Unleash the Passion for Travel & Food in Hong Kong & Macau (Day 3)- DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store 點點心點心專門店

Talking about dim sum, it's like an exquisite specialty of Chinese food that shall not be missed out when came to Hong Kong. Most of the Hong Kong TVB drama had featured the dim sum breakfast session where baskets of delicate dumplings were seen accompanied with a teapot of hot tea.The diversity and sheer number of Hong Kong dim sum restaurants is stunning, such as One Dim Sum, DimDim Sum,Duddell’s, Tim Ho Wan, Lei Garden, Luk Yu Tea House and etcetera.

DimDimSum was named one of the top 101 places to eat by the 2012 Newsweek Foodie Awards, Time Out Hong Kong named it best dim sum in 2011, and it’s part of the book “Where Chefs Eat — The Ultimate Insiders’ Guide” in year 2013. While Tim Ho Wan is considered as the cheapest One-Michelin Starred Dim Sum Restaurant, we had opted for dining at DimDim Sum since we could try Tim Ho Wan's dim sum at Malaysia or Singapore.

After purchasing Ocean Park Ticket at the nearby 7-11 outlet, we waited outside of DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store; Wan Chai on the hunt for the plumpest dumplings (siew mai, har gao), tastiest buns (char siew bao,polo bun, egg custard buns) and Hong Kong styled Chee Cheung Fun. We were the 1st batch of eaters on that morning and we were provided aplenty of time to decide our orders after being seated. We decided to order most of the foods which had recommended by the foodies' blogs and websites.A bill was given right after the ordering process.

The large display of the dim sum

Some of the promotion notice and newly created dim sum

Unexpectedly, there's no waiter pushing steaming carts piled with baskets of dim sum here. I wasn't sure if this was due to lesser customers at that moment. The dim sum were served within few minutes after the tea were served. 

Polo Bun (Pineapple bun) baked with a layer of sweet crumble atop its buttery bread dough.
3 polo bun per serving and all were bites-sized version which were so adorable.
I wished the polo bun were in bigger size.

I grabbed a great heap of the crunchy polo bun and I was amazed by the rich taste of egg custard and pineapple slices as fillings. The best polo bun I ever ate at the moment! 

A closer look for the filling of polo bun! Yummy!

So, that's the highly recommended 真係菠蘿包!

 Pan-Fried Radish Cakes 香煎蘿蔔糕

Pan-Fried Radish Cakes 香煎蘿蔔糕 with the chili sauces

The pan-fried radish cakes (also named as turnip cakes) were one of the excellently executed staples. Each bite of the pan-fried radish cakes had shredded Chinese turnips mixed with balanced rice-flour batter. Dipping the piece of pan-fried radish cakes added some kick onto it. Crispy on the outside and soft and delicious for each bite of the radish cakes.

Cheung Fun 脆皮鲜虾肠 or literally called as ‘intestine noodles’ as translation.

Usually it's filled with prawns, barbecue pork or meats and served with a splash of fried dried shrimp chilies, shallots, onion oil and soy sauce. Surprisingly, there's no soy sauce being served together with this cheung fun here.

The deep-fried crispy prawns were wrapped with the soft, translucent rice rolls.
It came to our surprise that it tasted so delicious!

Photogenic egg custard bun in cute piggy shape 金沙肥豬仔

I had a small bite on the egg custard bun and enjoyed the yellowish egg custard oozing like lava from the bun. Creamy, salty-sweet and it tasted best when it's served hot. 

BBQ Pork Buns (Cha Siu Bao)  巧製叉燒包

The filling was sweet barbecue sauce together with the light sauce rendered from the fat of the pork ribs accompanied with some hints of yam sweetness. 

Pork Dumplings with Crab Roe (Siu Mai) 蟹子燒賣皇

The iconic dim sum staple which was the 1st recommended dim sum on the menu. Steamed pork dumpling with prawns, wrapped in a yellow, dough-based wrapper and topped with orange crab roe. The freshly-made siew mai were often tasty and I enjoyed each bite of chunky pieces of prawns. 

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings (Har Gow) 晶瑩鮮蝦餃

Similar with the siew mai, nothing sums up the simple perfection of dim sum more than fresh steamed shrimp dumplings. Big, fresh prawns wrapped with the soft, translucent skin which it did not tear apart when we picked it up by using chopsticks. 

Braised chicken feet

 I wasn't a fans of steamed chicken feet but had given a try when I was in Hong Kong.
The tender chicken feet were well marinated and I loved the assortments of peanuts.

Mushroom buns 牛肝菌花菇包 ; the new dim sum of the shop.

Fluffy, soft bun with mushroom slices as fillings.

Despite of the cute, creative outlook, I personally didn't find it special. However, my friends were delighted of the mushroom buns.

The mushroom gill of the shiitake mushroom-looked bun.

Quoted from 點點心點心專門店:

牛肝菌 - 因色澤如牛肝而得名，出產 自意大利、法國、瑞士等國家；含豐富蛋白質、維生素、鈣、磷、鐵等礦物質；具有清熱、除煩、追風散寒、養血活血、抗流感、預防感冒等功效；適量食用可治療腰腿疼痛及手足麻木。

Verdict: Eating in DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store; Hong Kong is definitely a gastronomic pleasure with the satisfying and good quality of dim sum. All of the dim sum were very tasty especially the polo bun and pan-fried radish cakes which would had me considering for a re-visit. That's the only dining experience of dim sum during my visit to Hong Kong even thought we did include Sun Hing Restaurant (Kennedy Town) in our itinerary.Thankfully, DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store provided a pleasant dining experience with good food, service and atmosphere. As the 1st batch of guests, we enjoyed no lining up was needed after the scariest experience of queuing up for Ngong Ping Cable Car and The Peak.

The dim sum we had ordered:

點點心點心專門店(灣仔店)
DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store (Wan Chai Store)

7 Tin Lok Lane, Wan Chai, HK

香港灣仔天樂里7號地下 

Stay tuned for the next blog entries for my Hong Kong trip