Location: 450 Toa Payoh Lorong 6, #02-02 ERA Centre, Singapore 319394Tel: 6483 2000Operating Hours: Daily 10:00 - 21:00
Toa Payoh Central is considered to be a matured estate in Singapore having a lot of amenities, including good food! I have blogged about having tasted the best Rojak in Singapore in Toa Payoh @
http://musings-of-a-rabbit.blogspot.sg/2013/12/best-rojak-in-singapore-soon-heng-rojak.html.
Now I shall be doing a review on Tim Ho Wan which has recently opened another branch in this strategic location.
Introduction
Tim Ho Wan (添好运) which simply means "adding good luck" in cantonese, is a well-recognised Hong Kong brand for Dim Sum which set foot in Singapore during the recent years. They opened their first Singapore branch in Plaza Singapura and it has been enjoying crazy long queues ever since.
I remembered that I queued for near to 2 hours at the Plaza Singapura branch with my brother just to try their Dim Sum. My first impression of the brand was actually very bad as both of us left the restaurant feeling dissatisfied as they do not serve our favourite Custard Bun, the dishes we tried tasted mediocre and the bill turned out to be pretty hefty (we spent near to SGD50 in total for 2 pax!).
To reflect back, perhaps our experience was bad due to the following factors:
- The long wait ruined our appetite and mood to savour good food
- We ordered the wrong dishes - out of so many dishes ordered, their congee was mediocre (I have high standards when it comes to congee), their Chee Cheong Fun (Vermicelli Roll in cantonese) was so-so (I have tasted better) and only the dessert (Tonic Medlar and Osmanthus Cake) and Char Siew Bun (BBQ Pork Bun) tasted best that day.
I would strongly recommend you guys to visit
Mouth Restaurant for Custard Bun and
Crystal Jade Kitchen for congee if you like those dishes.
As Sweetie Muffin has always wanted to try Tim Ho Wan, he hinted to me that there is a branch opened in Toa Payoh Central since we were already in the vicinity. I was really reluctant to undergo the same bad experience again but I guess I succumbed to the power of love somehow :(
Sweetie Muffin is a Bao (包: means White Steamed Bun) lover whereas I hated eating steamed buns as I find them too floury with little filling inside. Tim Ho Wan has always been famous for their signature Baked Bun with BBQ Pork filling and hence Sweetie Muffin wanted to try. So, I obliged and yielded to his Bao craving and joined the queue.. YES, there is a QUEUE even in Toa Payoh Central
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| Sweetie Muffin loves Hot Steamy Buns~~ |
Thank goodness the queue progressed rather swiftly and the wait was under 15 minutes
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| Check out the queue and crowd!! |
Le' Ambience
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| Have to ensure that everybody is present so as to get a table... |
The place is like a typical Hong Kong Cafe - rowdy and crowded. Nothing special to describe... LOL.
Oh yes, this place is suitable for families with toddlers as baby chairs are provided.
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| Le' Little Terror sucking pacifier... |
In fact there was this little terror seated behind me who hit me with a pamphlet from behind.. How cute ♥♥~~
Le' Menu
We were presented with the Order Chit whilst we were queuing so as to facilitate in the ordering process. I would say that the service was really prompt and efficient and the staff can serve the food and clear the tables swiftly. However, do not expect to be treated like some VIP when you are there as the Hong Kong Café function more or less like a 'fast food' outlet - you are expected to go once you are done eating so that they can maximise their revenue by serving another new customer.
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| Order Chit Page 1 |
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| Order Chit Page 2 |
One more interesting thing to note: they incorporated their menu and illustrations onto the tables! This is a very environmental friendly concept as there will not be any paper wastage by printing their menu on paper table mats. Moreover, printing in colour cost more and hence it will be economical for them to print the menu onto the surface of their tables for durability - they used to print the same thing on paper table mats @ the Plaza Singapura branch when we first visited...
What We Ordered
We ordered 7 items in total:
- Baked Bun with BBQ Pork
- Vermicelli Roll with Sweet and Sesame Sauce
- Pork Dumpling with Shrimp
- Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp
- Glutinous Rice Dumpling
- Mango Pomelo Sago
- Chinese Tea
Le' Food
Chinese Tea (SGD1.20++)
中国茶
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| Chinese Tea (SGD1.20++) 中国茶 |
What is Dim Sum without the companionship of a cup of refillable Chinese Tea?
