Even Offal Tastes Great!

 

During our various transits through the airport express train station in Central Hong Kong, we started to notice a little restaurant with perennially large crowds of people in front of it waiting for a table or a take away order.  We did a little research and found out that it is a satellite location of Tim Ho Wan, a Michelin-rated dim sum restaurant that originated in Mong Kog on the Kowloon peninsula.

Our strategy to avoid the crowds was to be at the original location in Mong Kok as soon as they opened on a Sunday morning.  When we arrived a half hour early, a line had already formed in front, so we joined the queue and waited patiently.  A little before the 10 a.m. opening time, the manager emerged and handed out little ordering cards for everyone to fill out.

We ordered nine delectable dim sum dishes, including three types of dumplings, spring rolls, glutinous rice steamed in a lotus leaf, two kinds of vermicelli rolls, steamed rice with chicken and the most amazing barbeque pork buns we've ever tasted (Tim Ho Wan's signature dish).  Despite the title of this post, we bypassed any offal -- the Cantonese eat every part of the pig except the oink -- involving chicken feet, phoenix talons, or pig's liver.

How much did it cost? First, travel: a 'light' (or kamikaze) bus was 53 cents to the subway ($1.34) to Kowloon, where we walked to the crowded street where this legendary restaurant was supposed to be.  Upon arriving, we learned that the restaurant had relocated, so a taxi ride ($2.76) later, we joined the queue to wait for the restaurant to open.  Our bill at the restaurant was a mere $21.35 (including our two take away containers), one of the best culinary bargains we've encountered in Hong Kong so far.