Tim Ho Wan

*An overdue review from my last trip*
All the buzz about THW so I had to put it on my list. We decided to go to this outlet at 2.30 in the afternoon to avoid the lines. I don’t know if my expectations were too high but seriously I don’t understand what’s with all the hype. While the dimsum is good, other restaurants like Tunglok, Crystal Jade or even Mouth Restaurant have comparable or even better dimsum. It’s good but really not that amazing and nothing really stood out to me.

I never failed to notice long line at Tim Ho Wan’s outlet at Plaza Sing. So finally I’ve decided that it’s time for me to check out this restaurant. So we came all the way to their Toa Payoh branch cos we heard that over there has a much lesser queue, which was true when we came. We came on a Sunday around 7.30 pm, with a group of 2, we got seat right away upon arriving.
Overall I’m personally really pleased with my dining experience here. Though this place was busy, we got our orders correctly and very fast. We waited less than 15 mins for all of our orders which was perfect cos we came HUNGRY. Taste wise they were very nice. I could easily tell that those food must be prepared on the spot upon receiving our order. The texture of the dumpling skin was great. It didn’t break easily when I picked it up, and it’s chewy and there is no weird (preservative) after taste like you’d taste in a cheap dim sum stalls. Price wise, everything belongs to the steep side, but I’d say it’s worth the money.
We ordered: beancurd skin with pork & shrimp (S$ 5.00); prawn dumpling (S$ 6.00); pork dumpling with shrimp (S$ 5.50); vermicelli roll with shrimp (S$ 6.00); steamed spinach dumpling with shrimp (S$ 3.80); and congee (S$ 4.50). We both are pleased with each of every one of them :)
I made a mental note that next time I am coming here, I’d order pork steamed bun in which everyone seems to have on their table. I didn’t order it cos I was way too full then. I gave this place 4 stars cos knowing that this place is 1 star michelin restaurant, so I have held my expectations high. I was kinda hoping that this place would blow my mind away. but it didn’t. So there, 4 stars only for now: p

Been really generous with my Unilocal stars lately, or maybe I’ve just been really lucky picking ‘em. This place is legit and right on par with the Cantonese dim sum I’m a fan of. Gotta come with a bigger group next time so we can try more things. Coming from the States though, it just felt a little weird nobody asked me what kind of tea I wanted before I sat down. Also a first for me — didn’t have hot tea with my dim sum … and survived. See, it’s good to mix things up from time to time.
The dim sum selection were varied (rice, noodles, jook, veggies, dessert, etc.) so there’s something for everyone. But gosh, that baked char siew bun — so good! Everything was served hot and service was quick. This lunch was the best I’ve had in awhile. I’m a happy camper.

TERRIBLE SERVICE. Called them to enquire if there was a queue, they told me there was 0 people in line with no queue whatsoever. 1 MINUTE later when I arrived at the front of the restaurant there was more than 20 people in the queue.
The reason I called was because the restaurant was on the 2^nd level and pretty far from the car park. As my elderly parents were very hungry and didn’t want to wait, I thus called before walking over to ensure that they wouldn’t walk all the way for nothing.
When asked about it, the manager at the front desk and the woman in charge of the line said all 7 – 8 FAMILIES arrived within the LAST 30 SECONDS.
Suuuurre they did. I would buy that if it was maybe 2 – 3 families but these completely nonsensical full out lies really irk me. Very disappointed at the brand for having to resort to such low tactics.
Manager’s name was — ANNIE
Person who answered the phone and managed the queue was LI QUN
Management who read this, feel free to contact me directly to respond to this.

