Tsui Hang Village – a dim sum feast in Causeway Bay

I just moved back to Hong Kong a few weeks ago after a decade in New York, and one of my very first thoughts after landing was, “I need to find some good dim sum”. Fortunately for me, my wish was fulfilled pretty quickly when Rach and I checked out the new Tsui Hang Village in Causeway Bay’s recently renovated Lee Theatre Plaza.

Tsui Hang Village already has branches in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, but unlike the more traditional feel these other locations have, the newest branch Causeway Bay has an updated look. The restaurant was supposedly modelled after a modern Cantonese mansion; while still very Cantonese, the design is sleek, contemporary and a refreshing change from your usual dim sum joint. I loved the stripy carpets, black and white photos of Hong Kong, marble lazy Susans, tactile wooden furniture and vintage-style metal window shutters; meanwhile, a large window peeks into the surprisingly clean and hygienic kitchen, allowing you to spy on the chefs hard at work.

Although Tsui Hang Village does start to get crowded at lunch, it’s not nearly as noisy as other dim sum restaurants, and still retains a calm ambience despite being full. There’s even a quieter café area for tea and dessert, for those who want some quick relief from Causeway Bay’s hectic crowds.

Whilst I appreciated the comfortable space, I loved the food even more! We started with one of Tsui Hang Village’s signature dishes – honey glazed barbeque pork. After ten years of tragic dry bits of “barbeque pork” from Chinese takeout meals in New York, I was in paradise when I tasted this! Tsui Hang Village is meticulous about the meat they select, making sure they get that “golden ratio” of 30% fat and 70% meat just right – so you end up with a balanced, melt-in-your-mouth yet not too fatty char siu. Served with traditional honey-glazed beans, this is highly recommended!

Tsui Hang’s dim sum was definitely very solid. The standard items (har gow, siu mai, cheung fan etc) are all present and correct, and were good quality if nothing out of the ordinary. I enjoyed the steamed dumplings with scallops and black truffle, as I hadn’t come across them before – they tasted good, but fell apart quite easily, so have those napkins at the ready!

It felt cruel to bite into these adorable pig-shaped sweet potato buns (Instagram alert!), but look how pretty and vibrant the purple steamed potato purée inside is! They tasted pretty good too, if a little heavy – so sharing with a friend is definitely your best option here, to make sure you have enough room for everything else.

Rach has been on a mission to find a good custard bun, and she definitely approved of Tsui Hang’s. The buns already looked beautiful and pillowy on the outside, but when we cut into them they had a lovely runny centre that came oozing out. The custard was very good – subtly sweet without an overpowering yolk flavour.

It’s not often anyone gets excited about tofu, but the crispy bean curd cubes in spicy salt were kind of amazing. Light but full of flavour and texture, each chunk boasted soft bean curd on the inside and a beautiful crispy batter on the outside, all topped with spicy dried garlic – we loved it!

We also tried the crispy rice with diced seafood served in seafood soup, another Tsui Hang Village signature which was new to me. Again, sometimes the simplest things can blow your mind when done well. The flavour was very good, but I loved how there was a combination of soft rice boiled with the soup and crispy bits of fried rice mixed in right before serving. The texture definitely reflected the balance and yin-yang philosophy of Chinese cooking.

We ended the meal with glutinous rice dumplings with shredded coconut. We might have just got lucky because our dumplings were freshly made right before they were brought out, but as a big fan of mochi, this glutinous rice was pretty incredible. It was soooo soft and moist, and I loved that there was actual fresh coconut flesh in the middle.

Overall, I was very impressed by my meal and can’t wait to return to Tsui Hang Village. The restaurant really achieves the flavour balance that good Cantonese cuisine strives for – nothing was too salty or too sweet, even dessert. Maybe next time I’ll try the tempting Peking Duck, which we saw hanging in a beautiful oven behind the kitchen window. With quality food and a casually elegant space, Tsui Hang Village is definitely a great spot to bring friends or family for a Cantonese feast.

Tsui Hang Village  22/F, Lee Theatre Plaza, 99 Percival Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
2409 4822  www.miradining.com/tsui-hang-village-causeway-bay/

Tsui Hang Village 5/F, Miramar Shopping Centre, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
2376 2882 www.tsuihangvillage.hk/

Iris blogs about clean living and her cooking adventures figuring out a HK-sized kitchen at Eating Clean In The Dirty City