Tim Ho Wan - Burwood

I'd been dubious about Tim Ho Wan coming to Sydney for a really long time. Not just the crazy cues but also the outrageous prices. However, for today - my craving for a vegetable dumpling won out. It also helped that there were close to no lines at lunch hour (around 12.30pm).

We weren't super hungry, so we only ordered a couple of dishes. First and foremost, the spinach and shrimp dumplings ($7.80). This had the most amazingly thin crystal dumpling skin super delicious and plentiful spinach filling. YUM! I could eat plates and plates of this I think.

As per all our yum cha experiences, the pork and prawn dumplings had to be ordered ($7.80). This was a huge disappointment. Really dismal looking. Really not any better than siu mai from elsewhere.

The rice rolls with sesame sauce was pretty tasty. Silky smooth rolls drenched in a sweet sesame sauce. Can't really go too wrong.

The last thing we ordered was one of their specials - the crystal shrimp roll with century egg. I've never steamed rice paper rolls before. Now I know that it just becomes really sticky. An epic slab of prawn meat with a small slice of century egg and fish roe. Hubby quite liked this dumpling but I felt like there was waaaaaayyyyy too much prawn meat in this.

I think that Tim Ho Wan in Burwood is not bad. Extravagant prices aside, the service, ambiance and wait times were all quite reasonable.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6/10
Overall - 28/40

Tim Ho Wan (Burwood)
Ground Level Westfield Burwood
Cnr Burwood Road and Wilga Street
Burwood NSW 2134
Tel: 0426 788 708

Tim Ho Wan (2) - Hong Kong

Tim Ho Wan has moved since our last visit and since it was summer and quite hot, cabbing it to the place was much more convenient. This led to us being able to just beat the lunch crowd :)

We ordered their famous baked barbeque pork buns which was really delicious. Soft and flaky bun with steaming hot and tasty barbeque pork pieces inside. Could do with a few more of these!

baked barbeque pork bun

The chicken feet was also quite tasty - steamed and flavoured perfectly well.

chicken feet

The siu mai (pork and prawn dumplings) were chockablock full of flavour and absolutely deliciousness! Simple dish... yet it hits just the right spot!

siu mai

Likewise,the har gow (prawn dumplings) were filled with super tasty and crunchy prawns. The pastry is really thin yet strong enough to encase all that yummy prawn.

har gow

We also had the turnip cake and the steamed pork ribs. Both were good but I guess, wasn't that much more spectacular than the norm.

raddish cake

steamed pork ribs

I think that Tim Ho Wan serves dim sims which are just that tiny touch better than your average yum cha. But as the prices are likewise reasonable which makes this a gem :)

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 8.5/10
Overall - 31/40

Tim Ho Wan
G/F, 9-11 Fook Wing Street
Sham Shui Bo
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2788 1226

One Dim Sim - Hong Kong

Michelin Star Yum Cha place which opens past midnight? We were so there! One Dim Sim is located in Mongkok officially - but is much more accessible coming out of the Prince Edward MTR station. We got here after an epic day of travel from Sapporo back to HK with the absolute worst HK airport customs experience I've had EVER. So it was late, around 11pm ish and I was super hungry.

So there's fluro lights for their sign. The tables are also quite packed up inside. No table cloths - just your generic hard table tops and chairs. You simply just tick the things on the menu that you want to eat, and they steam it to you on the spot. Unfortunately, as we got there quite late at night (they close at 12.30am), a few of their dishes (e.g. baked bbq pork bun) was already sold out. Nonetheless, we took our pick- and the dishes came out a bit quicker than we expected.

pork spare rib and chicken feet rice

har gow - prawn dumpling

siu mai - pork and prawn dumpling

sprouts and prawn dumpling

steamed beef rice noodle (churn fun)

The food was OK. The dumplings probably could have used a few more minutes in the steamer and bits of it was slightly cool. But there was really nothing too special about these dishes - they were quite similar to the standards you get at yum cha at other restaurants in HK, if not a little sub-par. Tim Ho Won, the other Michelin Starred yum cha place we went to in previous years was much more impressive. So I guess, if you're looking for a yum cha place in the dead of the night, yeh - come here. But if you're having yum cha at normal yum-cha having times, this is not really excellent enough to entice me to trek over here (unless you're in the area already).

