Hong Kong – One Dim Sum Chinese Restaurant 一點心

Restaurant: One Dim Sum 一點心
Cuisine: Chinese/Dim Sum
Last visited: October 13, 2012
Location: Prince Edward, Hong Kong
Address: Shop 1 & 2, G/F, Kenwood Mansion, 15 Playing Field Road
太子運動場道15號京華大廈地舖1-2號
Phone: 2789 2280
Transit: Prince Edward Station – Exit A
Price Range: $45-65HKD/per person – about $5.50-8CAD

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: FMF Must Try!

Food: 4-4.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Value: 5
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:

• 1 Michelin Star
• Very busy/popular at all times
• Local favourite
• Line ups
• Crowded/Quick
• English menu available
• Very affordable
• Very casual
• Good quality/value
• Dim sum only
• All day dim sum
• Items sell out early
• Seats 40
• Dine in/Take out
• Mon – Fri 11am – 1am
• Sat – Sun 10am – 1am

**Recommendations: Steam Prawn Dumpling, Steam Dumpling in Chiu Chow Style, Steam Pork Dumpling, Steam Rice Noodle with Barbecued Pork, Steam Rice Noodle with Dried Shrimp, Steam Slice Chicken with Mushroom, Fried Egg Stick with Condensed Milk

C’mon Hong Kong! I thought you had game! I was rooting for you! Sure I’m from Vancouver, BC where the Chinese food is known to be “the best outside of Asia” and some even say “better than what you can find in Asia”, but you were supposed to prove them wrong. I can be one of these people and you were supposed to prove me wrong. I wanted to be proved wrong. I wanted to find better.

So far I had about 7 dim sum places in about 10 days in Follow Me Foodie to Hong Kong and I wasn’t floored. Sure some places were very good, but for the most part many were overrated for all the awards and hype they have received. Some dishes were just marginally better than what I could get in Vancouver and I felt a bit disappointed. Fair enough I didn’t try every dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong, but I did have higher expectations and I wasn’t expecting so many “just okay” experiences. That is, until I tried One Dim Sum.

It was one of the last dim sum experiences I had, but it was the most memorable. It wasn’t a fancy place and I was given the recommendation from a local Hong Kong food writer who moved to Vancouver. I was told it was famous for their hand made rice rolls which is one of my favourite dim sum dishes.

As soon as I got to One Dim Sum I saw a fairly long line up. It was going to be a 45 minute wait (which is pretty standard here) and I decided to wait. Good things come to those who wait… right? I can say that a lot of popular and “famous” restaurants in Hong Kong have hour long line ups, and while I waited in some of them I found many not worth it. After trying One Dim Sum I would wait 30 minutes to eat here again, but as a local I’d be less patient although it was very good. Let’s admit it, most of the time locals hate line ups.

The line up here was full of locals and it is a 1 Michelin Star Restaurant, but on the affordable side of the Michelin Guide. I could sense its popularity growing and it’s still not widely known by most people yet. One Dim Sum is a favourite because it offers great value without sacrificing on quality, service or atmosphere.

It’s still very crowded once you get inside, but that’s most restaurants in Hong Kong. They don’t have the space, but they have the people. I wasn’t sure what to really order, but I observed the tables and it was pretty easy to figure out. The server did give me some recommendations as well and to be honest, it was the best service I had received so far in Hong Kong. Mind you the service I had been receiving so far was pretty poor and anyone willing to offer me recommendations was already a step up from what I had been experiencing. I got used to it though. It’s the fast paced mentality in Hong Kong and business relies on turn over. For the most part people don’t have the time to spend hours chatting and grazing over a meal anyway.

One Dim Sum was impressive though. The food was fresh, honest, home made, and they didn’t skimp on ingredients or quality. The place seemed clean and the atmosphere casual, but nice. The value was certainly there and I was comfortable even though it was cramped. It’s a place I would and did recommend to tourists and locals in Hong Kong. Besides the inevitable wait, it was a pleasant experience that I would want to do all over again.

On the table:

**Steam Prawn Dumpling (Har Gow) – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $20HKD about $2.60CAD
• Well done! Each one had 3 shrimps and they were fresh and made upon order.
• Authentic dim sum is much smaller than what we see in North America and traditionally it should be big enough just for one bite.

**Steam Dumpling in Chiu Chow Style (Chiu Chow Fun Guo) – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $15HKD about $1.90CAD
• These can vary from restaurant to restaurant and everyone has their own version of Chiu Chow dumplings.

