Tim Ho Wan

Tim Ho Wan, a renowned restaurant in both Hong Kong and Singapore has finally landed in Manila. I never got to try it out while in Hong Kong last May because there just wasn't enough time, but Kim had and said it's one of the best food experiences she had while on internship over there.

Even though it has been around in HK for a while now, people still line up for it constantly and you can just imagine the same thing for the Manila franchise. Yes, a queue builds up and sometimes get three rows deep but if you arrive early enough or late enough to avoid peak dining hours, it is relatively easy to get a seat. We did just that and had early lunch at 11 AM. Although there was already a sizeable crowd dining inside, we were still seated right away.

The interiors are nothing special, but they are clean and well lit. It seems that a lot of these new hip Chinese restaurants are using dimsum baskets as lighting ornament. It's not the first time we have seen that, but still a fun sight to look at.

It is worth noting that despite diners constantly arriving and multiplying as the peak lunch hour was nearing, the service was really fast and efficient. They'd give you paper to fill out your order in, just make sure you look at where you are putting a check mark on as we made a mistake in ours. LOL. Anyway, the food is always made after you order so one can imagine that serving time would take a while, but our food didn't really take more than 5 minutes to get served.

Tim Ho Wan has a pretty compact menu, so if you are in a good sized group you can probably order everything off the menu and share. And the other great thing about its menu is that nothing is prized over 200php! Pretty affordable especially for a place like this.

On to our orders. Tim Ho Wan has what it calls the Big 4 Heavenly Kings, which are sort of their best and recommended dishes. We ordered a couple of those and some other items in the menu.

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork (3 pcs). 145php.

If you've seen blog posts or even just IG posts about Tim Ho Wan then I'm sure you've seen the popular Baked Buns. These kind of remind me of asado siopao except that they are baked instead of steamed and that the pork inside is sweetly flavored. We liked it and it was great to eat while still hot. The sweetness can be toned down a bit though.

Steamed Egg Cake. 85php.

 

The Steamed Egg Cake on the other hand was nothing special. It had a spongy texture and slightly sweet taste that sort of resembled the puto that is hawked on the streets. Not the round sticky ones, but the triangular ones that are mostly dry.

Prawn Dumpling. 160php.

In most local restaurants, we know this as Hakaw. But in THW calls it the Prawn Dumpling, and it makes me wonder why they didn't take the Hong Kong name for it which is Hargaw. That aside, this has got to be most plump and shrimp filled Hakaw we've had.. ever! And we loved that the wrapper didn't break easily as is the case for most other times we've had hakaw.

Pork Dumpling with Shrimp. 150php.

Siomai, what more can I say? It tasted good and had a good sized shrimp in the middle of the pork, but it wasn't really that special. This was the deal breaker for Kim since she loved the original version in HK and described it as the best siomai she had ever had.

Spring Roll with Egg White. 120php.

I was totally surprised when I took a bite out of this. I was sort of expecting something in between Max's Fried Lumpiang Sariwa and Dimsum Break's Spring Rolls. This was so far off those two. I'm not saying it tasted bad, just that it wasn't the taste I was expecting. To be honest, it really didn't taste like anything. The egg white was too weird in texture which does not go well with the deep fried dumpling.

Chicken, Sausage and Mushroom. 170php.

So we got confused during marking our orders on the order slip they provided that we ordered the wrong thing! We wanted to order the Rice with Beef and Fried Egg, but ended up checking the box for Chicken, Sausage and Mushroom. Good thing, it tasted good or else we would have really been disappointed. It was mostly chicken though, with a couple slices of sausage and one mushroom.

Overall, it was a great dining experience. The service was great, and so was the food.. well, mostly. But I think we just needed to order something else aside from the Siomai and Spring Roll, since those were just a little too bland or normal tasting for us. We'd probably try to eat here again, as the menu is really affordable and each order is good to share for 2 or more people.

Tim Ho Wan

Ground Floor, Fashion Hall

SM Megamall, Ortigas

Mandaluyong City

Din Tai Fung

Our attempt at eating at Tim Ho Wan was a complete fail since they already moved out of their Mong Kok location, and we only found out once we got there. Their other branch was at Sham Shui Po which was a little out of the way from our planned itinerary. Not wanting to miss out on eating at a Michelin starred restaurant while in Hong Kong, we made our way to Din Tai Fung in Tsim Sha Tsui.

 

Din Tai Fung in Tsim Sha Tsui is located inside Silvercord Mall, which is just adjacent the very upscale Harbour City (there's actually a walkway between then). We went there for dinner, but arrived early at 6PM after reading that the lines get ridiculously long at times during peak hours. As expected there was already a line, but the lady at the front asked if it was just the 2 of us and quickly ushered us in. I would assume then that it's easier to get a table if you're dining alone or just as a couple rather than being in big groups.

 

The inside of the place was nice, clean, well lit and spacious, but nothing really fancy or special. But I guess that's not why they got a Michelin star for. The service was really great! They're attentive to your questions and they're very efficient and courteous. And of course, the quality of the food. We knew coming in that it would be a great dinner from all the reviews, but it still exceeded our expectations.