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 26/40

One Dim Sim
15 Playing Field Road
Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (+852) 2789 2280

Tim Ho Won - Hong Kong

"You want to WHATTT???" was my first reaction when my partner (who normally does not wake before midday in HK) told me that he wishes to line up at 8am for this dim sim place. I was flabergasted. First, lining up at 8am for a shop which opens at 10am? Second, you want to wake up how early?!?!?!?!

Well, it never happened. Instead, we got to Tim Ho Won at 11am. We took a ticket and although we were warned by relatives that we might not be able to get a spot before 3pm, the lovely ticket lady said that just a half-hour wait was on the agenda.

So what's all the hype about Tim Ho Won that is making my sleepihead partner wanting to wake up early? Tim Ho Won is one of HK's one Michelin Star restaurants. In fact, it is the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. They don't allow takeaway (as they are scared that once you take it away, the quality is less good and will reflect less well on their dim sims), and there's only about 20 odd seats inside.

Tim Ho Wan

Waiting outside, you see two different lots of people. You have the young people and the foreigners who are showing up because it's a world-recognised place to eat, and you have the older generation who eat there because that's what they have always done. Despite recent fame, they have not hyped up the prices, making it just as affordable as it always has been. The decor and the service probably hasn't been improved either though LOL.

At the end of the day, it's all about the food. Yum-cha places are seriously, ALL OVER HK. To beat the rest of the pack and to stand out above all other yum-cha places, you'd probably have to be pretty spectacular. To my amazement, there was just one "special" type of dim sim. The ...cha siu bao... the rest of the dishes were just you're average joe that you can get at all other places except like BETTER. Everything made fresh to order.

The baked BBQ pork bun was something quite special. Like a pineapple bun (Po Lo Bao) coating but uber flaky and fresh. The whole bun was like... "OMG what am I eating? I don't know but it's delicious!" The bbq pork inside was tasty and complemented the flaky softness of the bread perfectly. It was truely something! But I can see how this is one of those dishes that probably taste better when eaten right away (and not taken away).

baked BBQ pork bun - HK$12

The chicken glutinous rice was HUGEness. It looked normal, but inside, it tasted much more yummy than the normal ones. The rice was sticker and chewier and tasted super delicious. Inside, it was stuffed with heaps and heaps of chicken and chinese sausage filling. Mmm.

Chicken glutinous rice - HK$20

A pretty spectacular dumpling was the steamed catfish, celery and turnip dumpling. I love dumplings and I love turnip so the combination of both was excellent. It was subtly sweet, the outside skin was super thin yet held it's shape. Lots of filling and flavours exploding from inside - it was pretty amazing.

steamed catfish, celery and turnip dumpling - HK$12

The deep fried yuba shrimp roll was something my partner was pretty flabaghasted about. The tofu sheet was really deep fried crispiness. Although it was the same stuff as normal yum cha, it was definately on a different level altogether.

deep fried yuba shrimp roll - HK$16

That was the same story for most of the dim sims. Same stuff but on an entirely different calibre. Everything was fresh, ingredients were awesome and everything was steamed to order. Especially the steamed beefball with bean curd skin - it was sooooooooooooo nice. Tender and soft and whilst normal looking, it tasted anything but normal. I think I'm salivating just thinking about how awesomely yummy everything was.

steamed rice roll sutffed with BBQ pork - HK$15

steamed fresh shrimp dumplings - HK$18

steamed chicken feet with black bean sauce - HK$12

pan-fired turnip cake - HK$10

steamed pork and shrimp dumpling - HK$18

steamed spareribs with black bean sauce - HK$12

steamed beefball with bean curd skin - HK$12

In all, this place is amazing. Seemingly a simple, small, packed and cramped yum-cha place but with superbly fresh and delicious dim sims. I strongly recommend lining up early - or taking a ticket early. If you take a ticket and go for a walk and you miss your number when you get back, it's actually OK - you get put on a separate shorter list so as long as you come back before 3pm. Don't expect superb service, but just awesomely cheap and delicious food. All up for the 5 of us, it was around HK$200 (ie. less than AUD$30!!!)