Glutinous Rice Dumpling (1pc) (SGD5.00++)
古法糯米鸡
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| Glutinous Rice Dumpling (1pc) (SGD5.00++) 古法糯米鸡 |
The glutinous rice was wrapped in lotus leaf and we have to unwrap it before we can eat...
We ordered this just to fill our tummies. The taste is acceptable but not super fantastic.
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| Chilli Sauce to go with the Glutinous Rice Dumpling. Yummy! |
Vermicelli Roll with Sweet and Sesame Sauce (SGD4.20++)
大排档肠粉
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| Vermicelli Roll with Sweet and Sesame Sauce (SGD4.20++) 大排档肠粉 |
This is better known as Chee Cheong Fun in Cantonese meaning flour fashioned in the shape of Pig's Intestines. For Chee Cheong Fun to taste good, it must first be sliced into very thin sheets before being rolled up and served with other condiments like BBQ Pork or it can be eaten by itself with white sesame and soya sauce. I personally enjoy eating it plainly with sesame and soya sauce.
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| Close-Up |
The Vermicelli Roll with Sweet and Sesame Sauce is an innovation by Tim Ho Wan as Japanese Sesame Sauce is used for seasoning instead of the normal white sesame. To my surprise, this dish tasted really great thanks to the unique fragrance from the Japanese Sesame Sauce. I was totally blown off by this dish as I am a Chee Cheong Fun lover and have high expectations of this dish.
Pork Dumpling with Shrimp (4 pcss) (SGD5.00++)
鲜虾烧卖皇
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| Pork Dumpling with Shrimp (4 pcss) (SGD5.00++) 鲜虾烧卖皇 |
An alternative cantonese name for this will be Siew Mai. The Siew Mai tasted great - the filling is supple and texture is rather bouncy. Definitely above average standard for Siew Mai :)
Baked Bun with BBQ Pork (3 pcs) (SGD4.50++)
酥皮炉叉烧包
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| Baked Bun with BBQ Pork (3 pcs) (SGD4.50++) 酥皮炉叉烧包 |
This is the award-winning BBQ Pork bun innovation by Tim Ho Wan. Instead of using the traditional white steam bun, Tim Ho Wan's BBQ Bun is baked to golden brown with a crispy and sweet crust - very similar to the crust used for the Custard Bun by
Mouth Restaurant.
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| Le' Sweet BBQ Pork Filling |
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| BBQ Pork Roasted to perfection ~ |
It tasted so good that we ended up ordering more of the buns for takeaway...
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| Ordered 3 sets for takeaway right away ~ |
Oh yes, for takeaways, the buns will still be served to you as per normal except that they will be providing you with plastic bags and styrofoam containers to pack the buns in by YOURSELF.
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| Packing the buns into the containers provided... |
Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp (3 pcs) (SGD5.50++)
鲜虾腐皮卷
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| Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp (3 pcs) (SGD5.50++) 鲜虾腐皮卷 |
The bean curd skin roll was deep fried to light golden brown perfection. Tasted crispy and yet not too oily. Also, we observed that Tim Ho Wan doesn't reuse their oil for deep frying unlike other eateries who tend to do that to save cost, and hence compromising on the taste of the food and also the health of the consumers. *Thumbs Up*
Mango Pomelo Sago (SGD5.00++)
杨枝甘露
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| Mango Pomelo Sago (SGD5.00++) 杨枝甘露 |
We can taste the very strong mango taste in this dessert. However after a few mouthfuls, we found this dessert too sweet and unsuitable for the elderly...
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| Too Sweet that we could not finish eating... |
Overall
I was glad that I was moved by Sweetie Muffin to try Tim Ho Wan for a second time as we enjoyed our dining experience there.
We would recommend you guys to try the following dishes:
- Baked Bun with BBQ Pork
- Vermicelli Roll with Sweet and Sesame Sauce
- Pork Dumpling with Shrimp
For your information, we tried the following dishes @ the Plaza Singapura branch priorly which turned out to be rather mediocre:
- Steam Chicken Feet with Abalone Sauce
- Pan Fried Carrot Cake
- Vermicelli Roll with Beef
- Vermicelli Roll with BBQ Pork
- Congee with Lean Pork, Century Egg and Salted Egg
Perhaps you can try this place out if you are a Dim Sum lover who does not mind the freaking long queue!
We will also recommend you to explore the following places which we think you will like:
