Hong Kong Mongkok Tim Sum: Restaurant-quality dim sums for half the price!
What we liked:
— The char siu baos are one of the best we’ve had from a hawker stall
— The dim sum are restaurant quality for half the price
What we didn’t:
— The chee cheong fun could be made better
— The siew mai could use more pork fat
Located in the sprawling Chinatown Complex, Hong Kong Mongkok Tim Sum serves restaurant quality dim sums for literally half the price.
How much? How does $2.50 for three char siew baos sound?
Owner-chef Chi Shu Kei, worked at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant for several years before deciding to venture into his own business, opening Hong Kong Mongkok Tim Sum in 2003 and the response has been overwhelming with long queues outside his stall everyday.
Dim sums here are handmade every morning and the constant queue means your food is always served fresh and hot. The dim sums here are of restaurant quality, though some are better than others.
There are six items on the menu, each priced at $2.50. A relative steal as dim sums at East Ocean Restaurant cost more than double the price.
The star of the show is undoubtedly the Char Siew Bao (barbecued pork buns). Buns here come nicely fluffy — a rare find in hawker stalls. The filling is made of pork meat chunks coated in a nicely robust and concentrated savoury-sweet sauce. Served in threes (as with everything else on their menu), the baos were also slightly larger than expected.
This is a must-try.
They have upped the quality in the recent years as the meat used come shredded.
Their next best item is the Xia Jiao. (har gao; prawn dumplings). The dumplings are filled to the brim with chunky shrimps that are lightly seasoned, allowing the natural sweetness of the prawn to come through.
The Shao Mai (siu mai, pork dumplings) here comes better than the average hawker options. There are strong notes of garlic and sesame oil, as well as some sweetness from bits of fresh shrimp. The skins are soft and thin skin but the filling could do with more pork fat.
Their Steamed Chicken Feet, or phoenix claws, are a must-have if you eat them. You get a serving of around five claws. Deep-fried, braised, then simmered, the texture of the chicken feet comes appropriately soft and melting and the savoury sauce oil-rich, garlicky and not too sweet.
The Rice Flour Rolls (chee cheong fun) — drenched in were above average but not spectacular. Fillings were generous (choice of char siew or shrimp), but the skins were rather inconsistent, sometimes too thick and sometimes breaking apart on occasion. The char siew complemented the sauce better than the shrimp, in our opinion.
Overall, this stall is definitely value-for-money if you keep your expectations in check. A worthy option if you’re in the Chinatown area.
The stall runs by a take-a-number queueing system where you’ll have to wait for your number to be called. You won’t be able to spot a queue outside, unlike other popular hawker stalls and a boon as it makes the long wait a lot less unpleasant, as you can wander around and get a drink.
If you arrive early, don’t be fooled by the half-closed shutters. You can actually take a queue number before they open fully (as we learnt the hard way, ending up 14th in line despite reaching before 11). Just shout through the grills and they’ll pass you a laminated number. If you turn up exactly when they open without a number, be prepared to wait at least 40 minutes or more for your turn.
