It is no longer news that this Michelin Star Dim sum restaurant from HK has long long queues during meal times...the typical waiting time is at least 2hrs long. I was meeting up with my fellow Openricer friends to collect our Gourmet challenge contest prizes at Orchard road area. We decided to try out the food here and brave the queue at 1.15pm.
The queuing area has been moved to indoors due to the haze situation and stools were provided for people in the queue...not too bad. Although the queue may seem long, it only took us about 1 hour to get seated at the restaurant. Small groups of 2pax gets seated faster.
The crowded restaurant...
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| They have 'I Q 3 Hours' Tees on sale.. |
Our simple table setting..
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| Condiments |
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| Worcestershire sauce for the Spring rolls & Beancurd rolls |
We had already filled up the order chit while waiting in the queue...so our food and drinks were served less than 5mins after we had settled down at our table.
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| Ice water is charged at $0.50++ here.. |
I ordered cold barley drink as the restaurant area aircon isn't very strong, plus the huge crowd emits heat and makes the area kinda warm.
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| Barley water $2.00++ |
Here comes our Dim Sum dishes...first up, the Big 4 Heavenly kings (signature dishes) of Tim Ho Wan..
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| Baked bun with BBQ pork 酥皮焗叉烧包 |
The legendary
Baked bun with BBQ pork $4.50++ was served piping hot! The bun is soft and fluffy with flaky 'Bolo bun' crust on top. I had no problem with the bun but the char siew filling is very slimy and wet and overly sweet...verdict, I still prefer my fave
Canton Paradise Crispy Char Siew bun.
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| Pan fried carrot cake 香煎萝卜糕 |
The
Pan fried carrot cake $4.50++ was ermm tasted normal with shreds of radish and some bits of chinese sausages...no wow factor. My fave as of now is still the ones from
Lei Garden...they used premium grade chinese sausages and the carrot cake is super fragrant...the same cannot be said for Tim Ho Wan's carrot cake.
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| Steamed Egg cake 香滑马来糕 |
This unassuming Steamed Egg cake $3.80++ was the winner of the day! It is super soft and fluffy and moist...the nice and light brown sugar fragrance fills the mouth when consumed...thumbs up!
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| Vermicelli roll with pig's liver 黄沙猪润肠 |
The
Vermicelli roll with pig's liver $5.50++. I was really looking forward to taste this but it just didn't work out...the liver was overcooked and not tender and 'powdery' like I expected it to be, and the vermicelli skin is kinda thick...not nice :(
We ordered a few dishes recommended by friends & bloggers...here they are..
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| Spring roll with egg white 赛螃蟹春卷 $4.20++ |
This is good...very crispy and the unique egg white & prawn fillings blends well together, another must try on top of the Steamed egg cake.
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| Beancurd skin roll with shrimp 鲜虾腐皮卷 $5.50++ |
This is nice too...crispy and the prawn fillings were fresh and crunchy..no complains here.
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| Pork dumpling with shrimp 鲜虾烧卖皇 $5.00++ |
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| Prawn dumpling 晶莹鲜虾饺 $5.50++ |
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| Pork rib with black bean sauce 豉汁蒸排骨 $4.20++ |
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| Vermicelli roll with shrimp 韭王鲜虾肠 $5.50++ |
Their Har Gow and Siew Mai were not too bad...although I prefer the ones served at Royal China an Lei Garden. The Pork ribs were kinda bland albeit very tender and juicy. As for the Prawn rice rolls, skin was too thick...again not very nice.
The last main dish before dessert...the Lotus leaf Lor Mai Kai. This one I liked, it had generous serving of chicken meat, mushroom and chinese sausage...not outstanding but delicious though.
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| Glutinous rice dumpling 古法糯米鸡 $5.00++ |
Last but not least, the highly recommended
Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus jelly $3.50++. I liked this too, a very generous amount of wolfberries and osmanthus flower were used...the wolfberries were very sweet! A wonderful dish to finished off the meal.
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| Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus jelly 杞子桂花糕 |
Our spread of 11 dishes before we tucked in...too ambitious for 3 ladies huh?
The queue had subsided at around 3pm...best time to come is tea time.
The service here was prompt and efficient. I would say the quality of food here does not deserve a longer than 30mins queue. My Top 3 fave dishes are Steamed egg cake, Spring rolls and Osmanthus jelly. Prices here are comparable to other Dim sum restaurants but much pricier than Tim Ho Wan in HK.
Tim Ho Wan 添好運
68 Orchard Road #01-29A, Plaza Singapura
Singapore 238839
Opening Hours:
10.00am – 10.00pm (First-come-first-serve basis, no reservations)
