Three plump baked buns with a slight sweetness to the dough and a generous layer of sticky-sweet char siu filling. The buns are warm and fluffy, never dried out.
Tips from diners
Get here at 10am on weekdays and this is the first thing off the trolley. By 11am they're flying off the carts. Grab them immediately.
Three buns for HKD 16. This would cost HKD 35 at a fancy hotel dim sum. You're eating the same pork, same buns, different setting.
Open-topped dumplings showing the seasoned pork filling studded with pink shrimp. No wrapper on top, designed to be eaten in one bite.
Tips from diners
Grab four baskets of siu mai and three of har gow, add a tea, and you've got lunch for HKD 180. That's the Tim Ho Wan formula.
Crispy pastry shell with a barely-set custard filling that wobbles when you pick it up. Some places make the filling too stiff - Tim Ho Wan nails the texture.
Tips from diners
Order these last in your meal. They're served warm and the filling is liquid-soft when fresh. Eat immediately after they arrive at your table.
Tender chicken feet in a dark, savory black bean sauce. The cartilage separates from the bone easily when it's cooked right, and this place cooks it right.
Tips from diners
Locals eat these. Tourists usually skip them. If you want to eat like Hong Kong, order the chicken feet.
Three translucent dumplings with whole jumbo shrimp visible through the wrapper. The shrimp is sweet and bouncy, the wrapper thin enough to see through.
Tips from diners
These are made fresh throughout the day. The 11:30am batch is the freshest - the first batch is already two hours old.
Held a Michelin star from 2015-2021 before losing it, now designated Bib Gourmand. The flagship Sham Shui Po location serves exclusively locals during rush hours. Dim sum trolleys circulate continuously. Most baskets cost HKD 16-40. No reservations, arrive early or after 2pm.
Expect to spend HKD 50-70 per person for a full dim sum session. That's the lowest-priced Michelin-rated dim sum in the world.
No reservations. Come at 10am on weekdays for an immediate seat. Weekends fill up within 15 minutes of opening.
Pick baskets off the trolleys as they pass. Point and nod - you don't need to order. They stamp your card for each basket and add up the bill at the end.
Tea is HKD 15 for pu-erh or jasmine. Most people get one pot and share among 3-4 people. It's meant to cleanse your palate between baskets.
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