is very small.  I guess that is why they only serve 30 customers at any one time.  We ordered whatever that was featured in the newspaper reviews posted outside as well as some stuff we would normally have in a dim sum place as well.

My camera wouldn’t focus on the congee because it was so smooth there was almost no detail for the camera to work on =.=!

The glutinous rice which had lovely yummy well cooked rice which isn’t too soft or too hard. Loved it!

Char Siew Cheong Fun! Rice roll with BBQ pork.  The fillings were one of the best my sister says she has ever tasted.  For me I really liked how this place had me piling heaps of praise on the consistency within each of its dishes.  It really feels refined.

The beef ball did not feel hard to bite into neither was it soft! And I often shun from ordering this dish in most restaurants because the tangerine taste was often too strong :(!  But this one was just fine. Or maybe my hungry tummy locked out the fussiness in me ahah.

Dumplings? :S! Not really sure what this is.  It feels like “Gao Chi”.  But the fillings are totally different from the ones in Malaysia.

This one was FUNNY! Called it like King Siew Mai. But damn hell it tasted like the ones in Malaysia. So JUST this ONE dim sum is not in my good books.  Later in the trip we had another dim sum meal at the hotel, the Siew Mai was like this too =.=!

This Malai Kao?Kow? Ok its some kind of steam cake a Malaysian can find in the market for RM0.50 or more like 10 cents in AUD. lol.  Call it cheap call it market food but this place makes it wonderful.  Its just different, got to try to know.

Pan Fried Radish cake which is one of my favourite whenever I have dim sum! These were a tad different from the ones I would normally have because it has a pinch of bitterness in it.  My mom says they did not wash something of the radish or something like that.  Not quite sure.

This is chickennnnn feet! I liked the sauce but the meat wasn’t soft enough. HAha I remember not liking these when I was young and now hohohoho I’ll eat it if its ordered!

Simple Spring Rolls but I liked the filling.  The pro chef very carefully arranged the prawns in these :)! The colour of the spring rolls look good too right?

Lastly we had these little buns for dessert.  The pressure put on these little delight was massive considering the praises and words I read in articles and blogs. So how was it? Hmmmmmmm…

Hmmmmm….take a look at the filling first….

Haha I’m not telling.  Time to go Hong Kong to try it or if you’re already there, go get yourself one.  They do takeaways too! In fact I saw people buying boxes of it away.

Overall the hype of this restaurant being really good is true, but thinking of the long wait, really, it keeps me feeling unsettled.  I mean 2 hours for food is a bit of an overkill is it not?  But if I happen to pass by and its empty. I would definitely rate this place the hidden gem of Hong Kong. OFFICIALLY. But yea right, the chances of that happening is like having Perth snow.  Almost impossible.  This however shouldn’t deter food loving people from giving it a try.  At least once no?

Regards,

WenY

HK Trip Pt. 2: Peak-nic

After the first day in Hong Kong I forced my dead body out of bed the next day feeling self harassed! But having come from a family with gastric bloodline I’m pretty much in need of a decent morning meal everyday!  After simple pickings of bacons, hash browns, omelette and juices for breakfast, I was my usual energetic self once again.  The breakfast @ Stanford Hotel was ok ok only! They serve the same thing every single day so you can expect to get bored after a few days!  Imagine me staying there for 1 week =.=!! But even though the food is the same, a light one before a good brunch wouldn’t hurt ahah.

After pampering myself by lazing about the hotel bed for awhile, it was time to move on!  The objective of the day was to visit one more tourist spot in Hong Kong!  Our choice was the Peak located somewhere on HK island I think :S! We took a train all the way to Central and from there we walked to the tram station which heads towards the peak.  The ticket which includes a return ticket to the peak as well as entrance to the observation deck costs us about 40 HKD per person.

I was amazed by how modern the place was.  Never would have expected a well done up building.  But I guess this is Hong Kong after all.  It isn’t a super city for no good reasons ahah.  The tram stop was located in a large multi-storey complex which has lots of place to dine, chill and shop.  But of course, everything here is a rip off! We had a drink which was crap and costly at the same time!! (+ no good view)

While the place has quite a fair bit of stuff to do, the main reason a tourist would all the way come up to the Peak was to experience the modern Hong Kong city view from a high vantage point.  The view from above was awesome but sadly, was compromised by modern day pollution derived from the smoke churning factories of the Mainland China.  But I’d believe this is what’s keeping the well-heeled wealthy!