We ordered the following:

Xiao Long Bao (56 HKD)

This is their specialty. People from different parts of the world come to Din Tai Fung just to sample this. For those who doesn't know, XLB is a steamed dumpling that has pork inside together with some soupy broth encased in a very delicate wrapper. They even have instruction cards on every table on how to eat it!

The steps were:

1. 1. Prepare your sauce by combining soy sauce, vinegar and ginger. The suggested ration is 1:3 soy sauce to vinegar.
2. Take the Xiao Long Bao and dip in the sauce. But it's also suggested that you try it out first without any sauce.



3. After dipping, place the XLB in a spoon and poke a hole to release the soupy broth.



4. Try to add some ginger to the spoon. Enjoy!

Now, we haven't really tried a whole lot of XLB. But compared to those others that we have had before, this was bar none the best we've had. We loved that the wrapper no matter how thin (you can even almost see the broth inside) doesn't break easily! The soup inside was heavenly and really went well with the dipping sauce.

Shrimp Dumplings (78 HKD)

We know this more popularly as Siomai, but in different parts of HK they go by shrimp dumplings, Shao Mai, etc. But yeah, this is something that we all know and love. The ones from Din Tai Fung have got to be the most plump siomai we have ever had. And you know it's freshly made and steamed when it takes more than 10 minutes for them to serve your siomai.

Pork Chop Fried Rice (75 HKD)

We don't know why but this seemingly normal and run of the mill dish was the highlight of our dinner. It's just fried porkchop on top of some yang chow. But the combination of both was really great and delicious. The porkchop really stood out, it was slightly sweet and salty, crunchy outside but tender inside.

Pork Bun (16 HKD)

I love eating siopao and I just had to try some from Din Tai Fung. I don't know what to make of this one though, since we are used to asking for asado or bola- bola and this looked neither of those 2. But at least it tasted great! They didn't have any sauce to go with it, though. Pinoy na Pinoy, naghahanap ng siopao sauce at hot sauce.

The menu at Din Tai Fung isn't exactly cheap, but it's not really that expensive either. With the quality of the food and service, it was definitely worth it. Those Michelin starred restaurants really do deserve the honor after all. So next time you're in HK, don't always cheap out and just eat at those seemingly cheaper little restaurants. You'd be surprised at how Din Tai Fung isn't that expensive :)

Din Tai Fung
Shop 130, 3/F, Silvercord, 30 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kog

Masuki

Kim and I go through phases where we'd get really addicted to a specific food or restaurant, that it'll be a constant in our diet for the next few weeks or so. In the past 2 years we've gone through a Nolita/ cheeseburger phase, BWNT/ buffalo wings phase, pizza phase, etc. And now we're sort of in the middle of a mami phase.. specifically mami from Masuki.

We've spent our weekend dates in Masuki for the past 3 weeks! I've always loved mami, but I never thought that Kim would also be quite addicted to it. We've been to both the Greenhills and Megamall branch, and would want to visit the original one in Binondo in the future.

Megamall branch

Megamall branch

I love how mami houses are a no frills kind of restaurant. You go there to enjoy their good food. The menu is always kept to the bare minimum of just different kinds of mami, siopao, different kinds of dimsum, drinks and that's it. And the smell! No mami house would be complete if it didn't smell and reek off the mami broth. Ma Mon Luk is the perfect and quintessential example of a mami house that has all of these characteristics. Just think of Masuki as its more modern brethren. For starters there's airconditioning and it's located in more accessible locations.

I ordered the Special Beef Wonton Chicken Asado. 230php.

This is basically their ultimate mami. It has everything in it! It's for people like me who can't decide which kind of mami to get, so why not just dump everything together. Works for me! Hehe. What I do before eating is to take about 2 spoonfuls of Masuki's special sauce and put it in my soup, then I'll put some ground black pepper in it and mix.

I tend to take a spoonful or chopstick-ful of each thing in my bowl then repeat the process. Usually its broth, noodles, chicken, asado, wonton then lastly beef. Rinse and repeat. This is just heaven in a bowl. Everything in it works together! But of course the most important part is the soup or broth of which its great taste actually ties everything together.

Special just means that it has more soup, more broth and more beef, wonton, chicken, or asado in it.

Kim had the Regular Beef Wonton. 180php.

Same broth, same noodles but this one only had Beef and Wonton in it. Kim seems to enjoy this as this has been her regular order.

We also had a Regular Asado Siopao, and a couple pieces of Siomai to share. 55php and 35php per piece respectively.

Masuki's special sauce works well with both the Siopao and Siomao, but it goes really well with hot sauce on the Siopao. We love how plump and siksik the siopao is, and who un- perfect its shape is compared to those fast food siopaos that just doesn't give off the same vibe.

Masuki's Siomai has got to be one of the biggest we have seen! And even with the size, it is still packed with flavor all the way inside.