Totally missed the Tim Ho Wan boat on my previous visit since the insane lines at Plaza Sing were out the door crazy. Totally pleased that on my most recent visit, they now have 5 locations island-​wide to ease the demand.
Michelin star dim sum; no queue! That was my experience at the Toa Payoh branch. We got here shortly after 11 or so on a weekday and it filled up around noon but totally dissipated after 1pm. If you avoid the lunch hour you should be good in terms of a line.
Holy mother of BBQ pork buns — Tim Ho Wan’s are simply divine. The slightly crispy exterior disguises how fluffy and pillowy it is and the BBQ pork filling hits the right balance between sweet and savory. Order more than you think you want. They even carry well so get some to go.
We ordered a lot of food between the three of us. Other notable standouts include the shrimp and BBQ pork vermicelli rolls, siew mai, har gao, turnip cake, and tofu skin rolls. Even items that were unmemorable like the Teochew dumpling and glutinous rice were still pretty good dishes. Honestly not a bad bite of food to be had during this meal.
If the long lines dissuaded you before, head over to the other branches to experience Michelin star dim sum, and in particular those BBQ pork buns, sans queue.

Lived up to the hype but a tad pricey. Finally got to try the dim sum here after hearing about it for months. We came at almost 2pm albeit on a public holiday. The queue was still surprisingly long. We were not fans of queues so I was gonna give it 5 mins. Barely 2 mins in, they fast tracked us to our table. Seems it pays off to come in twos. Everyone else were in larger groups. Ordered the char Siew bun, har gao, spinach dumpling, rice with mushroom and sausage, mango pomelo and sago, crystal dumplings with century egg and siew mai. Everything was great, my favorite was the char Siew bun. So good I ate two — bun was sweet, soft yet crispy and the meat filling was very good, well portioned though not generous. The rice with mushroom and sausage was worth a mention too, very yummy lap cheong and rice tasted like a healthy version of chicken rice. Bill came to $ 44 for two people, we would usually pay $ 30 for dim sum elsewhere. Prob not for everyday dining but hey, they have queues to content with.

Ordered 3 out of the 4 Heavenly Kings as I don’t like liver. The Crispy Char Shao Bao was good. The carrot cake was average. I didn’t enjoy the steamed cake but suspect most others would. Many patrons ordered the fried wasabi prawn dumplings and the har gao but I couldn’t eat that much. Overall, I’d say above average but probably too much hype.

Some really good dim sum right in the middle of Toa Payoh. As part of the famous chain, Tim Ho Wan has a fairly limited menu, but how many other dim sum restaurants have a MIchelin star? My favorite dish was the baked bbq buns. The yummy bbq pork was to be expected. The sweet fluffy bun however was a nice surprise, and the combination of sweet + savory works really well, even better than pigs in a blanket :). We also tried some of the other classics, such as Har Gau, Siew Mai, and bean curd with pork and shrimp. They were solid, but still the bbq pork buns stole the show. Go early during lunch as the place gets crowded quick.

Just OK. Nothing fantastic, and certainly nothing like the experience at their tiny Mong Kok joint years ago. Those BBQ pork buns were just heavenly. The ones at the Toa Payoh joint was so-​so, too runny, and insubstantial on meat or flavour. If you hate long lines like me and always wonder what you miss by opting out of that line, take comfort. You ain’t missing much.
If you really wanted to give it a try, arrive before 1030 am on weekends and you’ll likely to get a table with minimal waiting.

I love Tim Ho Wan. Great tim sum at affordable prices! Like everything in life that is awesome, there’s gotta be a catch and at Tim Ho Wan it’s the queue. Sadly, one of the things I hate most in life is waiting. Such a waste of time when we have such fleeting lives! I think of all the unproductive hours people waste in queues and it makes me want to cry!!! I do my best to avoid them… But I really do want those Baked Bun with BBQ Pork!!! They taste like perfect little bo lo baos — a pillowy soft bread with a crunchy and sugary top crust which looks like a biscuit. So I go either super early (before they open) or super late (just before they close). This means having an early lunch or late dinner (9pm) but that’s a sacrifice I am willing to make.
You know it’s not dim sum until there’s Har Gao, Siew Mai and Chee Cheong Fun (Prawn) on the table! These are a few of my favorite items for dim sum. They do it well but I wouldn’t say they are lightyears ahead of their competitors here. These are pretty standard simple dishes to make and most decent dim sum places make these well too!
Service-​wise, I am thoroughly impressed with the lighting speed of their servers and chefs. It’s scary how efficient Chinese people are (especially those working in Chinese restaurants). The only other place I’ve witness such efficiency is at Ding Tai Fung. I am convinced the bottleneck is not in the kitchen or with the service… it’s simply that customers cannot chew and swallow their food fast enough! Hence, the lines. Sadly, if only humans had wider esophagus and didn’t feel the need to make small talk over meals. Just kidding!

