Tim Ho Wun (???) ? cheapest michelin star restaurant

G/F, Phase 2, Tsui Yuen Mansion

2-20 Kwong Wa St

Mong Kok, Hong Kong

2332 2896

Over the coming weeks / months there may be a few posting regarding some of the ‘highlights’ from my trip through bits of Southern India, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macao and China earlier this year.

The first stop: Hong Kong. Arguably the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world: there is next to no service, no panoramic views, they use plastic crockery and a tick sheet menu. It has an almost sardine-squeeze of an interior, scattered with puny tables and spaces in between just enough to allow the waiters to pass. This place relies purely on its divine dim sums, and has conquered the extremely picky palates of Hong Kong and brought in eager foodies from across the globe ? end result epic queues of 2-3hours+?

Note: since the entire menu is in Chinese, I’ll have a crack at translating?

????? (“har gao” – crystal prawn dumplings with chives and shrimp). The skin is so delicate, with just that right amount of bounce! Heaven!!!

????? (“siu mai”- pork and mushroom dumpling) Super juicy meat! I wonder if they used pork lard to make it so nice…

?????(“chao zao zheng fan guo” – sticky-skinned and translucent Teo chew dumplings)  Just look at how transparent and glistening the skin is!

????? (“gnau yok kao”, or steamed beef meatballs wrapped in tofu skin) Each piece literally melts in your mouth. Wrapped in tofu – where???

?????(“sin har cheung” ? steamed rice noodle roll, prawn); ????? (“ngao yok cheung” ? steamed rice noodle roll, beef); ????? (“har siu cheung” ? steamed rice noodle roll, barbecue pork - sorry no photo…). The silky smooth skin of the rice noodle rolls was divine~! Whilst it was so soft and paper thin, it was able to hold together with just the right amount of elasticity. Oh my god, I want more! P.S. Apologies to Ms BL for having her hands in a lot of the photos, since she was sitting opposite the camera, and clearly very very eager to dig in.

????? (Cotton wool chicken – ie. super soft)

Bottom right: ????? (marinated fish); top right: ????? (“ma lai go” – steamed sponge cake), top left: “Har Gao”

?????(“fong zao” ? marinated chicken feet) I wonder where photos of this went…hmm. Soft and gelatinous!

????? (crispy skin rendition of char sui bao – barbecue pork buns) This was probably one of the highlights of the day!

…”These are not your usual puffy white pork buns. We tear the incredibly short pastry open to find a filling of sweet smoky char siu pork floating in velvet-smooth hoisin gravy. Its delicious sweet saltiness echoes the flavours of the buns’ crumbly pastry, which I suspect has been made with lots of sugar, salt and lard, hence its decadence. (The Flower Drum sometimes serves a similarly decadent pastry made with foie gras that has the same lightness of texture).

It is an OMG moment when pastry and filling marry in my mouth. Pig fat loves sugar, and with the dark richness of the sauce and that ridiculously light pastry, it’s like tasting with a full orchestral backing. This is a char siu bao to spoil me for every other version I have had, or suspect I will ever have. Now I understand that the silence was out of respect for the food.”… (See: The Age Epicure )

????? (“ham sui kok” – deep fried savoury pork and taro dumpling) The crunch is marvellous with a thick dollop of savoury good’ness inside.

?????(“lo bak go” ? pan fried radish cake) Soft and crisp all at the same time! Radish aroma was soooooo sweet.

????? (“guai fa go” ? Goji Berry & sweet osmanthus sweet cake) ? floral and sweet. Very ‘Q’ (Asian equivalent for al dente, but used to describe the bouncy nature of noodles, gelatins and what not)

Rating: Yummy+2 ~ exquisite flavours that hit all the right notes. Best ever yum cha I’ve ever had in my life!!! And only for what? A measly $200+HKD between 4 people. That works out to be around $9AUD each. IF ONLY I lived permanently next to this place?

Photos courtesy of Mr CK. And many thanks to Ms BL, Ms AL and Mr CK for coming with me, so I could try more of their awesome dim sums. =)