Review: Tim Ho Wan Malaysia

Overall comment: Premium-style Hong Kong dim sum; it's the well-known 1-Michelin star restaurant in Hong Kong! The taste & quality of the food is quite hyped-up in my humble opinion. Overall, decent dim sum, but I felt the price was somewhat too high for my budget. I've yet to try the original Hong Kong outlet...only then I can do a proper comparison ;) Read on for greater detail!
Halal: No

Who hasn't heard of Tim Ho Wan? It's so famous in Hong Kong that soon-becoming-kiasu Malaysians would queue up for more than an hour just to have their quota of dim sum for the week at The Gardens, Mid Valley Megamall.

Tim Ho Wan Malaysia opened it's 1st restaurant late last year, seeing a sea of hungry diners queuing up for some authentic Hong Kong dim sum. According to the head chef, the taste is very similar to Hong Kong's outlets.

This is on a weekday night!

Maximum capacity downstairs is 100 persons.

There are 2 major sections of this outlet of Tim Ho Wan: downstairs (you'll need to queue up & wait for a seat) & upstairs/private rooms - 2 rooms (requires reservation & a minimum amount of spending).

Seating arrangement upstairs

Even the dishes are presented slightly differently (with more class/deco). You'll need to spend a minimum of RM50.00/person in order to qualify for this premium space. This area can fit up to 48 persons comfortably.

There are only 2 rooms

To reserve a private room for your meal, you'll need to spend a minimum of RM50.00/person plus pay an additional RM38.00 (pay for privacy & own space).

This review was to introduce their 3 latest launched dishes i.e. Crystal Shrimp Roll with Century Egg (水晶松花虾卷) (RM 10.50), Signature Five Treasure (龙凤酿五宝) (RM12.50) & Steamed Chicken with Fish Maw (北菇棉花鸡) (RM 11.50).

Three latest dishes

Tim Ho Wan Malaysia will launch new dishes every once in 2 months.

Steamed Chicken with Fish Maw (北菇棉花鸡) (RM 11.50/serving)

It's an interesting variety of premium ingredients, elevating the humble steamed chicken dish to another level. I didn't find this a "wow" dish, but it's a dish that is certainly familiar (can't go wrong), safe & homey.

Signature Five Treasure (龙凤酿五宝) (RM12.50/serving)

Malaysia is well-known for Yong Tau Foo, but so is Hong Kong. To maintain an acceptable level of quality, Tim Ho Wan uses chicken & prawns as the stuffing. It's almost impossible to find the same type of fish used at the Hong Kong outlets of Tim Ho Wan here in Malaysia (and have it fresh). I found this dish just okay. Unfortunately, my share of the 'treasure' wasn't the best; 1. The eggplant that I took was half-cooked & still partially raw & 2. the chicken paste stuffing in my taufupok wasn't cooked/raw as well & I ate the whole thing out of courtesy..,it was still soft & mushy, not firm like chicken meatballs (since the head chef kept watching me - I was asking a lot of questions & giving not-so-positive feedback to his horror...hahaha..I blame myself for being too stupid to eat up the whole taufupok. Sigh.). I had to bear the consequence of food poisoning the next day - raw chicken yo!

Crystal Shrimp Roll with Century Egg (水晶松花虾卷) (RM 10.50/serving)

 This is one of the best among the 3 new dishes although I prefer the 'crystal skin' to be thinner. You'll find succulent, fresh shrimps, a slice of century egg, asparagus & fish roe, generously bathing in abalone sauce. Pretty tasty.

Tim Ho Wan is well-known for their Big Four Heavenly King (四大天王). If & when you're here, you have to order the Baked Bun with BBQ Pork (脆皮焗叉烧包), Vermicelli Roll Stuffed with Pig’s Liver (黄沙猪润肠), Pan Fried Carrot Cake (香煎萝卜糕) and Steamed Egg Cake (香滑马来糕). The Baked Bun with BBQ Pork is a MUST! 