The impressive modern facade of Hong Kong from the Peak.  It’s amazing what you see from higher ground because at the bottom it would be impossible to view much without straining your neck (not an exaggeration) =P!!

My sister!

Me!!! I asked my sister as much view of the city as she could but instead, she got me the view of the fence. Nice one sista!!!

Mom and dad + Haze ahah.  My dad looks like a little boy in this picture! So funny ahaha.

Old Hong Kong lady embracing the sun @ the observation deck.  Having the glamour shot of her life HAHAhaha.  She resembles l some old actress :S!  Maybe it just her pair of bug-eyed sunnies!

It was almost half a day gone by the time we finished going about the Peak.  And that’s excluding the nature walk which only god knows where it would lead us to.  We got back on the tram and was en route to Central once again.  In Central we went to a couple of shops including Comme De Garçons, BAPE Flagship, and Neighborhood.  Filled with plenty of life luxuries, this place is truly for the wealthy.  They even have an Armani Cafe I think @@.  My sister got a tee but nothing there was for me.  CDG PLAY was selling for 900HKD a piece which is not what I was willing to pay!  Also we went to a mall called The Landmark which I was supposed to get my jeans but failed to in the later parts of my trip!! Nudie jeans where are you in Hong Kong? :(!! And also no Marc Jacobs limited tee! Supposedly HK is not licensed to sell it =.=!  Lunch was up next in some Hong Kong fast-food place called Maxim’s MX.  Maxim’s supposedly has a chain of food subsidiaries and that includes the infamous Maxim Cake found inside MRT stations.

Sister’s roast duck noodles which was a flop because the soup was tasteless and the noodles were half cooked!

My safe bet! The tea set which consisted of chips, fries, jelly, mash and French toast.

Roast Meat Combination and Rice for parents! The duck here was pretty good according to them.

After having our meal, we went back to the hotel to chill until evening because there really isn’t much to do in Hong Kong if you’re not shopping or eating ahha.  And because I said so, the next thing we did was eat dinner =.=”

Chinese anyone?  The only thing I see is the understand is the name of the restaurant and coca-cola ahah.  This place is often seen crowded with people eating their famous “Pou Chai Fun” which I think should mean Clay Pot Rice.   Since it takes awhile to get the rice cooked by traditional fire, we had ordered a quicker dish which help hold our hunger still.

More delicious wantons!!  Sometimes when I think of it, the wantons have not changed at all.  Perhaps it is just me getting used to the crude large sized dumplings served in Australia :S

Chicken Riceeeeee in Clay Pot with some mushrooms! It was really tasty hoho! And for that we must thank the sauce which the restaurant gives to mix with the rice. And the picture below is the veteran handling the burning clay pots.

We walked around town again until we were in the mood for dessert:

Hui Lau Shan dessert which claims to be healthy ahah.  Not too sure about that but anyways it was time to get inside and try gain greater understanding about the whole dessert fuss in town.

The Set Menu alongside all the other menu available @ Hui Lau Shan

We ordered the two sets out of the 4 available for X’mas.

Set 1

Sister’s mango + glutinous rice ball drink which also came with:

Radish Cake with XO sauce which I have no idea how to associate XO with the radish cakes in anyway once I tasted it.

Set 2

This was pretty much the same thing I had the other night except this time we had half a serve of coconut milk with it =.=! So “healthy”

The chicken wings with came in my set ahaha. NO WAY IS THIS SET HEALTHY at all.  But the wings were aweeesome!!  Even my dad agreed it was very tasty.

After supper we went back home to sleep haha. Damn piggggggg! But it’s holidays and I likey sleep! No wonder I gained 4-5KG in less than 20 days ahah.  Time to shed those fatsss away!!

More updates soon!  Time to get ready to sleep and go to work again!

WenY

HK Trip Pt. 1: To the Fragrant Habour!

Oh I just got back from work! So freaking hot dammit!  I wish I was back in Malaysia, its like the air conditioner was the fan. There is not chilling in Aus! Even at 12am the mercury was still high in the 20s’! So energy suckin! Gahhhhh! But ok enough ranting for the day, this blog post will be the first part of my trip to HK! :D

The sun was still asleep the moment my databank woke me up, but it was ok because I knew another eventful day is about to begin.  At half past five in the morning, my bags were neatly packed and the Lees were ready to head out.  My uncle came in his new car making us look like VIPs @ the airport hoho!! Feeling so super hungry in the morning (YES! I’m a breakfast person) we headed to the airport canteen after checking the luggage in.  The food was OK but I loveeeee Nasi Lemak! 

