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Restaurant Review: Michelin-Star Hong Kong Dim Sum

4/28/2016

8 Comments

 
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This is a Guest Ghost Post. It’s a guest post because the experience was not mine, it was my husband’s. But he doesn’t write, so I ghost-wrote it for him. I don’t think he writes at all. In fact, the only things he reads are Harry Potter and the Bible. One of the many reasons we get along!

On his last trip to Hong Kong, his hometown, he tried a Michelin star restaurant, a dim sum place called Tim Ho Wan. He promises to take me when we next go to Hong Kong. I’ve never eaten in a Michelin-anything restaurant!​

Dim sum, for the uninitiated, is a Cantonese-style breakfast/lunch food consisting of small, shared plates of dumplings, meats, tofu, buns, and other steamed or fried treats. It’s really a fun and lively eating experience because the servers usually bring the food around on carts, everybody picks what they want, things get loud, and you can spit bones on your plate.  Taste everything and get more of the yummy stuff when the server comes back by, while avoiding anything you don’t fancy. Cantonese restaurants are generally cacophonous, servers are brusque, and the food is delicious.
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The exterior of the restaurant is a standard for a Hong Kong mid-size restaurant--not too elaborate.
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A picture menu is in the window.
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The interior is shiny and noisy. This is pretty spacious for a Hong Kong restaurant!
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​The server slaps down your utensils.
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And gives you a menu. At Tim Ho Wan, they don’t bring the food on carts. You check off the dishes you want on the menu.
Here’s what Sam and friends ordered:
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Baked bbq pork buns. They take pork and turn it into a desert. You can’t go wrong with this one.
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Steamed beancurd skin roll filled with meat and vegetable. If you don’t like beancurd (tofu), this is a good time to start liking it.  It’s the little pillowcase that the meat and veggies sleep in. Just try it.
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​Chicken feet! No lie, these are chicken feet. I personally don’t enjoy them because there’s not much meat, and you have to work pretty hard getting it off those tiny little toe bones. (Sam says Chinese people love to wrestle the meat off the bones--it’s a kind of sport.) The flavor is is terrific, though. You just put the whole toe in your mouth, chomp around to get the meat, and sit out the bones. Yes, on your plate. Everybody’s doing it.
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Vermicelli roll stuffed with beef. Ok, you can take this one to the bank.
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Vermicelli roll stuffed with shrimp. Also bankable.
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Steamed dumplings in chiu chow style. These dumplings are a treasure trove of veggies, shrimp, and nuts. The nuts give them a nice texture.
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Meatballs.  Enough said.
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Steamed pork dumplings. Just that. Simple, tasty.
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Steamed shrimp dumplings. This one is the classic dim sum dish. It’s just shrimp in a rice wrapper. So why is it so good? I have no idea, it just is.
Sam usually ranks our local California dim sum restaurants anywhere from 3-7, and Hong Kong’s dim sum places from 9-10. This one, however, he ranked 13! The dishes were comparable to other restaurants in selection and style, they were just better in every way. The wrappers held the dumplings together without falling apart when you transport them to your plate. The shrimp was perfectly cooked, retaining a bouncy texture. Everything just tasted better than usual. Nothing was smushy or undercooked. The service was fast and professional, no American-style kissing up, but prompt and with a good attitude.

By the way, Chinese restaurant waiters operate differently than American waiters. They aren’t assigned to particular tables in Chinese restaurants, and every waiter waits on every customer. No waiter is going to tell you his name and assure you that he’s there to take care of you tonight. He will never come back to your table to make sure you have everything you need. There will be no smiling. If you want something, wave. They split all the tips, so it’s probably fair. It’s just a different system.

I can’t wait to get to Hong Kong and try this place! We’ll see if my American taste buds can discern the difference between delicious and exceptionally delicious.

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8 Comments
Sam
4/28/2016 01:30:28 pm

It is not true that I only read Harry Potter and the Bible! Among my favorite authors are James Joyce, Henry James, Jane Austen, Thomas Mann, as well as Homer and Aristotle, and various Chinese Classic writers. But nowadays, I do find Harry Potter and the Bible to be my constant companions. And dim sum is wonderful! 😍

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Yvonne
4/28/2016 01:41:05 pm

Wow, never poke a sleeping dragon--he might poke back!

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Suzanne DSpain
4/28/2016 06:59:03 pm

Interesting and informative, but thanks, I'll eat at Panda Express in the strictly American version of "Chinese food."

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Yvonne
4/28/2016 07:38:33 pm

I take that as a challenge!

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Randall
4/29/2016 02:32:33 pm

Argh, Panda Express is further from Chinese food than Taco Bell is from Mexican! I recall a dim sum place we went to with the Keener's in the Bay Area that was exactly as you described this place, except they had both cards and carts. It was both fun and yummy.

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Yvonne
4/29/2016 03:09:00 pm

I agree that Panda Express if far from ideal, but every time we go to the mall food court, that's where Sam wants to eat! I guess it's close enough. Closer than Sbarro.

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Michelle
5/17/2016 10:10:30 am

I still don't quite get the chicken feet, but I do recall the dim sum place you took us to in SF and in particular the shrimp dumplings and mango drink with tapioca balls in it. When we come to see you in HK, take us there!

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Yvon
5/19/2016 06:33:02 pm

Are you kidding?! You couldn't avoid Hong Kong dim sum if you tried!

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