Tim Ho Wan

So the wait is finally over and Tim Ho Wan is in Melbourne, after months of delay with their opening.  Yum Cha is a common meal in Hong Kong and to have a Michelin star one in Melbourne was really exciting. Located on Bourke St, it's a central location and easy to get to. However be prepared to wait. I went on a Friday night with O, A and D (yes I thought yum cha on a Friday night was a good way to avoid crowds... I was wrong) and after 1.5 hours of waiting we were finally seated.

It was straight into business and we got ordering. First was the chicken, sausage mushroom pot rice. It was a single serve with pieces of chicken, Chinese sausage, shiitake mushroom on soy sauce flavoured rice. It is quite heavy, so would recommend to share it as you normally do at yum cha anyway.

Second was the Pan Fried Turnip Cake. Turnip cake is one of my favourite dishes to have at yum cha, Tim Ho Wan's turnip cake was more on the soft side, not as firm as other places. Full of flavour but not enough diced Chinese sausage for my liking.

Third was Chicken Feet. This came braised in abalone sauce. You can tell it has been braised for hours, as the abalone sauce penetrates into the chicken feet. A and D both liked this dish (I'm not a fan of chicken feet myself).

Fourth was Har Gow. Balls of prawn filling in a crystal skin. Standard yum cha and they do it well here.

Fifth was Black Bean Sauce Pork Ribs. The meat was marinated and soft and the sauce not too oily. Similar to the Har Gow, it was done well but nothing too special.

Sixth was Spinach Prawn dumplings. This was my favourite out of all the dumplings; the f;avour of the spinach was delicate and balanced out the prawn well. As you can tell from the picture, it was a generous filling and full of flavour like the other dumplings.

Seventh was Century Egg Congee. I am a big congee (rice porriage) fan, so it's one of those things I just love to order at yum cha. THW's version of the yum cha classic was generous with century egg and the pork was well salted. Congee consistency was very smooth too.

Eighth was Fish Maw. This is definitely for the fish lover. I would consider it silky however my counterparts called it slimy. This dish divided the table's opinion - the conclusion being that if you like fish then you will like this dish.

Ninth was the famous Baked Pork Buns. Crispy external bun, filled with BBQ pork. I can easily eat 3 of these myself. Definitely a Michelin dish here and something you should order from THW.

Tenth was Lo Mai Gai. Steamed sticky rice with mushroom, Chinese sausage, pork, dried scrimp, salted egg wrapped in lotus leaf. I didn't mind this dish and it was quite a generous serving.

Eleventh was Beefball with Beancurd skin. Marinated beef was a big meaty bite (strong flavours) and on the heavy side.

Twelfth was Vermicelli Rolls with Sesame Sauce. This came lightly pan fried, with hoisin and sesame sauce drizzled on top. The sweet hoisin and sesame worked perfectly together.

Overall a very satisfying yum cha. Those pork buns were an absolute delight as was the vermicelli rolls. They don't have as much variety as other yum cha restaurants, but that didn't bother me too much. Service was average but I didn't really expect any different from a busy Chinese restaurant.