The last time I tried Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong for their famous michelin-starred BBQ Pork Buns, we went to the branch in IFC Mall. You can read my post on that here. I remember that while I enjoyed the freshly based buns, I didn't think it was worth lining up for, so I was totally okay ordering it as tapao (or Take Away).
This time around, I read that the original Tim Ho Wan branch is in Sham Shui Po - an area of Hong Kong populated with wholesalers of everything from clothes, toys and electronic gadgets, and since we were planning to go to Sham Shui Po anyway to do some shopping, we decided to go to Tim Ho Wan early to beat the crowd and so we could try the original BBQ Pork Buns that everyone was raving about.
While we left early and we had good intentions, the catch was that Tim Ho Wan is probably a good 10-15 minutes walk away from the MTR Station. It's also on the same street as the Toy Wholesalers, so needless to say, our walk to the restaurant (with detours included, meaning we entered every single store that looked interesting) probably took more than an hour. Hahaha.
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| Just imagine rows and rows of stores like this. |
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| It's less busy before lunch. |
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| Rainbow Loom mania everywhere! |
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| Sanrio, Disney, Toys and Stationary Galore |
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| Auntie Stella's favorite store has anything and everything under the sun. Including a pack of 12 mice you can buy for only 10HKD! Perfect for pranking people. #Mature! |
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| However, if you want to buy electronic gadgets, you need to go to the wholesale building. I bought my monopod from the fishing rod street stall and it cost my 68HKD when I heard they were just selling it for 40HKD inside. |
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| Trying out the monopod before I bought it. |
I was too busy shopping to take much pictures, but they have everything from Made in China branded toy overruns, everything Disney or Sanrio, so I was able to buy a lot of Frozen School Supplies for the party of a friend's daughter. They also have the things you can buy from the Korean Wholesale Market in Dongdaemun which I blogged about here, but pricing-wise, it's normally sold at the Korean Retail Price, while in Korea you get it at 30% discount. My favorite finds were the Japanese toys, with the Re-Ment Miniature sets included (you can read my posts on Re-Ments here and here). In fact, they have an even bigger selection of sealed (complete collection) Re-Ment boxes in Hong Kong compared to the hobby stores we've visited in Japan. I even bought Sofia a box of Disney Russian Dolls so she could use them Rainbow Loom necklace pendants. So now I'm sure you understand why the walk to the restaurant took so long.
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| If you're walking from the toy stores, you'll actually see this sign from a far so you'll know you're on the right track. |
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| We wanted to arrive before lunch, but we actually got her at 1:00pm so we already expected the lines to be long. |
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| When you arrive, you can either get a number for the table or go in to order take away. But they have this sign - so getting a number is not guaranteed. |
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| The place is simple with no frills, so people really come here for the food. You just place your take away order by the counter and pay, then they ask you to wait outside until your order is ready. |
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| You can see their bragging rights by the door. This is the place that was given 1 michelin star, and it seems like they've kept it. |
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| We were so tired from shopping we actually sat down on the step. |
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| The lady in the podium calls out numbers when tables or take away orders are ready. |
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| We got promoted to waiting on real seats when the previous occupants finally got their table. |
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| The famous BBQ Pork Buns |
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| My favorite Turnip/Radish/Carrot Cake However, I think for this dish I prefer the Singapore and Manila ones better. |
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| We also ordered Hakaw. Our lunch was augmented with the Spicy McWings Meal from McDonald's so we could grab a table. |
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| Eating in McDonald's is convenient because Ady got to cross out McWings from her to eat list. |
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| The BBQ Pork Bun was so good. The bread was very light. |
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| Which was not the case for the IFC Pork Buns, which was bread-ier and sweeter. |
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| The only advantage of IFC is that you only have to wait 10-15 mins for your take away, handy if you're catching a flight, but might mean that it's less fresh. |
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| Another bonus for the IFC branch, if you choose to eat there is you can go to Godiva for dessert. |
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| They have the best Soft Serve Ice Cream |
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| Though Sofia prefers the Dark Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream Cup since it tastes the same but is less messy. |
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| Perfect snack while waiting for our BBQ Pork Buns take away order. |
If you ask me, it's definitely worth going to Sham Shui Po to have the original Tim Ho Wan Pork Buns, but I must admit, I have an ulterior motive of checking out the shops. just saying.
Sham Shui Po Toy Wholesalers
Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po
The Original Tim Ho Wan
G/F, 9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po
Nearest MTR station: Tsuen Wan Line, Sham Shui Po, Exit B2
Tim Ho Wan IFC Mall
Shop 12A, Hong Kong Station
(Podium Level 1, IFC Mall)
Central
Godiva IFC Mall
Shop 1029-30, Level One,
IFC Mall, 1 Harbour View Street,
Central
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