Hong Kong - Lin Heung Tea House at Wellington Street, Central (蓮香樓)

Dim Sum has become synonymous with Hong Kong - I am sure many of us have happily proclaimed "I'll be going to Dim Sum Land!" when we tell our friends of our travel plans to Hong Kong. To experience authentic Dim Sum and the chaos that comes with it, you have to visit Lin Heung Tea House at Wellington Street in Central, Hong Kong. It is one of the oldest tea houses in Hong Kong. Only after that you can truly proclaim that you have been to Dim Sum Land.

Seating capacity on the second floor of Lin Heung Tea House is a-plenty, but it was full of patrons, both locals and tourists. We saw many old couples holding and helping each other up the steep flight of stairs, and settling down slowly for their dim sum - such sweet and poignant sight in the midst of the chaos that happened every single time a food trolley appeared on the aisle.

At Lin Heung Tea House, authenticity of the yum cha experience is preserved by not having an orderly ordering system. You could only glance and grab whatever that is available on the food trolley when the servers push them out. We were torn between enjoying our food and keeping a strict eye on the food trolleys to make sure that we were not missing out on any goodies.

After laying your eyes on the item you want, you have to be quick - grab and hold it tightly in your hands and let the server put a stamp on your order chit. Only with the stamp can you proclaim the item as your own, and then head back to your table in jubilee.

Our first victory at Lin Heung Tea House was the beef ball dumplings. The meat was tender and juicy, and the bits of chestnut and spring onion inside added a crunchiness to it. The beancurd skin at the bottom was soft and had absorbed the gravy very well. Very hearty.

The beancurd roll with steam pork and fish maw worked for us as well. The texture was dimensional, and the gravy exceptional. Lip-smacking.

The custard bun was a bit dry- maybe it has been in the food trolley for quite a while. The filling was generous, but the bun was too thick for my liking. This is the down side of having food placed on a trolley and pushed around the restaurant.

The steamed pork ribs at Lin Heung Tea House was a tad sweet and starchy for our liking. The meat remained soft and juicy, but the sauce was not as savoury as we would like it to be.

This was our favourite dish at Lin Heung Tea House. We have not tasted anything like this before, and it was really awesome. Wrapped under a huge piece of huai shan (淮山) are generous portions of goodies which included pork ribs, chicken slices, chinese mushroom and fish maw. Each of the item was very fresh and juicy, and worked together very well in the amazing herb gravy.

The dim sum at Lin Heung Tea House is very unlike the run of the mill items that we have in Singapore. Each item is thoughtfully put together and almost like a fine dining dish on its own ( you just have to place an item on a big plate and then drizzle some gravy haphazardly). The chaos and the buzz of the place also adds to the charm of it. Do not miss out this experience when you are in Hong Kong - Lin Heung Tea House is an important stamp on your journey to Dim Sum Land.

Hong Kong Food Blog Review by Kumory

☁☁☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

Lin Heung Tea House (蓮香樓)

162 Wellington Street

Central Hong Kong

6am to 4pm daily (for dim sum); 6am to 11pm daily

ps: Check out our ultimate food guide to Kowloon for more goodies in Hong Kong!