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2013-04-24
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Read more on my blog: www.jerjerjer.com/timhowanPhew.. it took me quite a while to find all those mandarin names of the dim sum.. but anyway, without further delay, let's get this 菠蘿包 BATTLE started! =DContestant 1: Tim Ho Wan 添好運The Su Pi Cha Shao Bao 酥皮叉燒包 ($4.50 for 3pcs) is what Tim Ho Wan is super famous for and they even have to limit the number of pau’s 1 person can order to 3 pieces. Once you’ve wolfed down all 3 pieces, then that’s it for the day. For $4.50 per 3 pieces, the size of thi
Read more on my blog: www.jerjerjer.com/timhowanPhew.. it took me quite a while to find all those mandarin names of the dim sum.. but anyway, without further delay, let's get this 菠蘿包 BATTLE started! =D
Contestant 1: Tim Ho Wan 添好運
The Su Pi Cha Shao Bao 酥皮叉燒包 ($4.50 for 3pcs) is what Tim Ho Wan is super famous for and they even have to limit the number of pau’s 1 person can order to 3 pieces. Once you’ve wolfed down all 3 pieces, then that’s it for the day. For $4.50 per 3 pieces, the size of this Char Siew Po Luo Pau is considerably smaller than a normal pau and fits nicely into my palm.
I’ve been warned by my friends who went down there before me that the amount of char siew meat inside the pau is quite pathetic. And true enough, the char siew barely even filled up half of the bun. However, the quality of the meat they used is what you would find in a good Chinese restaurant. No complains there.The char siew filling is consistently lean and tasted quite “premium”. haha.. I’m not sure how to explain it, but it’s the kind of char siew pau you would only get in top-end Chinese restaurants. The bun is also very crispy, light and fluffy – it all just crumbles in your mouth, really.
All I needed was one char siew pau to be utterly satisfied, so we ended up dabao-ing the rest. Anyway, after having tasted the quality this char siew po luo pau at Tim Ho Wan, I decided to go on a mini-hunt for other po luo pau myself, to see if I can find anything that’s just as good.
After Google-ing around for a bit, I sniffed out a rather interesting lead located at TripleOne Somerset..
Contestant 2: Imperial Treasure Bakery
For $1.80 per piece, this po luo pau was twice the size of the one you get at Tim Ho Wan and looks a lot more crispy with its golden brown crust. The char siew meat, however, is NO WHERE near Tim Ho Wan’s standard. The char siew filling is too chewy and not very consistent – the kind of char siew you would find at any hawker stall. Plus, the bun turned out to be not that crispy afterall. Instead of crumbling in your mouth, this po luo pau is a little chewier and you still get that “bread/bun” texture when you dig into it.The Winner: Tim Ho Wan 添好運
Well, the 酥皮叉燒包 was not all that I got to try at Tim Ho Wan. We also ordered quite a number of their other famous dim sum. Let’s start with some of my favourites first..
The Pan Fried Carrot Cake 香煎萝卜糕 ($4.50 for 3pcs) is quite awesome. They use Chinese sausages in it to give it this extra flavourful kick and unlike most carrot cake where it’s smooth throughout, you will still get bits of radish in between. Mmmmm.. absolutely yums! =P
Siew mai 烧卖 ($5.00 for 4 pcs) is another must-order dish at any dim sum restaurant. How good a siew mai they serve actually determines how good the restaurant is.. hahaha, no la. I’m just kidding. But the siew mai at Tim Ho Wan is surprisingly better than their Har Gow.
The Har Gow 晶莹鲜虾饺 ($5.50 for 4pcs) was not that great that day.. I had better ones in Melbourne before, where the prawns are super fresh and bouncy. This Har Gow was just average although they did stuff it quite full with prawn meat.
The Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp 鲜虾腐皮卷 ($5.50 for 3pcs) is much better than the one you get at Crystal Jade. The skin is crispy and thin, and it was quite packed with shrimp meat.
I guess the Osmanthus Jelly 杞子桂花糕 ($3.50 for 3pcs) is more of a ladies thing. I wouldn’t recommend you to try this unless you really like the taste of Osmanthus flower (桂花 guìhuā). The jelly is filled with flower petals and one small bite will fill up your mouth with a flower garden in full bloom. =D
Out of the “Big 4 Heavenly Kings” 四大天王 dim sum, the Chee Cheong Fun 黄沙猪肠粉 ($5.50 for 3pcs) is my least favourite! Not only because I’m not a fan of pig’s liver, but also because the chee cheong fun wasn’t silky enough. We also did not get to try the Steam Egg Cake 香滑马来糕 ($3.80) which was sold out that day, but fret not, there’s always another chance to re-visit Tim Ho Wan again.
A word of advice.. Even 2 weeks after the grand opening, the queues at Tim Ho Wan are still just as crazy! Don’t bother going there after 7:30pm hoping to get a table because the staff would have probably closed off the queue by then to ensure that those who managed to join the queue still get to eat before the restaurant closes at 10pm.And be prepared to queue for at least an hour before you get a table (that is if you're lucky enough!). The good thing is that the Tim Ho Wan staff also distributed bottled water to everyone in the queue which is a very nice gesture towards all its patrons. Well, that's what I call awesome service!
Read more on my blog: www.jerjerjer.com/timhowan
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