Ratings:
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 9/10
Overall - 32/40

Tim Ho Wan
Shop 8, 2-20 Kwong Wa Street
Mong Kok, Kowloon
Tel: +852 2332 2896
open daily 10am - 10pm

Excellent Chinese Restaurant - Carlingford

It was after church one Sunday - and I had a craving for siu mai (pork and prawn dim sims). It was 2pm and my hopes of going yum cha were expecting dissappointment - that is, until we rock up to Excellent Chinese Restaurant in Carlingford and find a line of awaiting patrons. A line at 2pm??? seriously?

We wait nonetheless and were seated not before too long. First thing I flagged down was the har gau (prawn dumplings). The skin of these dumplings were slightly broken - evidence of slight over steaming - but the prawn filling was yummy, tasty and elasticy texture (of freshness) inside. Not bad for a hungry stomach.

har gao

The dish my partner flagged down was the lo mai gai (lotus leaf rice with chicken and pork mince and chinese sausage). This was a good and bad choice. Good choice in that the thing was hot, the rice was cooked pretty perfectly and the portion of filling/rice/sauce was almost perfect. Bad in that it was sooooo filling that we pretty much couldn't eat anything else afterwards LOL.

lo mai gai

Hence, our last order for the day was what we initially came to yum cha for... the siu mai. YUM. Super super tasty and yummy (maybe because I just like all siu mai - especially freshly steamed ones) and I would sooooo go for 2nds and 3rds but my stomach was protesting in lotus leaf rice fullness :P

siu mai

All up, food here is good. Service and ambiance? it's a Chinese restaurant - you get what you think you get.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 27.5/40

Excellent Chinese Restaurant
Carlingford Rd (cnr Carlingford Rd & Rembrandt St)
Carlingford
NSW 2118
tel: (02) 9873 6113

Prince Restaurant - Parramatta

Spur of the moment Yum Cha in Parramatta - we chose Prince Restaurant on Church St.


When we got there, we were promptly escorted to our table. And that's probably where the decent service ended LOL. Our first encounter with bad service occurred with us getting tea. They completely neglected to ask us if we wanted, and what type of tea we wanted. When we desperately looked around for a waiter (and was duely ignored), we finally got a non-waiter to pass the message (of what tea we wanted) onto a waiter. She umm... took ages. So long in fact, that we managed to get another waiter to get us the tea. And yes... eventually, we ended up getting two (of the same teas).

Food-wise was a bit better. There was the short spare ribs in plum sauce. This is my partner's favourite dish. And admittedly, it really wasn't bad. The meat was tender and the taste, not overpowering.

pork ribs in plum sauce

We also ordered chicken feet in black bean sauce. These were like any other - not bad.

Chicken feet in black bean sauce

Then my favourite - Siu Mai (prawn and pork dumplings). These were slightly disappointing. They weren't as good as siu mai's from other yum cha places. They also had a slight wierd taste to it that I couldn't quite put my finger on...

Siu Mai

The beef tripe, on the other hand, was very very much yummy. Very oily though. But taste before health ... right? (ish?)

Beef Tripe

Now here's a new invention. It's like a combination seafood steam dumpling. There were baby clams/pippies and other wierd tiny seafoody marinara mix encased in an oversteamed, super-thick, somewhat gooey white outer layered skin topped with umm... caviar type substance that didn't really taste like anything. I was not a fan of this wierd tasting and wierd looking thing...