**Steam Pork Dumpling (Shao Mai) – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $18HKD about $2.30CAD
• I didn’t like that they were stuck together, but they tasted fantastic!
• Typically people like more shrimp than pork in these dumplings, but this one was almost equal with both ingredients.
• The pork they used was excellent though.
• Most of the time people use ground pork, but this one used either pork butt or pork shoulder. I think it was shoulder.
• It was a good chunk of pork and not just a pork meatball.
• The prawn was also crunchy and the pork moist and I’ve never had a steam pork dumpling quite like this one.
• For once I didn’t mind that it was 50% pork and 50% shrimp because the pork was good quality, moist and tender.

**Steam Rice Noodle with Barbecued Pork (Cha Siu Cheong Fun) – 4/6 (Very good)

• $17HKD about $2.19CAD
• They are famous for their home made steamed rice noodles and the barbequed pork version is the popular choice.
• It also comes stuffed with shrimp, beef or a savoury Chinese doughnut, but I went with the pork.
• We have this dish in Vancouver, where I’ve tried it many times, but I liked it better here.
• Upon serving they poured a sweetened soy sauce over top.

• The biggest difference was that the barbeque pork wasn’t the crappy parts of the barbeque pork. They were nice big chunks of barbeque pork.
• Most places will stuff it with the parts of barbeque pork that aren’t very good. They stuff it with the scraps.
• It will either be the chewy fatty bits or the stuff leftover from the day before, but not here.
• The barbeque pork at One Dim Sum is actually purchased from a local barbeque shop every morning and they use that for this rice roll.
• I guess it’s slightly “cheating” by not making their own, but they know what they’re good at and their focus is on the rice noodle.
• It was moist and tender good quality pieces of barbeque pork and that’s what made this roll stand out.
• It wasn’t “the best” barbeque pork I had in Hong Kong, but it was very good, tender, decently moist and not too sweet or salty.
• The rice noodle was excellent though! It was so excellent I had to order a plain one to enjoy its glory on its own.
• The rice noodle isn’t as soft and smooth in the barbeque pork noodle roll because it has to steam longer since there is pork inside.
• Steaming it longer changes the texture of the rice noodle roll, so I did prefer the plain one with dried shrimp (below) which steams for less time.

**Steam Rice Noodle with Dried Shrimp (Ha Mai Cheong Fun) – 6/6 FMF Must Try!

• $16HKD about $2CAD
• My first FMF Must Try of Follow Me Foodie to Hong Kong round 2!
• This is one of my favourite dim sum dishes and it’s Chinese comfort food.
• This was excellent and I haven’t had one this good in Vancouver, BC, China or Hong Kong yet.
• The texture was unlike most I’ve had before and I’ve been eating these all my life from various places.
• It was almost fluffy and light and it was like eating fluffy clouds of soft rice noodles.
• For what it was, the texture was beautiful and spot on!

• The home made rice noodles were thin, but still thick enough to give texture.
• They were melt in your mouth tender and super smooth and soft.
• It wasn’t floury and very light and it was almost like eating bubbles they were so light. I’ve never had them this light before.
• There was a decent amount of dried shrimp (Chinese delicacy) and the quality of them were pretty good too.
• The dried shrimps weren’t too small and not sandy and it suited the roll nicely.
• You eat this with a sweetened soy sauce poured over top and sometimes Hoisin sauce and sesame sauce on the side.

**Steam Sliced Chicken with Mushroom – 4/6 Very good

• $20HKD about $2.60CAD
• Again this was very good, but I could find something like it at home that’s just as good if not better.
• If you’ve never tried this it’s a good place to try it and the quality was very good.
• I also had this at Lin Heung Tea House, but it was a bit more oily and less refined there.
• The fish maw (on the left) was very good quality. It was nice and thick and very juicy.
  • Fish maw is the gas bladder of a fish.
  • It’s an excellent source of collagen and it helps with blood circulation.
  • It’s considered a luxury product and although the quality can vary, it can be very expensive.
  • It usually comes dried and needs to be soaked for hours. It becomes very soft and almost sponge like and it absorbs its surrounding flavours.
  • It needs to be cooked in stronger flavours and this one just absorbed all the savoury chicken juices and oils.
• Some places will give you pig fat because it’s cheaper and has the same texture as fish maw, but here they are honest with their ingredients.
• The boneless and skinless dark meat chicken was tender and moist, but the flavour of the sauce/soup at the bottom of the dish wasn’t as strong with chicken flavour as I prefer.
• The Shiitake was also pretty good quality. It was decently thick and this is considered another Chinese delicacy and it’s symbolic for prosperity.