I for one thought it lived up to all the hype. Wouldn’t queue 2 hours but I heard that the Toa Payoh one was alright weekday off-​peak and accordingly, went at 1420 on a Monday. We had to wait about 15 minutes which was pretty manageable. The restaurant is bright and features many long tables, so unless your group is large you have to share tables.
Essentially there isn’t much of an ambiance to speak off (bar a general bustling feel which is kind of nice) so it’s all about the food.
We obviously got the «four heavenly kings» (their signature dishes)
The char siew bun lives up to all the hype. The bun is sweet and is just the perfect texture with a nice amount of char siew inside.
The Ma Lai Gou (steamed egg cake) is light, fully and sweet. More of a dessert but also excellent.
The carrot cake was probably the best I’ve ever had. Super soft while managing to have a large amount of radishes it was just so good.
I thought the cheong fun was alright. The pig liver cheong fun is the 4^th speciality dish. I only ate half because I’m not such a big fan of liver. We also got a prawn cheong fun. The texture of the skin is really good but that’s about it.
In terms of other dishes, everything we ordered was solid. Har Gao was the other standout where the texture of the skin being perfect made it possibly the best I’ve had. And really the siu mai was the only disappointing thing because it was pretty normal.
I’m already planning another visit.

Tim Ho Wan has been all the rage in Singapore. The queue at Plaza Singapura for the first few weeks was so long one needs to wait for hours to go in. I finally was able to try their food when I decided to visit this outlet at Toa Payoh when I heard they opened. Priority were given to ERA agents (not surprising, since Tim Ho Wan is owned by Hersing Corporation, who owns ERA as well) and that the rest will have to wait at the join-​in queue (on a Saturday there weren’t much ERA agents around).
The Glutinous Rice Dumpling took me by surprise. My initial thoughts before having it that the glutinous rice taste, being infused with the lotus leaf’s fragrance will overpower the taste of the ingredients inside. The ones here is a strong combination of tastes between the lotus-​leaf infused glutinous rice, chicken and mushrooms.
The Prawn Dumpling should never be missed out in a dim sum restaurant. The differences between the ones here and elsewhere is that the ones here are the prawns used are slightly bigger and more juicier.
The Pork Dumpling with Shrimp should also never be missed out in a dim sum restaurant.
The Pan Fried Carrot Cake is soft and moist and the radish taste was rather apparent.
No one should ever leave here without ordering the Baked Bun with BBQ Pork. The outside of the bun is very crusty and tasted great. The BBQ Pork is even better. Well-​marinated, it was sweet and meaty. This is a perfect combination.
The Vermicelli Roll with BBQ Pork was well-​executed. The vermicelli roll is thin, the BBQ pork was juicy and succulent.
The Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus Cake (Cold) is a great dessert to end off the dim sum feast with. With a jelly-​like texture consisting of wolfberries and osmanthus, it tasted sweet and refreshing.
The Chinese Tea is refillable and is always a refreshing drink to order in any dim sum places.
If you are around Toa Payoh, do visit the outlet here as they have branch-​exclusive food items!

