4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: DimDimSum Dim Sum Speciality Store, Causeway Bay
For the first time (and probably last time, if both my girl friends are blessed with babies) in our life, YY, R5 and I are going for a girls' trip together. I've known YY since junior high school while I met R5 back in senior high school. Funny how life works sometimes but YY and R5 are introduced to each other by me because both of them told me that they have been accepted to Singapore Management University (SMU) and hence, in need of a roommate. We never go for a trip together ever since the day we know each other but I suppose it's better to be late than never. Since both YY and R5 are now married, we chose a destination where we don't have to stay for a long time to enjoy the max. Between Hong Kong and Bangkok, the dice fell to Hong Kong as somehow the air ticket price from Singapore Airlines is cheaper to fly to Hong Kong instead of Bangkok (under promotion).
YY has made it clear since weeks before our trip that she wants to eat dim sum everyday in Hong Kong. It's nothing new that Hong Kong is the country to have the best dining experience for dim sum. Rumor says that even if you go to unknown dim sum place in Hong Kong, chances are the dim sum will still be good. Since we stayed at Causeway Bay (Butterfly on Morrison gave the cheapest staying rate for three of us, awesome!), the nearest dim sum restaurant to our hotel is located 7 minutes away on foot. If you are staying around the same area, I recommend you to go to DimDimSum Dim Sum Speciality Store.
DimDimSum Dim Sum Speciality Store (or in short, DimDimSum) has earned its reputation and it is always included as one of the top dim sum spots in Hong Kong. Its reputation has been recognised internationally and it even has branch in Taipei, Taiwan. However, since there are so many dim sum places out here in Hong Kong, I kinda wonder how does DimDimSum fare against the fierce competition of local dim sum industry.
DimDimSum divides its dim sum menu to steamed dim sum, rice flour rolls, fried/ baked dim sum, other items and carbs (noodles, rice and congee). It only offers one type of dessert though, poached pear with mandarin peel and honey (HKD 24). I suppose dessert is not the forte of DimDimSum. But then again, just like what the name suggests, one should come here focusing on the dim sum and not on other thing.
Our order of dim sum came in batches. The first batch consist of rice flour roll with BBQ pork (HKD 21) and seafood stuffed eggplant with teriyaki sauce (HKD 23). The rice flour roll is best consumed while it's hot because otherwise it will tend to become soggy after some time. The seafood stuffed eggplant with teriyaki sauce is one of the special menu which is only available in DimDimSum. It is slightly sweet because of the teriyaki sauce but nonetheless, you can feel the flavour of the sauce and the seasoning seep through the eggplants. It is not easy to cook eggplants and I think DimDimSum does a pretty good rendition of eggplant as one of the dim sum items that they offer.
We were supposed to wait for R5 to arrive at DimDimSum (since she decided to join us after YY and I have booked our ticket, she has to go for another flight because by then, the pricetag for SQ flight that we booked has sky-rocketed) but who could resist another few orders of dim sum especially when you were hungry? Definitely not me and YY, so here came our second batch of dim sum orders. From left to right, we ordered Stuffed Bean Curd Wrapped in Mushroom Soup (HKD 22), Shrimp and Pork Dumplings with Crab Roe/ Siu Mai (HKD 29) and Steamed Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf Wrap (HKD 26). The mushroom soup for the bean curd taste a tad too herbalish for us to appreciate. The siu mai tastes great but seriously you will never go wrong with the order of siu mai because it has been all time favorite dim sum item for many generations. The steamed glutinous rice is usually served as 1 piece because of its huge size. It can be quite filling to eat steamed glutinous rice so I usually leave this to the last and make sure you are sharing this glutinous rice if you want to leave some space in your tummy for other meals.
Thankfully R5 arrived right before YY and I hungrily devoured all the dim sum items. She quickly polished the rest of the remaining dim sum because she was starving and there is no meal on board provided on a budget airline (yep, she took flight with Jetstar). Since R5 polished the remaining dim sum at the speed of light, we ordered the highlight of our meal at DimDimSum, the Piggy Custard Bun.
Piggy custard buns from DimDimSum has runny custard filling so be careful when biting these pigs because if you are not careful, you risk spilling the custard on your clothes (I think R5 spilled some on her jeans and she quickly cleaned the stain with uhh, tea). The piggy custard buns from DimDimSum are the best dim sum item on their menu in my opinion. Pigging out is such a happy occasion after all. :) #excuse
DimDimSum Dim Sum Speciality Store is located at:
Diamond Building, 6 Tin Lok Lane
Wanchai, Hong Kong
Opening hours:
10AM - 12AM Daily