Yum Cha

Quirky and creative dim sum

Hot custard buns

I am always on the hunt for good quality dim sum whenever I visit Hong Kong, and while I will always enjoy classic dim sum in traditional Cantonese tea houses, it is nice to have a change every once a while. Aiming toward a younger set of audience, Yum Cha is a modern dim sum joint that offers creative dim sum with a touch of a western twist. Its offering are playful in both the names and presentation, perfect for people to share on social media. Yum Cha has been opened since 2015 and is still going strong, and now becoming a mini-chain with four restaurants across Hong Kong.

Chinese sausage rolls in the making

BBQ piggy buns

Pineapple puffs

Between 2 people, we opted for most of Yum Cha's signature dishes, things that are really edgy, with "the hipster factor" written all over it. The BBQ piggy bun was basically a classic char siu bun with a creative touch to made it somewhat fun and cute. The pork meat filling had a great balance of sweetness and smokiness but could do with more of the filling. What I enjoyed most was the prawn rice roll, the roll was so soft and smooth, the prawn was cooked perfectly and still has a touch lovely freshness to it. The egg white and seafood fried rice were interesting, almost like the Chinese version of Italian squid ink risotto. The seasoning was good, and it had a great depth of umami flavours from the seafood, it would have been even better if it had more wok aroma to really make it a top fusion dish.

Prawn rice roll

Beef meat balls with lemongrass

Beetroot with salted fish fired rice

Egg white and squid ink sea food fried rice

Without a doubt, Yum Cha offered something fun and original, the playful element created a great talking point every time when a dish arrives on to the table. The mid-range price tag also made Yum Cha very affordable, I noticed all the diners were taking pictures and this is a great marketing success for Yum Cha. Is it all gimmick with average taste? I don't think so as the dim sum taste were just as good as most classic Hong Kong tea houses. The only challenge I can see for Yum Cha is can it last when there are newer opening that offers similar things? Time will tell, but at least it is great to see there are restaurants such as Yum Cha is trying to do something different.


Food 2.5/5

What I paid: 
£25 per head

Average cost without drinks and services :
£20

8 Argyle St, Mong Kok, Langham Place, Hong Kong

http://yumchahk.com/

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