When I was doing my research on the best casual places to eat in Hong Kong, one name kept popping up – Yum Cha. Then one day I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and there it was, a table filled with the cutest looking dim sum. I knew I had to visit, especially because the reviews were mostly favorable.
We chose to visit it on our first night in Hong Kong after the boat cruise on Aqua Luna. Their restaurant turned out to be more elaborate than I expected, reminiscent of a New York loft. With a nicely furnished trendy open space and large windows, the interior was quite inviting and comfortable.
Even though it is known for its most instagrammable dim sum, Yum Cha actually boasts with a vast menu featuring authentic Chinese food with a modern presentation. To be quite honest, every item on the menu looks so enticing that I had difficulty deciding what to order or when to stop. I wanted to try so many things! The big bonus is that food here is actually very affordable, considering the high quality of cooking and great service we experienced.
Besides the famous playful dim sum, we also decided to sample some other local dishes. Marinated duck in spicy sauce was succulent and burst with flavor. I was a bit disappointed it was served cold, but it was very tasty nevertheless.
We also had spicy 1000-years-old duck egg, which sounded insanely interesting. It had a gelatinous, almost transparent texture and was accompanied with a piquant spicy sauce. It tasted just like an egg, nothing too special about it in my opinion, although the sauce did add a very nice kick to it.
Another interesting dish was the orange wintermelon, which had a very nice crunchy texture and sweet taste.
Although I know you all are dying to know about THE Instagram worthy character buns. So we tried three varieties: orange Hot Custard Buns, BBQ Piggy Buns, and baked crispy pineapple puff, which look like birds and are served in the cage!
I’m happy to report that the taste of these irresistibly adorable dim sum matches their presentation. BBQ buns were very well done, with flavorful and moist meat inside a soft steamed bun.
Filled with rich custard, the orange custard buns are sweet, and serve as a dessert, very very tasty dessert.
I was least excited with the bird puffs. They are filled with marmalade and were a bit dry in my opinion.
We ended the evening with an epic board of crème brulee shots, which didn’t have much alcohol in it, but boy, was it lip-smacking good!
I think Yum Cha makes for a wonderful place for casual lunch or even dinner. The food was genuinely delicious and I’d love to go back to try some other items off the menu.
xoxo, nano
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I love your photos, Nano! I also love that we have been in the same place (maybe even the same seat!) – just not at the same time! Next time, I’ll have to try the savoury dishes – maybe with you?! And you’re right – I found the prices to be entirely reasonable too! xo Jaime
http://www.angloyankophile.com/
OMG you read it! I love the idea! I know we will meet soon, HK, Tokyo, London – it doesn’t matter, but it will happen. and of course food has to be involved ;)
ah they are cute. There are some places like this in lot of Asian cities now; last time when I came back to Shanghai they have some similar restaurants too. Yum Cha is good – even in Melbourne it’s really popular these days. I’ve written a post on Yum Cha as well… https://tivamoo.com/2017/05/14/what-do-we-eat-in-yum-cha/
Ooh thank you for linking it, I’ll definitely have a read. :)
Oh wow I would love to visit and that Dim Sum looks so good. I would order the bird still just to take photos x
Haha I know, they had other cute characters too and my husband stopped me otherwise I’d order them all 🙈
I wish Id managed to visit this place when i was in HK – I just never got time, it looks so fun!
http://www.georginadoes.co.uk
Well, there is one more reason for you to go back ;) They were very cute to look at. Very Instagram-worthy lol
Oh my gosh! Creme brulee shots?!
Haha I know, they were delicious:)
TOO CUTE TO EAT!!!! >.<
I agree! :)
I reeeallly wanted to come here but we just had so little time. It really is perfect for Instagram.
It’s so adorable and tastes good too!