LOVE LIFE, CHERISH MOMENTS

Loo at all the newspaper spread about this restaurant, must be good right?

The crowd at 9.30pm!

The simple menu on the table

Huge portion

Signature Wan Tan Mee (Prawn Dumplings Noodle)--25 HKD

2. 九记Kau Kee Beef Noodle

The simple yet confusing menu, with no English

   Initially, we wanted to order the best seller beef belly noodle but the broth was still cooking at that time. Hence, we opted for the soup version and it was equally good. They even provided some cardboard to hold on our hands to protect against the steaming hot soup. I adore all 3 components of the dish. Noodle was springy and soft, soup was rich and fragrant. The best part is the melt-in-your-mouth-beef belly. It is high in fat content, cooked and flavoured to the top level, giving us a wonderful after taste, especially in the cold winter night in Hong Kong.

   Hi my lovely earthlings! As some of you might know, i went to Hong Kong for a short getaway with my family a while ago. My conclusion on this city is it holds a wide range of good food! From local to Western, Hong Kong has it all covered for good quality and amazing flavours. Today, i am going to write about the signature cuisine that represents Hong Kong at its best: Dim Sum. This is mainly because Hong Kong is densely populated with Cantonese, as Guang Zhou is just next to it. Hence, Cantonese who loves dim sum brought over this wonderful cuisine to Hong Kong and the next minute, this place is packed with Chinese restaurants that offer dim sum. Today's star will be Tim Ho Wan, one of the most popular dim sum chain in Hong Kong and even to neighbouring countries like Malaysia and Singapore!


   Tim Ho Wan gained its popularity when its owner Mr. Mak Kwai Pui won a one Michelin Star Award. He then started this dim sum influence all over Hong Kong, opening one branch after another. Tim Ho Wan also recently opened the pioneer restaurant in Mid Valley Mall. I wanted to visit before this but was discouraged by the big crowd lining up in front of the restaurant every single day. Therefore, i decided to visit the original Hong Kong's Tim Ho Wan instead to see what's so great about this dim sum chain that got all Malaysian so hyped up!

We had to queue for a good 30 minutes under a 17 degree weather.

    I visited Tim Ho Wan, the Olympian City branch in Hong Kong. Olympian City is a shopping mall in Olympic area, just next to Tai Kok Tsui Road where we stayed and it is easily accessible via Hong Kong's highly developed MTR. Therefore, it is more convenient for us to visit this branch. Although it was during tea time when we went to this restaurant, but we still gotta queue for our turn for 30 minutes. This is how popular Tim Ho Wan is, even in its originating country.

Simple Menu

Order sheet & prices

   As you can see from the photo above, Tim Ho Wan keeps its menu simple by offering just a few items for each categories. You just have to state the amount you require for each item on the order sheet, send it back to the waiter and wait for your food to be served. Tim Ho Wan is famous for The Big 4 Heavenly King Dim Sum, which comprised of Baked Bun with BBQ Pork, Vermicelli Roll stuffed with Pork Liver, Pan Fried Turnip Cake and Steamed Egg Cake. All 4 items here is their most popular dishes and it is a must-have whenever you visit Tim Ho Wan. We ordered all except for the Steamed Egg Cake. We also got ourselves the must-have in Dim Sum restaurants: Siew Mai and Har Gao (Prawn Dumplings), along with our all time favourite Lotus Rice and Teow Cheow Steamed Dumplings.

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork--$19 HKD

   From the moment i took my first bite, i already knew this is my favourite dish! The crisply and slightly sweetened butter bun was so delightful to bite in. Then it revealed its beautifully cooked char siew (BBQ Pork) fillings which was warm and fragrant. This is just the perfect food for winter and i could eat this every single day!

Vermicelli Roll with Pork Liver--$19 HKD

    It was my first time eating Chee Cheong Fun with literally pork filling inside. I don't mean char siew, but this was filled with pork liver. Hence, i got to taste the amazingly smooth consistency and rich flavour on each bite.