Tim ho wan holds a special place in my heart. I first visited in Hong Kong a few years ago, and loved it so much. It has now opened in Singapore to much the same fanfare and queues that the Hong Kong branches enjoy. The first thing you’ll notice when you visit this Toa Payoh branch is that there are actually seats for the queue and cordoned off areas. Guess the orderliness of the British empire have much deeper seated roots here than in Hong Kong. As with all other Tim Ho Wans, you’ll have to ensure that your party is already there and waiting or else they won’t seat you.
One would think an outfit almost 1600 miles away would not be able to hold a candle to the original outfits and certainly more expensive. However, this is not the case with the Toa Payoh branch. The Cheong Fun is in fact much better than a couple of the outlets in Hong Kong and has a more delicate cheong fun skin and a more refined seasoning of the pig liver filling. The baked pork buns (or baked char siew pau) are a mixed bag. I love the fact that the ones in Singapore are much «fluffier» and melt more in your mouth, but the filling is certainly not as flavourful nor as plentiful as the Hong Kong counterparts.
Things to definitely order are the Baked Pork Buns, the Cheong Fun, Congee, the Osmanthus cake, and the Siew Mai, and Har Gao (shrimp and pork /​shrimp dumplings). The prices here are much comparable to that of Hong Kong, a couple things are cheaper and a couple more expensive (generally meat related products are more expensive in Singapore than they are in Hong Kong). All in all, a full serving will set you back about $ 15SGD (or £7.50 or USD$ 12.50) which in all honesty, is not bad for a Michelin starred dim sum restaurant. Beware though, the queues can get really bad, and it’s not unheard of to be waiting in line for about an hour before you even get the opportunity to be seated. If you’re looking at visiting the Plaza Singapura branch, wait times there can stretch from an hour and a half to two hours.

I’ve never stepped into their main restaurant in Hong Kong. Neither have I patronized the outlet at Plaza Singapura. So I was very happy to try the food at their second outlet at Toa Payoh Central before I left this sunny island.
One dish that I found interesting was the Ham Sui Gok 咸水角 or Deep Fried Dumpling with Salted Meat ($ 3.80). I’ve seen those with a thicker glutinous crust but the version here is thin and hollow. The more I chew, the more I appreciate the tinge of sweetness that trickles out from the fritter as it allows me to take a much desired sweet break from the savoury food. Not enough meat? Well, the amount works for me.
The Fried Noodle with BBQ pork and Soy Sauce 叉烧鼓油皇炒面 ($ 6.00) lacked the wok-​hei aroma and was too greasy. The light brown gravy drenched on top of the 大排檔猪肠粉 Vermicelli Roll ($ 4.20) tasted more like peanut butter than sesame sauce to me. The downside of this filling-​less roll is that the rice sheets tend to dry out after sitting out in the air-​conditioned dining area.
Of course, the most star-​worthy dish was the 酥皮焗叉烧包 Baked Bun with BBQ Pork ($ 4.50 for a portion of 4). I can’t tell how authentic this is but some said it is closer than the P. S. outlet version to the original bun in Hong Kong. Apparently, the recipe has been tweaked.
The crust was extremely thin and evenly wrapped around the bread, unlike typical HK Polo Bao that comes with a lumpy surface. And it was so fragile and flaky that it disintegrated as easily as sand castles on the beach. Both the char siew filling and bun was not too sweet and actions speak louder than words – I wolfed down 3 entire buns.
And I love the Steamed Egg Cake香滑马拉糕 $ 3.80, which resembled our Chinese huat kueh but this was way fluffier and not too sweet at all. The aroma of brown sugar that wafted into my face was so enticing that I happily cleared the entire block of sponge cake by myself (my partner was too full) plus some leftover from another table. This definitely marked another climax of that day after having the char siew bao.

Came here to try their much raved char siew bao.
Soft fluffy bun top with a layer of crunchy sweet dough (think Bo Luo Bao) filled with wet fillings of char siew.
I find these buns are very delicious especially the top layer which also has a very fragrant buttery taste. Came here at 3:30pm and there is no queue. The place is almost filled except for maybe one or two tables.
Takeaway is available. They will still make you take a table (and charge you with service). When the food arrive, just request for takeaway boxes and pack them yourself. The buns cost me $ 5.30 for 3, including service charge and GST ($ 4.50, without svc charge and GST).

Whisper it softly while you can. Michelin star food in the heartlands. Tim Ho Wan opens it’s second branch in our tiny isle with little or close to none fanfare unlike their first Plaza Singapura outlet. For those of you hiding under the foodie rock, THW is the famous Hong Kong Mongkok Michelin star dim sum wonder.
Having never been to the original, I do not have a benchmark to weigh it against. However, quality and prices makes it rank pretty high in terms of local dim sum standards. Their ‘Big 4 Heavenly Kings’ though isn’t really worth the hype. I actually prefer some of the other dishes. But that’s just me.
Better come try it before it suffer the same snaking queues like its first outlet.