There’s a reason Tim Ho Wan is famous for its pork buns.
When I heard there were lines snaking around the block for the first U.S. outpost of Tim Ho Wan, a Hong Kong-based dim sum chain, I thought, “Surely we have better in Flushing.” Still that Michelin star had me real curious about what was so special about Tim Ho Wan’s dim sum beyond the fact that it’s served 24 hours a day from check off menus instead of carts.
The answer, as I found out the other day, is that the dim sum at the East Village yum cha parlor isn’t really all that special. The steamed rice roll with shrimp was passable, but lacking in rice flavor, then again I’ve been spoiled by Joe’s. Pork and shrimp shiu mai, were meh. There is one item that stands head and shoulders above the rest though and is truly best in class, the baked BBQ pork buns. (more…)