So for those who we are friends with on Facebook, expect more Masuki picture posts from us in the coming weeks as we are sure to be back... and back again for more!

Megamall branch

Sekai Center branch (Kuya waiter is so cute! :D)

Masuki
Masuki Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Masuki/193897223966668
2nd Floor Sekai Center,
Ortigas Ave Cor. Madison Street,
Greenhills, San Juan
(02) 744 - 2720

Dimsum Break

January 19, 2013. Saturday.

We both love Chinese food. To a certain extent, we consider it on par with our love for the local cuisine. Of course, mainstay on top of our food priority list is American -- steak, burgers, pizza. But Chinese food has always been a staple on our dates, and probably in almost every Filipino household. It has been around for so long that it has been sort of established as part of our local food culture.

I have been reading about Dimsum Break since late last year when it opened its first and only (so far) Manila branch. People, particularly Manila based Cebuanos, were raving about it. I was surprised at how a small Chinese brand with no national notoriety evoke such strong emotions from (the stomachs of) people. We just had to go and find out!

We arrived in SM North Edsa early for dinner, but we still went on to walk towards Dimsum Break in Annex for a very early dinner. Dimsum Break's interiors is nothing to be amazed at, well except for the dimsum steamer baskets used as ceiling lamps. Other than that it is just a very simple place with white tables and chairs spread throughout the dining area.

This is not a fancy Chinese restaurant, so you have to line up and order from the counter. Despite this system, they don't have a the usual signage where you can look at the menu and their respective prices. But no worries, everything you need to see is right in front of you just like a good old school cafeteria. And they have leaflets too, where the menu is. So if you see something from the leaflet but it's not in the display in front of you, you can just go ask the staff for that item and they'll make one for you.

Ordering in Dimsum Break is so easy. You line up and just select your food from the display cases in front of you. It also helps that they grouped the food together. You'll first see the Steamed Dimsum section, where all selections are 65php. Then the Fried Dimsum section, again all are at 65php. Then there's the rice pots, all at 68php. And finally the desserts where most items are at 55php. The other items you see in their leaflet/menu, you just have to tell the cashier when you pay then they'll deliver it to your table. We ordered the following:

From the Steamed Dimsum, we got the Shaomai and the Hakao.

Shaomai. 65php.

Hakao. 65php.

We played safe and ordered some sure fire dimsum. They spell their Siomai as Shaomai, but despite the slight name change, they serve really good siomai. It's packed and flavorful, and not too small nor big.

The same goes for their Hakao, it's really packed! With each and every bite you get a taste of the shrimp inside and not just the wrapper. We played safe since it was our first time to eat here, but next time we will try some of their more creative dimsum like the quail egg topped Shaomai and the bacon wrapped Shaomai.

From the Fried Dimsum, we ordered the Sweet and Sour Pork, Stuffed Shrimps, and the Spring Rolls.

Sweet and Sour Pork. 65php.

The Sweet and Sour Pork was really great. Instead of the usual dish in which the pork is cooked until tender with the sweet and sour sauce, this one had the pork fried to a perfect crisp then glazed with the sauce after.

Stuffed Shrimps. 65php.

The Stuffed Shrimp was okay.. when dipped in the sweet and sour sauce. I really couldn't taste the shrimp in it, and its inside was really mushy.

Spring Rolls. 65php.

The Spring Rolls on the other hand were perfectly crispy and really went well with the sweet and sour sauce. I think Dimsum Break uses just one sweet and sour sauce for all their dishes that require it. I might be wrong though, and I am certainly not complaining.

We also both got a bowl of Steamed Fried Rice each.

Steamed Fried Rice. 68php.

After just one spoonful of the Steamed Fried Rice, I finally understood what the fuss is about. It's just normal steamed white rice, but it is topped with very, very tender pork and some small pieces of shrimp that is then finished off with a thick sweet (but not too sweet) sauce. You can just order this and ignore everything else. That's how good it is! I can't even think of another Chinese dish served locally in any other restaurant that can compare to this! And Kim might disagree, but I think this is really perfect with all the dimsum (steamed or fried) they serve.

For dessert, we ordered the Coconut Cream and the Buko Pandan.
 

Coconut Cream. 55php.

The Coconut Cream is supposed to be their signature dessert dish, but I wasn't totally blown away by it. It was okay, and I liked the texture of it and that it wasn't overly sweet but it was really nothing different from a maja blanca without the corn.

 

Buko Pandan. 55php.

Same with the Coconut Cream, the Buko Pandan was just okay. Except for the fact that this was surprisingly topped with corn flakes, there really was nothing special about it.

I can't explain how much I really enjoyed our meal in Dimsum Break. I loved it so much that I'm saying that it is better than any other high priced Chinese restaurants we go to. The serving sizes are just right for the prices, you can enjoy and share more variety without paying more. The service is fast, the price is very affordable, and the food is really great! You can bring your whole family here and not break the bank. We will surely be back here again very, very soon!

Dimsum Break
3/F SM North Edsa Annex

https://www.facebook.com/DimsumBreak?fref=ts