Pan Fried Turnip Cake--$15 HKD

    Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. What more can you ask from an ordinary but memorable piece of Fried Turnip Cake? The difference here with Tim Ho Wan's version was the coarsely chopped turnip and its juiciness then burst out from every mouthful. A big thumb up for this item.

Siew Mai--$26 HKD

Har Gao (Prawn Dumplings)--$26 HKD

Teow Cheow Steamed Dumplings--$14 HKD

Crystal clear skin

    Next up, all 3 steamed dim sum was great as well, but less memorable compared to the 3 items mentioned above. No doubt that Tim Ho Wan uses top quality material to create these dim sum that was chewy, juicy and flavourful.

Lotus Rice--$27 HKD

   Not too bad for this sizzling hot char siew glutinous rice, wrapped in lotus leaf. As you can see, the inner filling was so moist that it flowed out of its wrapping. It would be perfect if it were to be less oily.

Simple, humble interior set up

   I must say, i was so impressed with Tim Ho Wan's quality dim sum and cuisine. Its interpretation on dim sum did not differ much from what we had in Malaysia, but was stronger on its flavours and definitely more memorable. Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong was a little bit more affordable compared to the one in KL. For this meal (shared among 3 pax), it costs us about RM 25 per person, but in Malaysia, we got to pay RM 40 per person for the same items. The service here was surprisingly pleasant and we did have a great time dining with Tim Ho Wan Hong Kong. We really miss it and can't wait to go back for more in the future!

Contact Info~
Address: 72, GF, Olympian City 2, 18, Hoi Ting Road, Tai Kok Tsui
Phone No.: 23322896
MTR Directory: Olympic Station, Exit D3
Website: http://www.timhowan.com/

   It's the time of the year again, when Malaysia is pouring almost everyday and all the time! I was like freezing in my room while outside is raining cats and dogs again. It makes me crave for something warm and soupy just to beat the humidity and chill outside. My first choice would be a bowl of warm BAH KUT TEH! Anyway, today i am going to share with you guys about this very famous local Bah Kut Teh restaurant in Pandamaran, Klang. In the city who claimed its fame from bah kut teh, one has got to have some unique selling point in order to survive the fierce competition. For Yap Beng, they pride for their finger lickin' good 'dry' bah kut teh.


   Just a small note, the 'dry' bah kut teh is a dark soy base stir fried pork with dried chilies, salted fish and other herbs. Unlike the usual one, this dry version of bah kut teh has more intense flavor and thicker in consistency. It is quite common in the Klang Valley area, but i find Yap Beng's one is the best among all. Located in the housing area of Pandamaran, Klang, it is a bit difficult to spot especially for non-locals. Fret not, i'll link an address below, in the end of this post. For the day, we ordered a wet and dry Bah Kut Teh each, with stir-fried vegetable and a Gong-Poh style shark fish.

The famous dry BKT--RM 11 per pax

Wet BKT--RM 10.50 per pax

2 pax portion

Gong-Poh style shark fish--RM 14

Stir-fried vegetables--RM 8

   Both BKT did not disappoint. I personally prefer the dry one because of the rich and intense flavors. The sauce was the bomb of the dish, it was incredibly fragrant, rich and smooth with a tinge of spiciness from the dried chilli. The pork was perfectly cooked, and melt-in-your-mouth kind of soft. I would prefer not to have the salted fish inside. Other than that, the shark fish was also another star of the meal. I like how they master the cooking time, just nice not to over or under cook it, preserving the freshness of the sea creature.

   For those had yet to try out dry BKT, please feel free to drop by at this humble hut for a mind-blowing meal. It costs around RM 18 per person, depending on what you order. Peak hours are usually packed with hungry crowd and parking could be troublesome. Otherwise, this is another great find i discovered in Klang. Hope you enjoyed it, xoxo.

Contact Info~
Address: Pt 20177B, Lorong Nipas, Pandamaran, Pulau Kelang, 42000, Pelabuhan Klang, Selangor--along Jalan Mesra, Taman Chi Leong (on your right, if you are coming from the main road)