Tim Ho Wan NYC - Dim Sum Specialist - New York City

Whenever I travel to a destination, I tend not to order Chinese food coz I eat Chinese or Asian food quite frequently. And in my opinion, Chinese in Toronto, Canada are pretty damn good.

However, during this trip to New York City (NYC), we have decided to check out this dim sum specialist restaurant called “Tim Ho Wan“. Tim Ho Wan originated in Hong Kong, China and made a name for itself receiving a 1-Michelin Star rating for its Hong Kong HQ location. Due to its success, it branches out and opened a number of locations in the United States. It opens a number of them in New York and most recently, it opened one in Irvine, Texas.

Currently, there are 2 locations in NYC, the Tim Ho Wan that we visited is located in East Village. The restaurant is located at a corner lot, we walked down a few steps and entered into the waiting area. Luckily, it was not super busy and we got a booth table to sit in. The friendly server gave us a very photogenic food menu and we get to see what dim sum items are being served here.

I was told that its baked BBQ pork buns (酥皮焗叉燒包) is a MUST ORDER item. Each order comes in 3 buns. The bun is baked and it’s what most Asian described the bun to be “pineapple” bun style. The BBQ pork inside are nice and hot, steamy (becareful not to burn your tongue). The outer layer of the bun is crunchy, flaky and hold up the inside BBQ pork fillings perfectly.

We also ordered its steam squid balls. It’s fresh, steamy, bouncy and good to chew. We also ordered some typical dim sum items such as Siu Mai; steam pork & shrimp balls, steam pork ribs, salty minced pork congee, steam pork with perserved vegetables meat cake, pan fried raddish cake, Har Gao, etc.

Now, overall, the dining experience was great. Excellent service and the quality of the food and flavour were pretty decent. But did the dim sum tastes like 1 Michelin Star? I wouldn’t say it blown my taste buds away. It’s very typical dim sum taste. Perhaps the one originated from Hong Kong is 1 Michelin Star quality but that doesn’t mean all branch locations are at the same level. Prices at Tim Ho Wan isn’t super cheap either, it’s a bit more pricey than typical dim sum restaurants. So if you ask, I think you don’t miss anything if you don’t have time to come and check it out. But if you want to and crave for Chinese food, it’s still good to grab some dim sum but just keep your expectations in check.

I do however, really enjoy the baked BBQ pork buns, it’s famous for a reason and it’s the item that really impress me.

Tim Ho Wan – NYC – East Village (location that we visited)
Website: www.TimHoWanusa.com
Address: 85 4th Ave., New York, NY 10003
Phone: 212.228.2800