After reading many reviews on Tim Ho Wan, Su and I decided to begin our food hunt this morning. We read online that one might have to queue for 1-4 hours before getting a seat in the restaurant. So, we planned to reach Tim Ho Wan at 9am (1 hour before the opening of the restaurant).
Tim Ho Wan is located at Tuai Yuen Mansion, Phase 2, 2-20 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok. We took the 970X bus and reached in approximately 30 minutes. We had to navigate around before reaching Tim Ho Wan at 9am sharp. Su has a great sense of direction.
At 9am, there wasn’t anyone at all! We were the first (well, that’s what we thought). We decided to walk around and have a drink. I cannot recall the name of the restaurant that we went to have milk tea. It was the worst milk tea I have ever tasted and I barely finished 1/5 of it.
I remember the name, but I will be nice and refrain from naming it here. Hint: Its name sounds uncannily similar to that of a famous chain of restaurants in HK - where my favourite ‘lai yao zhu zai bao’ is found. My ‘lai you zhu’ deserves a post of its own!
It was 9:35am when we walked back to Tim Ho Wan and… lo and behold, there was a long queue!
There were about 45 people in front of us and the restaurant can only seat 32 people (technically, and maybe legally(?), only 21 people). Many of them were tourists.
While waiting, we were given an order form.
As you may notice, there aren’t many choices. We ordered 6 dishes:
- Har gow (shrimp dumplings)
- Siew mai (pork, mushroom and shrimp dumpling)
- Deep fried bean curd sheet roll with shrimp
- Vermicelli roll stuffed with shrimp (chee cheong fun)
- Baked bun with bbq pork
- Osmanthus jelly with goji berries
At 10am, the queue started moving and people streamed into the small restaurant. By an incredible stroke of luck, the stall lady asked for 2 more patrons and we moved right to the front of the queue and were seated in the restaurant! Many people came in groups of 3 or more. Su and I were ecstatic that we didn’t have to wait!
Whilst queuing, we estimated how long we would need to queue - 1 hour. Seeing that many of those who queued were tourists and in groups, I said, ‘But who knows, maybe they will need just 2 more patrons to fill the seats in the first batch at 10am - then we might be asked to jump ahead!’ This DID in fact happen!! Whoohooo! I tried very hard to contain my glee (and to not gloat) when we walked past the groups of people ahead of us to enter the restaurant.
We had the perfect spot in the restaurant - next to the glass pane facing the road, and furthest away from the kitchen. We did not have to cramp and share tables with another people, nor did we have to withstand the steam emitting from the kitchen.
Later, upon our exit from the restaurant, I overheard a group of Singaporeans, who had earlier queued ahead of us, commenting on how Sam & I looked like the girls who had stood right behind them in the queue. Haha!
The restaurant is small but cosy.
The food was served promptly.
Vermicelli roll stuffed with shrimp: HKD$17
Personally, I found the rice rolls to be slightly thick. There was leek in the rice roll which gave an extra crunch with each bite. I thought it was an interesting addition compared to the ordinary shrimp rice rolls.
Deep fried bean curd sheet roll with shrimp: HKD$19
The bean curd rolls were served with vinegar. I liked that all their dim sum were served piping hot! Do beware of putting the entire roll into your mouth unless it has cooled down.
Baked bun with bbq pork: HKD$14
Here comes the most popular dim sum or what is known as their signature dish. The outer layer is sweet and the bottom crispy. The pork filling was deliciously sweet and salty at the same time and the pork was not full of fats! I really enjoyed it. We saved the third bun for our roommate.
A clearer shot of the innards
Siew mai: HKD$20
Har gow: HKD$20
Siew mai and Har gow are two must-order dim sums. The har gow is smaller compared to what I’ve had in other restaurants such as Bosses Restaurant and Peach Garden in Singapore. Nonetheless, the shrimp dumplings were a delight to savour and the shrimps were steamed perfectly. I was really impressed with the siew mai. First, the skin was really thin. Second, there was a generous proportion of shrimp compared to pork and I liked that I could taste the mushrooms!
Osmanthus jelly with goji berries: HKD$10
We ended our breakfast on a perfect note with the osmanthus jelly which was very refreshing.
Okay, enough of food. Now, how much did this entire meal cost?
Add HKD$2 for a cup of refillable tea per person and the bill comes to HKD$104 for two people. Therefore, we each paid HKD$52 = SGD$8.04 = AUD$6.26.
O_O. No wonder it is known as the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant.
Tim Ho Wan is definitely a must-try.
We have a very satisfied customer! <3
I took away teochew-styled steamed dumplings, pan fried turnip cake and steamed egg cake (Malay cake/’Ma lai gou’). Even though they are now in a bit of a soggy mess, they are still very tasty! I can only imagine how good they would have tasted if I had consumed them whilst they were still fresh from the oven.
- Sam
- Su
