Tim Ho Wan--One Michelin Star Dimsum Place

I can finally say I've eaten in a Michelin-starred place, yay! It happened last week while I was on a short break in HongKong.
According to Wikipedia: The Michelin Guide (French: Guide Michelin [ɡid miʃlɛ̃]) is a series of annual guide books published by Michelin for over a dozen countries. The term normally refers to the Michelin Red Guide, the oldest and best-known European hotel and restaurant guide, which awards the Michelin stars...
The guide awards one to three stars to a small number of restaurants of outstanding quality. One star indicates a "very good cuisine in its category", a two-star ranking represents "excellent cuisine, worth a detour," and three stars are awarded to restaurants offering "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey".
And how was my experience? It was a loooooooooooooooong wait. We arrived before 10:30 A.M. (after going down a sketchy alley) and there was a line already. We were given the yellow menu sheet (in Chinese) on which our number (16) was written and we had to tick our orders. We were told to come back after an hour so we walked to the nearest Starbucks and warmed our tummies with coffee, ignoring the pastries--we wanted to be ready for the best Dim Sum in HK!

When we came back, we waited for 30 more minutes since there were no seats available yet. My anticipation coupled with my growling tummy made me grumpy or as one of my sisters refers to as "hangry"--angry because I'm hungry.

Thankfully our number was called before I was hangry enough to throw a tantrum. Oh boy, was it worth the wait! We were ushered to a table which we had to share but we didn't mind...we were just so happy. After less than 5 minutes, the famed BBQ bun was delivered to our table which we noticed was also on every table. It was the best!

Baked BBQ Pork Buns (Cha Siu Bao)

I noticed there was instant camaraderie among us sharing the table. I don't know if it was because of the food or because we were all excited to be eating Michelin-starred Dim Sum. My favorite was the steamed Dumpling Chiu Chow style. It was different from all I've tasted and the texture which came from the peanuts made it extra special.

Steamed Dumpling Chiu Chow Style

And the Shrimp Dumpling (Ha Kaw) which is a staple every time I order Dim Sum was so good, the prawns were tender and tasty. I was sorely tempted to order another basket of this one.

Shrimp Dumpling (Ha Kaw)

And of course, I would never eat in a Dim Sum place without ordering Chicken Feet--my all time favorite! And this was the yummiest I've eaten! Tender and flavorful.

The yummiest Chicken Feet I've ever eaten

For dessert, we ordered "Tonic Medlar and Petal Cake" which sounded weird to us but looked really pretty. I'd have to say, I'm not a fan of flowers in food and this was no exception, it was the only food that was not wiped out seconds after it touched down on our table.

After savoring all this in what seemed like hours, we walked to the cashier by the door, who also acted as the doorman and paid what seemed like a pittance compared to about 30 minutes of culinary bliss. We walked out the door to a waiting throng of expectant, hangry diners much like we were an hour our two ago.

And the total bill is just HK$ 77 or PhP 462!

Tim Ho Wan

2-8 Kwong Wah St
Mong Kok, Hong Kong, China
(No reservations)