Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

You must have seen at least once on TV; how the Community Chest charity drive comes out in full force in Hong Kong. We did buy a few ‘flags’ and stick them proudly on our shirts.

Continuing from the Hong Kong & Macau Food Guide 2013 series, on one fine morning, we took a leisure walk towards One Dim Sum, one of the hottest dim sum place in Hong Kong that serves all day dim sum at fairly reasonable prices (nothing above HKD24/RM10/USD3.30) per portion.  And before you go thinking that this is merely another Tim Ho Wan in the making (or worse, copycat), One Dim Sum has thus far been crowned the #1 restaurant in Hong Kong on TripAdvisor a few months ago, and still sits in the Top 5 comfortably albeit competition from several fine dining options.

Not one to be outdone with, One Dim Sum attracts beyond locals and homemakers that’s for sure. We had to come back after a good 45 minutes. And it was only 10am or so.

Exiting Prince Edward MTR station (Tsuen Wan line; red line) at Exit A, walk east bound along Playing Field Road and you shall see One Dim Sum (or rather, the crowd waiting on the walkway on the outside) fairly easily. Come earlier to beat the crowd, the restaurant can seat 30 pax at most, and the queue can be very … discouraging. We were there at about 10am, took a number from the front counter and told to come back in 45 minutes.

Yes, from breakfast to brunch. Unwillingly. We had to go round and smelt the flowers. Literally.

Around the Prince Edward area north of Mong Kok, along Sai Yee Street northbound off Prince Edward Road West, you will see many floral shops selling fresh flowers, potted plants and such. The colours gave us a wee bit of distraction from the hunger pangs. Yet not for long.

The menu comes in both languages, thankfully. So you know Motormouth survived another round of humiliation. If any. 🙂

It was a good 45 minutes of rounding the vicinity aimlessly, while staving off the hunger. Ended up at a bakery for a light bite and a can of coffee to appease the soul. Else I might have just munched on the flowers and cacti. The line has since built up to a good two dozen fans (obviously) or curious onlookers. I can’t imagine how this place will look like come lunch time.

Ordering was a walk in the park. The menu comes in both languages, you’re given an order chit and the prices are stated clearly as above.

On average of HKD15/RM6/USD2 per serving only. Definitely worth a visit if you’re on a tight budget yet wanted to eat good dim sum in Hong Kong.

Siu Mai aka Pork Dumplings, Century Egg Porridge and Pan fried Radish Cake were some of the better ones, though I found the Lor Bak Gou (Radish Cake) to be lacking in flavours. 

Fried Egg Stick with Honey (you can also choose Condensed Milk instead) HKD14/RM5.90/USD1.80 is their signature item which Tim Ho Wan does not offer. So there lies in the difference?

Baked Barbecue Pork Bun (HKD14/RM5.90/USD1.80), Steamed Cake Mala Style (Ma Lai Gou) (HKD16/RM6.70/USD2) and Steamed Beef Stomach Sheets with Scallions (HKD17/RM7/USD2.20)

Steamed Rice Noodles with Dried Shrimps (HKD16/RM6.70/USD2)

I guess much like any of the dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong, the quality of the morsels designated for ‘yum cha’ sessions banks a lot on the freshness of the ingredients used. And we were not disappointed with One Dim Sum’s. Creativity wise, there is a tad lacking as you could easily find most of the items at Tim Ho Wan or other outlets. Aside from the ‘Darn Sarn’ (fried egg sticks with honey) which was excellent by the way, the other options border on being generic.

Yet, the execution was flawless and everything arrived piping hot. This, despite the incredibly high turnover rate and constant motion around the premise. The Steamed Rice Noodles was evidently one of their weakest points; the rice sheets being thick, sticky and tasteless even when the stark white sheets were studded with briny dried shrimps and flavoured with soy sauce. The rest of the selection were okay, the baked barbecued pork bun was nowhere near Tim Ho Wan’s, yet I was not exactly impressed by the latter’s star creation anyway.

All in all, the meal came to only HKD135/RM56/USD18 including free flow of Chinese tea. A very VERY reasonable price to pay, this being in Hong Kong. We bore witness to a table of 8’s ordering almost everything on the menu. And in duplicates for some.

Thus, if you have the time and craving for good old dim sum yet not willing to travel all the way for a taste of old school at Lin Heung, then One Dim Sum might be for you.

ONE DIM SUM (OpenRice)
Shop 1 & 2, Kenwood Mansion,
15, Playing Field Road,
Prince Edward,
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Find the location in the Hong Kong & Macau Food Map