Barely two months since Tim Ho Wan Singapore opened to public, finally the crazy long lines had died down a bit. Hence, we had the chance to visit the restaurant and indulge into a complete dim sum delights last weekend.
To all patrons, please take note.
The four heavenly kings also known as the four must try dim sum delicacies - Baked Bun with BBQ Pork, Vermicelli Roll with Pork Liver, Fried Carrot Cake and Steamed Egg Cake. We made sure that we tried them all.
This is the most popular dim sum of the restaurant - Baked Bun with BBQ Pork. The main reason why a lot of people are willing to endure long queues. Surprisingly, the Singapore version is not exactly the same as the ones we've tasted in Hong Kong a few weeks ago. The bread crust is thinner, less crispy and smaller too. Even the color is more pale. You can refer to my previous post here to see the difference. It was real saddening to discover the taste gap.
Fortunately, the Steamed Egg Cake is something to love. It's soft, velvety and sweet. We liked it just right.
The localized version of Carrot Cake. This is just generally ok, a bit oily though.
The last item in the four heavenly kings - Vermicelli Roll with Pork Liver. This is the only one that I didn't like at all among the four must tries. The metallic pork liver taste is too overpowering. There's this after taste that's too satiating and off. I would prefer the Vermicelli Roll with Ground Pork and Chives over this one. The later has more balanced taste and has a good coriander kick.
Pork Dumpling with Shrimp. This was another let down. My kids, who are big fans of this type of dumpling barely touched the food. They unanimously said, it's not nice. When I cut it open to further scrutinize what's the dumpling is made of since I find the texture too tough, much to my dismay there were pure pork fats in it plus some shrimps. It's not even made of ground pork. Unless my eyesight betrayed me that night, I really couldn't associate it to ground pork.
Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce, generally acceptable.
Rice with Chicken and Mushroom - there's nothing extraordinary about it. Plain acceptable.
Dumpling Teochew Style - definitely better than the Pork Dumpling with Shrimp.
All the publicity and hype of Tim Ho Wan in print media were shown at the entrance of the restaurant. Unfortunately, based on the two consecutive visits that I had in the restaurant (first in Hong Kong and second in Singapore), I am convinced that there's more to the word of mouth than the actual experience. As with all other famous restaurants that ventured into business chains (read: Din Tai Fung), the challenge of keeping the quality consistent across the seas is a tough nut to crack. Much more in delivering the expectations that go with the highly coveted culinary emblem of good quality dining - the Michelin stars and in maintaining the heritage taste of its origin. I hope Tim Ho Wan will be able to win over this challenge. Besides, the story of its road to fame from humble beginnings is something really inspiring.
Tim Ho Wan
68 Orchard Road #01-29APlaza Singapura
Singapore 238839
Opening Hours:
10.00am – 10.00pm
First-come-first-serve basis; no reservations
