Lunar New Year in Hong Kong: Festivities and Xiao Long Baos

Lunar New Year in Hong Kong: Festivities and Xiao Long Baos

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

LUNAR NEW YEAR - a time of celebration, reunion and feasts. Celebrating it in Hong Kong was quite... interesting. From being in a clueless group of exchange students trying to figure out how to watch the parade to camping a spot for fireworks just to get face blocked by a 55-storey building, there's one lesson learned: follow the locals.


The only thing that we planned to do even months before we booked our HK flight and actually turned out to be a success was going to a Michelin Star dim sum restaurant. After countless hours of stalking food vlogers on Youtube about this popular local place called Tim Ho Wan, we were determined to find it as soon as we got to Hong Kong. It is apparently known as the world's cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant ( + it's open 24 h like hello Montreal? please step up your dim sum game). We intended to go a day after Lunar New Year but found out it was still closed for the holiday. We tried to call several other places but were always hit with a Cantonese recording. Finally, a voice answered from a certain Din Tai Fung nearby. They also served dim sum and have a Michelin Star (yes we were craving dim sum that day and could not get over the fact that it had to be michelin-starred). They are famous for their xiao long baos (or better known as soup dumplings). You can only imagine our level of excitement after feeding ourselves with four days straight of McDonald's which was the only place open on campus during Lunar NY weekend.  After calling this cute lady on the phone to confirm (and telling her "we are coming!!!" to which she happily replied "okay see you soon!!!"), we were on our way to the one near Causeway Bay MTR station.

Din Tai Fung: G3-11, 68 Yee Wo Street, 68 Yee Wo St, East Point
The menu at Din Tai Fung was pretty standard but their xiao long baos definitely stood out more than every other dish we ordered. We got a dish called the drunk chicken which was literally chicken marinated in alcohol. I wouldn't say it was good or bad because I like my chicken to actually taste like chicken but I feel like it would be worth trying just for fun. However, I would definitely recommend the taro buns, they were served super warm and delicious. I lost the bill but the price turned out to be about 30-40 CAD$ per person which in my opinion, is slightly pricey for dim sum considering the amount of dishes we ordered to feel full. On the spot, we believed it was a great price since it had a Michelin star... until we went to Tim Ho Wan.

Tim Ho Wan: Shop B, C, & D, G/F, Seaview Building, 2 Wharf Road, North Point, Hong Kong
Tim Ho Wan significantly looked more like a local hole in the wall than Din Tai Fung. Many long tables of 10+ people sitting together could be seen through the glass window from the street. Every time we went, our group was at least 5 people so we always got a private table after about half an hour wait time. If you were any less, it would be highly likely that you would be seated next to strangers on the same table. I actually find that to be perfectly fine as it adds a more genuine and local vibe to the place where you know that the food alone was enough to carry it to a Michelin star (and not its environment). On that same note, I've also heard that cheaper than Tim Ho Wan, there is a food stand in Singapore (yes, a STAND) that had such respected street food that it earned itself a Michelin star. Anyways, the first time we went as 5 people, we ordered 24 dishes which turned out to be about 18$ CAD each. YES 18$. 24 dishes. Pretty amazing. Honestly, all the dishes except one tasted pretty standard but what made this place stand out was not only the price, but its PORK BUNS. I don't know if it's the juicy salty pork filling or the sweet custard layered outer layer but it is for sure a must order.

Ok, so I totally didn't intend this blog post to be 90% about dim sum (... and how many times can one say Michelin Star in a blog post), but all in all, I highly recommend going to both places if you are passing by Hong Kong especially Tim Ho Wan since it's so cheap.

Also, if you have been following my Instagram, you probably know that these photos are not recent. They were indeed taken in Montreal and have absolutely nothing to do with the content of this post (but if you have been reading my blog for a while, you're probably aware of this). I haven't had to chance to take out my camera to explore the city yet since dragging it downtown can a hassle but I will definitely plan a day soon out just to shoot around. For now, I will be flying to Taipei tonight and staying for the weekend. I will probably be posting travel photos soon, until then, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this post!

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