**Steamed Minced Beef Ball (Ngou Yuen) – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $15HKD about $1.90CAD
• The beef balls were incredibly tender, juicy and loose in texture.
• They were almost spongy and very light and airy.
• They were wrapped in thin tofu skins and the meat was mixed with some orange peel, chives and cilantro which is traditional.
• The orange peel and cilantro was subtle, but I could taste it and it’s served with Worcestershire sauce over top.
• You can find these at all dim sum places, but they were very good here.

**Steamed Cake in Mala Style (Ma Lai Gou) – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $16HKD about $2CAD
• I got a bit obsessed with these in Hong Kong.
• I liked them in Vancouver, but generally they were all very good in Hong Kong too, if not better.
• Originally this is a Malaysian style cake, but the Chinese adapted it.
• People have it for breakfast or as a light dessert and it often comes out with everything else rather than at the end. You can order it last if you want though.
• It was tender, fluffy, soft and not too sweet.
• I could barely pick it up it was so tender and my fingers sunk right into it.
• It was spongy, freshly steamed and it had a nice eggy flavour.
• Sometimes there is vanilla or almond extract in it. It could have been in this one, but it wasn’t as obvious.
• I liked the Malaysia Style cake at Tim Ho Wan best out of what I tried. I think it’s called “Chinese Butter Cake” there.

Fried Egg Stick with Honey – 4.5/6 (Very good)

• $14HKD about $1.80CAD
• This is another house favourite for dessert here. They are famous for their fried egg sticks.
• This one was sprinkled with dried coconut, peanut crumbs and sesame seeds and drizzled with honey.
• Although good, it was a bit sweet with the honey and I preferred the other version with condensed milk.
• Honey is the traditional way of eating this dessert though.

**Fried Egg Stick with Condensed Milk (Dan San) – 4.5/6 (Very good-Excellent)

• $14HKD about $1.80CAD
• This dessert is also called “dan san” or crispy “Egg Shatters”.
• It’s a deep fried dough made with egg, flour, sugar and lard.
• Usually the dough is twisted or tied in a knot and it takes the shape of a bone.
• You shatter it in pieces to eat it, hence the name.
• Traditionally it’s drizzled with honey, but this version was drizzled with condensed milk.
• It was sprinkled with dried coconut, peanut crumbs and sesame seeds like the one above.
• This one wasn’t as sweet as the honey version and I liked it better.
• The whole thing should be crispy and crunchy, but this one was a bit soft in the middle.
• It’s a very lightly fried dough though and it’s not hard or extremely crunchy, but airy light and somewhat puffy in its crunch.
• It’s not chewy, doughy or bready like a doughnut or churro, but very light like a puffed chip.
• The dough isn’t very sweet and more eggy in flavour which it should be.
• The oil it was fried in tasted fresh too.
• They have Egg Shatters at Kirin (which I found a bit disappointing) and Fisherman’s Terrace in Vancouver (which I haven’t tired yet).
• There are a few other dim sum restaurants serving it as well, but it’s not a very popular dish for dim sum in general.
• If it wasn’t soft in the middle I would say they did an excellent job with this dessert at One Dim Sum.

Steam Cake with Water Chestnut (Ma Tai Gou) – 4/6 (Very good)

• $14HKD about $1.80CAD
• This was a warm dessert and it’s pan fried cake after being steamed.
• It is made with brown sugar, water chestnut flour, water chestnuts and water.
• It’s not really a cake though and it’s more like a jello or jelly “cake”.
• Most people used canned chestnuts for this, but this one used fresh chestnuts.
• I would have liked more of them for crunch and flavour, but it was a bonus that they were fresh chestnuts already.
• It was very soft and not stiff at all from any gelatin and it was a bit gooey in texture.
• The flavour is sweet and a bit floral and aromatic from the chestnut flour. It almost reminded me of sweet tea.
• It was a bit sweet for Chinese standards (who don’t like sweet things), but I didn’t mind it.
• For this dessert it could have been a touch on the sweet side.
• Usually this dessert comes out during Chinese New Year.
• Although you can find it at many dim sum restaurants in Vancouver and Hong Kong, it’s not a staple like prawn dumplings (har gow).
• Some people will add Chrysanthemum flowers, gogi berries or even ginger to the “cake”, but this one didn’t have any.
• This is another popular dessert here, but I preferred the Malay Cake and Fried Egg Sticks/Shatters.

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