For Beep Beep’s 40th birthday, we went to New York. This is my second time in the Big Apple. This visit around, I was scammed, spat on and subjected to pornographic language. For this post, let’s listen to JAY-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of the Mind”.
As this was Beep Beep’s trip, I told her to pick all the restaurants and the itinerary. The restaurant she was most excited to try was Tim Ho Wan – the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in New York.
We arrived just after 5:00 p.m. on a Monday. Even though there were plenty of seats, our server squished us in between other parties. Service was typical for a dim sum restaurant – indifferent and not around when you needed something.
I read about Tim Ho Won’s famous Baked BBQ Pork Buns ($6). The top of the bun formed a crunchy sweet dome. The bread was warm and fluffy, filled with rich gravy and fatty pieces of char sui pork. Yummy, though I personally found the sugar topping overly sweet.
Beep Beep and I enjoyed the Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf ($6.80). I liked the variety of meats and vegetables. However, when the rice got cold, it became glue-like. I would order this again but eat it while it was hot.
The Pan Fried Turnip Cake ($5.60) was delicious. The turnip cake was crunchy from the lacy crispness on the top and smokey from the grill. The turnip was shredded, soft and slippery.
Beep Beep’s favourite dish was the Deep Fried Eggplant with Shrimp (5.80). This was my least favourite because of the cilantro. The eggplant was so soft, the flesh looked like it was melted when I picked it up with my chopsticks.
The Steamed Rice Roll with Shrimp and Chinese Chives ($5.80) needed more sauce, as the noodles were dry. The roll was a little too thick compared to the ratio of shrimp. I would have preferred a thinner noodle or more shrimp filling. I wouldn’t order this again.
Beep Beep least favourite dish was the chef’s special – Almond Encrusted Shrimp Ball ($6.80). I liked this dish a lot. There was loads of delicately crunchy shrimp and I enjoyed the roasted almond crust.
Beep Beep liked Tim Ho Wan more than I did. What I did like about the food at Tim Ho Wan was that everything came out hot and fresh. The savoury flavours from the pork bun, sticky rice and turnip cake oozed out. The prices were fair. I found the dim sum better than Calgary, but the shrimp dishes weren’t as good as some of the top dim sum restaurants in Richmond.
Hitting the Sauce 