 

My kakak in HK airport!

It didn’t take too long and before I knew it, I was already in Hong Kong! Not without a sore back that is.  I totally despise sitting the airplane and that includes MAS! When you’re off in HK the first thing you need to do is get your OCTOPUS CARD. It’s a “Smart Rider” or “Touch n Go”

Octopus card! You can even buy food with it :D!!

Our hotel is located in Mongkok which takes FOREVER to get there with the bloody airport shuttle which cost us 80HKD per head! It was a big mistake because taxi only costs 230HKD for 4 people!  One the way to the hotel!:

Crossing through the tunnel!!

The port!

In Mongkok area after like err 45 minutes?

We checked into the hotel about late 4 or early 5 in the evening, this hotel seems so damn familiar! Mom and dad said it was the same hotel we lived in when we came HK two years ago!

Quite neat but it was pretty small!

The view from my hotel room =.=!!

But don’t worry, got cool stuff to see also hehe :D!

GT-R

We were femished by the time we settled in the hotel.  Sister totally hated the food on the airplane.  MAS served her Omelette with Salmon >.<!  It did not take us too long to decide where about to eat because on the way to the hotel, the bus driver pin pointed us a place famous for its wanton noodles!  When I saw the name I was pleased because I’ve seen someone blog about this place before :)!

The moment we stepped in we were greeted with a smile by the ah sou’s there because seeing the way we were dressed there was not chance to mistake us being locals.  They knew we were tourists ahah.  O well, who cares the food price is fixed.

The typical Chinese shop setup!  The chilli oil is ridiculously spicy FYI.  Not like those in Perth that was is usually tasty!

Wanton noodles without wanton.

Don’t be fooled by this BRAIN looking dumpling. It taste hell good!  It tasted better than the ones I had in HK before this!

Both my dad and sis had this beef brisket noodles which was so nice because the beef meet was super tender and well cooked!

This place did not lack publicity for sure!

Not like I understand wtf they’re blabbing about ahah but yeah, there is definitely some review happening there ahah.

After having a good meal my thoughts that HK food is shit was totally overturned with newer thoughts that the food is actually pretty damn good…. which I was indeed mistaken to have thought the food in HK is good…..(to unfold later) @@ :(!

The HK streets are hectic beyond imagination.  Their mouths would not close even just for a moment.  The streets are dirty too aha.

This was done on a 1/500-1/800 exposure.  People here just don’t ever stop moving =.=! *help*!!

After walking the insanely busy streets of Mongkok, I bought myself a 2 shirts from G2000! Super cheap aahah.  But walking the streets for hours comes with a price :)! A thirsty throat and an unhappy tummy ahahah! Time to fill IT UP! Rwarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Gong Cha bubble tea! It seems popular judging from the queue that formed outside the counter!

The food to go along with these are no stranger to the locals.  It has got to be none other than the SMELLY BEAN CURD and Curry balls! hohoho!

I come to this stall almost every single NIGHT :)!!

Curry fish balls ahah!

Walking walking walking walking walking @@! That’s what I did in HK! The first day mall was Langham Place which had H & M! A UK clothing brand which is similarly priced to Top Man but the clothes are nicer haha.  Dinner was up next which was.. disasterous :(!

The Good:

Sister and Dad!

Mom and I

HK serves pretty good milk tea wherever you go! So there is no hesitation when ordering a thirst quencher! :D!

The Bad:

Cold, Oily, Expensive, NO THANK YOU!

I guess next time I should not expect too much from food in this kinda of area because there were like brothels on its left and right ahha. Dammit!

Our night did not just end there! We finished up we a scenic walk along Kowloon area facing the Hong Kong island!

From HK Island from Kowloon side!

API > 100 every single day :(!

Mind the blur photo! Not everyone has steady hands ahaha.

It was almost midnight if I recall correctly! Such a late night and we were on the way to the hotel to sleep until we saw a dessert place haha.

Just opposite the hotel!

Hak Lo Mai $18

Tong Yuen filled black sesame in ginger syrup!

My Mango with Dragon Fruit with Pamelo fruit all swimming in a mango slushie ahha! ($35)

Okla been typing too much ! Damn sien already!

More updates soon :P

Regards,

WenY