Rice Dumplings with Marinated Pork at Kwan Cheuk Heen Restaurant, Hong Kong.
“Get to your heart”. This is how it translates from Cantonese dim sum. Can there be a more poetic way of calling a food? Well, maybe yes. Bacon from heaven, but that's another story. back to this delicacy of cantonese gastronomy, which little by little has become the quintessential Chinese tapa.
Its peculiar aesthetics, its great diversity of flavors, doughs and fillings are some of its great assets. It is said that there are up to 2,000 varieties, that walk between the sweet and the salty. From breakfast to snack, also perfect for brunch or business lunch. Of course, always accompanied by tea, as tradition marks, since they were originally served in houses specialized in this drink.
Meats such as pork and beef or shrimp are usually the most common fillings, wrapped in delicate and malleable masses cooked by steaming and, on a few occasions, fried. We traveled to Hong Kong, the city of skyscrapers – with permission from New York – to find the best dim sum. A route that goes through the most low cost restaurants, suitable for all budgets, even the most sophisticated. Addresses where, whether you are local or western, you can enjoy a delicious bite.
At Yum Cha you will find dim sum in the form of turtles, pigs, roses, carrots...
DIMDIMSUM DIM SUM SPECIALTY STORE
DimDimSum Dim Sum Specialty Store is located in the working-class neighborhood of Jordan, where there are areas of interest such as Temple Street Night Market or Kowloon Park. A small but cozy restaurant that can go unnoticed by passers-by, although their tails usually warn that something delicious is cooking inside.
Whether you want to eat at their premises or take them to go, their menu brings together an infinity of options. The most charismatic? Their dim sum sweets in the shape of a pig's face. The challenge will be not to photograph them before eating them (26-28 Man Wui St, Jordan).
yum cha
Gastronomy and fantasy take shape in this restaurant's fun and colorful artisan selection of dim sums. Turtles, carrots, roses, pigs, faces with mustaches... Imagination is the limit for the creative team at Yum Cha.
They themselves encourage diners to share their creations on Instagram before taking a bite. As they themselves say “camera eats first”. And seeing their original dim sums, they are right (3/F, 20-22, Granville Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui) .
KWAN CHEUK HEEN, HARBOR GRAND HONG KONG
This hotel belonging to the Preferred Hotels & Resorts seal and winner of the Workd Luxury Hotel Wards award in 2016 has five restaurants inside. We move up to the fifth floor to get to know Kwan Cheuk Heen in depth, focused on the excellence and delicacy of Cantonese cuisine and with incredible views of the Hong Kong harbour.
Both in the main room and in its private dining room, you can taste exquisite dim sums such as the "steamed rice dumplings with marinated pork" and the "steamed wild mushroom dumplings with black truffle" wild with black truffle), both awarded as the best dim sum dishes of 2015 and 2014, respectively, for the Hong Kong Tourism Board Best of the Best Food Award.
The finishing touch? The aesthetics of the restaurant itself, a renewed vision of traditional Chinese design in which its metal lanterns, its mahogany walls and round doors, and the possibility of tasting their selection of premium teas and experiencing an authentic live tea ceremony (23 Oil St, North Point) .
Lobster and steamed pork dumpling with black truffle XO sauce, at Kwan Cheuk Heen restaurant.
MO BAR, HONG KONG MANDARIN ORIENTAL BAR
In the heart of Central, Hong Kong's financial district and close to The Mid-Levels Escalator, the longest escalator in the world, is the acclaimed The Landmark, Mandarin Oriental.
On the ground floor is the elegant MO Bar, a temple of good taste that unites modernity and minimalism with the ancient magic of Asia. Under the concept of all-day dining, in its menu we can find Dim Sum Bento Box, a selection of nine steamed and fried dim sums with pork, beef, shrimp and vegetables. All this paired (if you want) with a wide and rich selection of cocktails inspired by countries around the world (15 Queen's Road Central, Central).
Incredible interior of the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.