206 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Tim Ho Wan originated in Hong Kong as a small dim sum restaurant in Mong Kok by Chef Mak Kwai Pui and Chef Leung Fai Keung. With decades of experience under their belts, including working at the 3 Michelin starred Lung King Heen, the chefs of Tim Ho Wan have slowly been expanding their name across Asia and and Australia.
Four months ago Tim Ho Wan opened their first store in Melbourne and the restaurant has been packed since then, with customers lining up all the way around the corner to try the famous dim sum.
Melbourne's Bourke Street
Spacious interior
Vermicelli roll with shrimp $7.80
The shrimp roll was the least favourite of the dishes I tried. It had nothing to set it apart from the other yum-cha restaurants that I would normally order this dish from and one of the rolls seemed to be missing some of the filling from one third of the roll.
Prawn dumpling $8.30
Prawn dumplings are my favourite dish at yum-cha and dim sum restaurants. The prawn dumplings here do not have much difference from the usual prawn dumplings in terms of flavour, but the thickness of the dough and the amount of filling was just right.
Baked bun with BBQ pork $7.80
The baked buns with BBQ pork are one of Tim Ho Wan's signature dishes. Instead of the traditional steamed outer bun, they instead choose to use a sweeter baked bun which is reminiscent of a pineapple bun's topping. I found the first bite of the pork bun would lack much filling so the sweet pastry would be overpowering, but after that first bite the mixture of the sweet pastry and the savoury pork filling work very well together.
Melbourne's Tim Ho Wan has received its fair share of criticism from many people. However, I found that although there were some small issues with some of the food, the overall quality and variety was quite good. That being said, it still cannot be compared to the dim sum that I have had in Hong Kong, including the Tim Ho Wan known for receiving a one Michelin star rating.
Food Rating 7.5/10
Overall Rating 7/10