I loved Hong Kong. For me, one of the greatest parts of visiting Hong Kong was always its Dim Sum (點心). Before moving into this low land country - of course in pre-covid era, - I visited the city at least two or three times a year, and I never missed chances of having Dim Sums there.
Not only with those great Cantonese institutions where Michelin showered with stars- Lung King Heen 龍景軒, Yan Toh Heen 欣圖軒, Tin Lung Heen 天龍軒, and Sun Tung Lock 新同樂, of course, I went there - but I had Dim Sums all over the city. I even went to Happy Valley for Dim Sum The Art of Chinese Tit Bits 譽滿坊 and Kennedy Town for Sun Hing 新興食家. If you ask me which are my favorites, I would say the Sunday dim sum of Fook Lam Moon 福臨門 at Wanchai and Sun Hing were my top choices. I did like Yan Toh Heen for its beauty and heavenly service, Tin Lung Heen for its grace and view, and Sun Tung Lock for its authenticity, but Fook Lam Moon's Sunday Dim Sum - which I always went by myself - gave me more fun than I expected, and the unexpected uniqueness of Sun Hing brought me a lot more stories to tell.
Although you already read it from the title, I prefer to tell the conclusion first. The place is reasonably priced for its Dim Sum quality - but remember this is Amsterdam, not Hong Kong. The total bill turned out to be 55 Euro for three people - we were so full! - and you will get to see how much we ordered, including tea.
This was an occasion I wanted to treat my coworkers for the kindness they bestowed upon me, and it was the week that the Dutch government allowed the full operation of restaurants. I had long been waiting for the opportunity. I wanted to take them to a Korean restaurant as well, but it seemed like the ones with good reputations were a bit far away from the center, so I looked for something else. Then, I found out One Dim Sum in Overtoom got quite good reviews among Asians. (Also, this place had the same name as the famous Michelin-starred (now gone) low-key dim sum place in Prince Edward.)
I made a reservation via phone a day before, and I could easily get a table. It was the first day you could sit down for lunch, and we were the first customers for the day. I asked what kind of tea they had - expecting some selections - but they only had Jasmine, so I ordered what was available.
When you go to Dim Sum places in Hong Kong, you would find three ways to order. 1. Pick the ones on the trolley or baskets that come around and get the mark on a paper (Sung Hing, Lin Heung Kui) 2. Mark what you want on the paper (Tim Ho Wan) 3. Order with a menu just like the other restaurants. (Lung King Heen) It was number two style. If you don't know what to order, there are photos you can look at and refer to. I asked if they had any house specialties, but they said they didn't. Up until this moment, I didn't have high expectations.
I ordered 8 plates for three people, including Yang Chow style fried rice (楊洲炒飯, 12 Euro). I found it a bit strange to see the fried rice as the first serving dish. However, with the fried rice, my doubt about the place disappeared as it was simply good.
The classic Chinese fried rice was served with silver covering gold method - the egg is scrambled separately before mixing with the rice - and it was done neatly. It looked straightforward and humble, but expertly cooked with char siu, shrimp, and green peas. The authentically cooked, old-school flavor of the fried rice made me expect more from their food.
They brought two types of sauces for the dim sum: soy sauce and chili sauce. Later, they also brought vinegar with fried dumplings.
The first dim sum we got was Shrimp wrapped in tofu skin (鲜虾腐皮卷, 5.50 Euro), which came with sweet chili sauce. I expected it to be a bit more crispy, which you can have a similar one in Fook Lam Moon, but it was on the side of being a bit more fluffy. However, the flavor was there, and I quite liked the texture and taste.
My friend wanted Dumpling filled with scallops and shrimps (三星帶子餃), so I ordered it for her. Honestly, it was my least favorite dim sum of the day. I prefer a much thinner, translucent type of skin for these types of dumplings.
Then, we got the classic Prawns dumplings steamed in a translucent wrapper (蝦餃, Har Gau, 5.00 Euro). It came with an interesting shape - roundy parts on top. It was an average basic har gau - the flavor was nice, but it could have been more translucent. I know a lot of restaurants add more and more stuff in har gau - from bamboo shoots to truffle, but I always prefer the basic one, and it was the one, but with a bit thicker wrap.
I used to have Siu Mai either in bright yellow color or white color, but this one was somewhat in between. When you see yellow wrappers with Siu Mai, it simply means it contains egg yolk, but the color you see here was in between yellow and white, which seemed more natural.
I also ordered Ham Sui Gok (鹹水角) - Crispy glutinous rice dough filled with dried shrimps and pork. These are my favorites, but it is not always on the menu for many dim sum places outside of Hong Kong. I was really glad to see it, so I ordered it. I was a bit surprised to see its size; it was much bigger than the ones I usually eat.
The other noticeable thing about its Ham Sui Gok (鹹水角, 4.50 Euro) was, as you can see from the picture it was not crispy. It had rather mochi-like texture. Honestly, it looked like those sticky rice doughnuts you can easily find in Seoul's market or doughnut stand. Hence, I didn't really put so much expectation on it, but I had another surprise. It was good in its own way. My favorite Ham Sui Goks were from Fook Lam Moon and Tin Lung Heen so far, and those were crispy, so I always set my standard on those two places, but its Ham Sui Gok fell into a different category.
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