Tim Ho Wan, Chatswood

If you are a Sydney-sider (and especially if you live on the North Shore), you would've heard of Chatswood's newest yum cha restaurant - Tim Ho Wan.

Famed as the "world's cheapest Michelin-star restaurant", Tim Ho Wan first started in Mong Kok, Hong Kong and now has several stores in Hong Kong and has extended to other countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines and now: Sydney and coming soon to Melbourne.  We should point out though that not all Tim Ho Wan branded restaurants are Michelin-starred and that the actual Michelin-starred Tim Ho Wan's are the North Point, Sham Sui Po and Tai Kwok Tsui branches in Hong Kong.

We first tried Tim Ho Wan a few years ago during our visit to Hong Kong.  We must admit - comparing it to the myriad of yum cha choices in Hong Kong, we weren't particularly blown away. But when something of this quality lands in Chatswood where there aren't really any decent yum cha choices - the outcome is a little different.

So does this international brand really live up to all the hype and anticipation? 

Our verdict: some of the dishes are definitely a notch up from usual yum cha joints, but others seem not very different.  So instead of reviewing every dish, we thought we'd identify the ones we thought are definitely better than other yum cha places and which you should try if you're going to line up 1 hour+ for a seat.   

Here goes out list...

1. The BBQ pork buns: This is a no-brainer.  The sweet, crusty and buttery outside with generous saucy BBQ pork on the inside is the star of the restaurant. Can't come to Tim Ho Wan and not try these!  Don't recommend taking these away though - they're best eaten hot!

Signature dish: BBQ pork buns

That gooey inside...can't resist!

2. Chicken feet with abalone sauce: Before you grimace and look away here us out - the soft, gelatinous flesh is well marinated by the abalone sauce.  I don't know how much abalone is actually used in this dish but the marinade is different to the typical soy sauce sticky sauce you see at other yum cha joints.  The bean curd on the bottom of the dish soaks up the sauce and makes for a nice satisfying finish to the dish.  Set aside your preconceptions and give chicken feet a shot!

Chicken feet with abalone sauce

 3. Steamed egg cake: This soft, airy cake is best eaten warm.  It's not too sweet and we think it's definitely lighter and airier than other steamed egg cakes you can get at yum cha.

Steamed egg cake

 4. Glutinous rice in lotus leaf: Ordinarily, this is served at yum cha as three little lotus leaf parcels.  At Tim Ho Wan, it's served as one big portion for sharing (much more in the spirit of yum cha). The filling is generous, with a combination of fatty pork, lap cheong (think, Chinese chorizo) and Chinese mushrooms.  The rice is aromatic and not too gluggy.  We think this is definitely one notch up from usual yum cha joints in Sydney where the filling is often sparse and does not look particularly appetising and resembles off-cuts or leftovers roughly placed amongst the rice.

Glutinous rice in lotus leaf

5. Pork ribs with black bean sauce: Last on our list of must tries is the pork ribs with black bean sauce.  Again, this is often a dish that looks roughly put together at yum cha and the pork often overcooked.  Here at Tim Ho Wan, we found that the flavour balances are much more refined, the pork not overcooked and still tender and it's not swimming in a pool of fat/steaming water.  Flavour wise, it's familiar but done better. The only down side is that portion wise, it's a bit small. 

Here are the rest of the dishes are tried on our first visit.  None of these were bad and in fact, we found everything was generally well executed, fresh and not overly oily and salty.  The above 5 are just what we found to be the notable stand outs and better than what you would otherwise find at most yum cha restaurants in Sydney.

This pork dumpling with prawns almost made the cut of top 5.  The pork and prawns fresh with a good texture and not overcooked.

Pork dumplings with prawns

Prawn dumplings 

C really enjoyed the Cheung Fan - vermicelli rolls with stuffing and thinks they should be included in the top 5.

Vermicelli Roll with BBQ Pork

Vermicelli roll with BBQ pork and Vermicelli roll with prawns

Beancurd skin roll with shrimp

Overall, our verdict is that Tim Ho Wan is one of the best yum cha restaurants you can find on the North Shore.  It may not have as much variety but the dishes are more refined and well balanced than other yum cha restaurants.   

Unsurprisingly (and partly because of the size of the actual restaurant), lines seem to have been consistently long over the past week or so since its opening.  K has been twice and both times, the wait was about 50 mins - 1 hour long (starting at the bottom of the stairs into The District).  You'd easily wait that long for yum cha on a weekend, but when the wait gets to about 2 hours or more, query whether it's really worth the effort.  You're better off coming at 9:30am to wait for their 10am start!  

PS: We drove past this morning and it's the longest we've seen it stretching all the way to the Chatswood RSL club - couldn't resist taking a quick snap!

The line keeps going up the stairs!