8 dim sum experiences in Hong Kong that cater to every taste
The city is famous for its yum cha – whether you’re looking for that hipster experience, or for something more ‘real’, Hong Kong has it all
Dim sum is one of China’s most famous culinary exports and has travelled to all corners of the planet. While it is generally recognised that the tradition was born in Guangzhou, it is in Hong Kong where it has truly flourished and has become an art form.
Today, the tasty morsels characteristic of dim sum, also known as “yum cha” (meaning “drink tea”), are mostly associated with lunchtime, especially as a family experience on the weekend. But a few decades ago, they were breakfast items for many Hongkongers. Those employed as manual labourers would typically go to a reasonably priced cha lau (tea house) such as Lin Heung at the crack of dawn – starting from around 5am – to have a pot of tea, a steamer or two of dim sum and a pot of steamed rice with ingredients such as meat patties with pork and salted fish; or pork rib and chicken feet. The idea was to fuel up for the day, so that they could work through until late afternoon.
Businessmen, on the other hand, would go later in the morning to flashier places, the legendary Luk Yu among them, to talk shop.
Over the past five years or so, dim sum has become ever more diverse, with very refined venues at one end of the scale, and 24-hour neighbourhood joints at the other. Here, we have summed up eight (auspiciously) quintessential dim sum experiences in Hong Kong.
For the hipster:
Dim Sum Library
124/Level 1, Pacific Place, Admiralty, 3643 0088
The feel: A posh 21st century interpretation of a traditional tea room.
The food: Dim sum has been given a gourmet upgrade here, as is evident from the dishes it serves, such as wagyu beef puff with black pepper (the meat melts in the mouth); black truffle har gau (shrimp dumplings); Hokkaido king crab and sea urchin spring rolls; and seared foie gras with Osmanthus-smoked coddled eggs. All the dishes are sensational.