Seafood dumpling

We also had a lou mai gai (lotus leaf rice). Inside the lotus leaf is a glutinous rice ball with egg yolk, dried scallop, mushroom, chicken, shrimp and chinese sausage. This appeared very much quite fresh and my partner loved every bit of it.

Lotus leaf rice

And lastly, we ordered egg tarts fresh from the oven. Because they were freshly taken out of the oven, these are probably one of the best egg tarts we have ever eaten. Everything about this egg tart just seemed right. The flaky puff pastry, the crumbly type (my partner's fav) was suprisingly light, crispy and fresh. The middle eggy bit was also nice and hot. Because eating this was such an enjoyable experience, my partner decided to order three more plates (takeawayed... and no, we didn't eat them LOL).

Egg tarts

So... the egg tarts (takeaway) were delivered by a nice friendly kitchen hand "ah sum", after which, we were again met with bad service. We wanted the bill. AND we had asked for it... AND waited for it... for like half an hour... They had started to corden off bits of the room with room separater thingis and we were basically claustrophobicised into a tiny cordened-off bit of the restaurant. The waiters also saw us in the room and rudely asked us if we'd gotton the bill yet... Then we waited some more. When the lady FINALLY came with our bill we placed money on their plate and expected her to take the money away, only to be met by her somewhat rude comment that we ought to take it to the counter ourselves... er... ok?

Anyway... crap service aside, the food was pretty good. The price was also very much quite good. For so many dishes (including 3 takeaways), the final bill was $50.30. Not bad at all.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 28/40

Prince Restaurant
100 Church street,
Parramatta
NSW 2150
Tel: (02) 9891 5888

Rhodes Phoenix Chinese Restaurant - Rhodes

This post is long overdue... my partner said he'd take care of it... but then conveniently forgot about it :P

Rhodes Phoenix Chinese Restaurant

In search of yum-cha food, my partner and I found ourselves at Rhodes Phoenix, a Chinese restaurant I've heard lots of good reviews about, but have been dying to try out.

On this particular Saturday (as I expect with every Saturday), this restaurant was packed out. Luckily, requiring only a 2-person table, we were happily seated within 15 minutes or so.

We sat, got our tea, and piled our table up with food. One of my partner's all-time favourites is salt-and-pepper squid. Palely deep fried and dusted with salt and pepper and topped with chilli, this dish was quite delectable and extremely addictive. The squid was soft, chewy and very easy to eat. Although I'm not as great a fan of salt-and-pepper squid, I thought this was quite amazing and probably would not have stopped my partner from ordering another plate of it (and that's saying something).

Salt and Pepper Squid

Another of my partner's favourites is the chicken feet in brown sauce. Again, this was quite very much an awesome dish. It was cooked almost perfectly, drenched in an almost perfect proportion of sauce and the sauce was almost perfectly tasting. Mmm... An ordinary dish taken to the ultimate deliciousness level.

Chicken Feet

The pork ribs was pretty much devoured by my partner who loved every moment of the soft tender and well-seasoned meat. I didn't get much of eating this, but the little of it that I did manage was quite satisfying.

Pork rib

Now onto my har gau (prawn dumpling). This was again, awesomely amazingness~ The prawns were super fresh tasting, with that cruchy fresh crisp feeling - not that icky mushy off-prawns taste. The dumpling skin was also very nicely done... not too thick, yet doesn't break at the touch of your chopsticks.

Har Gau

Last but not least, the pork and prawn dumpling (siu mai). This was surprisingly average. Other than it being fresh and steaming, it was just as tastey as most other siu mai's at other places. Still nice though... just not extraordinary.

Siu Mai

Well, as you may have gathered, the eating experience was extremely good. The food fresh and tastey. The service was normal - gave us tea when we needed it. A little pricier than most places. A little more comfy and quiet (due to high ceilings) than most places. Generally, a place I would love to revisit :)

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 30.5/40

Rhodes Phoenix
Level 5
Rhodes Shopping Centre
1 Rider Blvde
Rhodes, NSW 2138
tel: (02) 9739 6628