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork (脆皮焗叉烧包) (RM10.80/3 buns)

Alike the "polo" bun in Hong Kong or the Malaysian version of "rotiboy", Tim Ho Wan's baked "char siew bao" has that fragile, crispy, flaky, buttery crust enveloping the bun. The trick is to put the whole bun into your mouth & lick off the crumbs from your mouth instead of tearing the bun apart with your hands like the usual steamed "char siew bao". This will ensure you don't 'waste' the crumbs onto the plate. I must say that I'm most pleased with this dish among the 25 dishes available on the menu. Tim Ho Wan Malaysia could sell up to 15k - 20k plates a month!

My itchy fingers wanted to open the bun for the camera, but I was anxiously warned by the head chef to just put the whole bun into my mouth. He was VERY particular with the way the diners enjoy his food...hmm...chill, chef, chill....

Vermicelli Roll Stuffed with Pig’s Liver (黄沙猪润肠) (RM10.80/serving)

It's my 1st time tasting pig's liver in a Hong Kong 'chee cheong fun' & I actually liked it. I like the fact that it's very much like the flavour of "ngap yuen cheong" (duck's liver Chinese sausage). I'm not a fan of pig's liver, but this one is actually quite tasty. The liver had some wine, thus the fragrance.

Pan-Fried Carrot Cake (香煎萝卜糕) (RM9.80/serving)

I love carrot cake & this one is actually pretty good. Chef said that they use a ratio of 6 radish: 1 flour to make the carrot cake, thus the texture is slightly softer. Reminds me of my uncle's & bestie's mum's home-made carrot cake. I think they can start a pan-fried carrot cake business! This version has some "lap cheong" inside as well. Yums. I love the slight variety of texture.

Steamed Egg Cake (香滑马来糕) (RM7.80/serving)

This steamed "malaiko" is one of the pride & joy of Tim Ho Wan. It's soft, fluffy & "bounces back into shape" when you press on it! The flavour is also fragrant (eggy). I just find it too costly to pay for a simple steamed egg cake...haha.

Braised Chicken Feet with Abalone Sauce (鲍汁焖凤爪) (RM9.80/serving)

If you're a fan of chicken feet, you could give Tim Ho Wan's version a try. It's not the oily fried chicken feet, but a tender, braised chicken feet in flavorful abalone sauce. Nothing very spectacular though.

Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp (鲜虾腐皮卷) (RM10.80/serving)

For those who fancy fried dim sum, this wasn't too bad. The shrimp filling were firm, fresh & the beancurd skin was crispy. I found this slightly too salty for my liking, but it may be just that day's batch.

Pork Rib with Black Bean Sauce (豉汁蒸肉排) (RM8.80/serving)

Tender, juicy pork ribs. Simple, humble, consistent.

Glutinous Rice with Lotus Leaf (古法糯米鸡) (RM12.80/serving)

Tim Ho Wan's version of "loh mai kai" is wrapped in lotus leaf. It's very fragrant with the lotus leaf, the glutinous rice was soft & the overall ingredients & flavor is commendable.

Tonic Medlar and Osmanthus Cake (杞子桂花糕) (RM6.80/serving)

We ended the review with one of their desserts. I found this very interesting. The texture of this 'cake' is a cross between the usual jelly & konyaku jelly. The wolf berries were sweet & the dessert is refreshing.

If you haven't tried Tim Ho Wan, I reckon it's good to try at least once. For fans of Tim Ho Wan, they will be opening their 2nd outlet at 1 Utama (beside Aeon) by the end of next month, April 2015. As for whether I will go again, I may think twice since the only thing that would draw me back to Tim Ho Wan is the Baked Bun with BBQ Pork. I need to get a fat bonus before stepping foot into Tim Ho Wan. Their prices are slightly too high for my budget, even if it's for 'good' dim sum.

Tim Ho Wan (添好運)
27-G, Ground Floor,
The Boulevard,
Mid Valley City,
58200 Kuala Lumpur.
Note: In front of the fountain of The Gardens
Tel: (+603) 2201 5081
Fb: fb.com/TimHoWanMalaysia
Instagram: @timhowanmalaysia
Business hours: Mon-Fri: 10:00a.m. – 10:00p.m.; Sat, Sun, Public Holidays: 9:00a.m. – 10:00p.m. (Last order at 9:30p.m.)


Still missing the baked 'char siew bao',