Yum Cha (Central) – Instagram-Worthy Dim Sums in Hong Kong!

It was afternoon and we were walking around the streets of Central trying to look for Yum Cha. Finally, after going into one wrong building and endless fiddling with Google Maps, we managed to locate this famous dim sum restaurant on the second floor of Nan Fung Place along Des Voeux Road.

Yum Cha Hong Kong

Yum Cha* is a Hong Kong dim sum restaurant known for its twist on traditional dim sum dishes by turning them into cutesy Instagram-worthy creations. One popular item is the custard bun, which looks like a small animated bun that spews custard when you poke a hole in it – yes you’ve probably seen that somewhere on the Internet. Despite the cheeky presentations, the restaurant does not compromise on taste and the dim sums are still very delicious. *Not to be confused with Yum Cha Singapore, which is a completely different entity. No cute dim sums there.

Wonderful Ambience and Great Service

Going up the escalator in Nan Fung Place to the second floor, we were greeted with the pretty restaurant facade of Yum Cha. We walked to the restaurant and were led by a friendly staff to our table.

I really liked the ambience at Yum Cha! We went on a Monday at around 2pm and the restaurant was not crowded at all. The interior was bright and spacious, and decorated with pastel furnishings and animated dim sum soft toys to create a congenial atmosphere. Once seated, we immediately felt at ease and ready to feed our cameras and tummies with the quirky dim sums.

Service was really good (by Hong Kong’s hospitality standards). The staff spoke good English and were quite polite. Our dim sums were served very quickly too.

Steamed BBQ Pork Rice Roll

Our first dish was the Steamed BBQ Pork Rice Roll (HKD59), which looked the most “normal” among our dim sums. The rice rolls had a really smooth texture and tasted great with the savoury gravy. We enjoyed the chewy char siew chunks as well, though it would have been better if the flavour was a little stronger.

Baked Pineapple Puff

Next, we had Yum Cha’s signature Baked Pineapple Puff (HKD59). Now, who would have thought of making pineapple tarts into the form of birds? Well, this dim sum dish was actually inspired by traditional Hong Kong tea houses in the past, which were lined with hanging bird cages containing pet birds of customers.

So how did it fare on taste? I enjoyed the buttery pastry which had a nice crumbly texture. The sweet and tangy pineapple filling was delicious as well, though I felt it could have been slightly softer. On the whole this was an adorable dim sum that tasted good too.

Hot Custard Molten Buns

The pièce de résistance for us was the super cute Hot Custard Molten Buns (HKD49)! We simply had to poke a hole in the bun and squeeze out the custard filling. It was hilarious! The poor bun looked like it was spewing custard and we had a good time laughing over it. Even the customer at our adjacent table gave us a thumbs up while laughing.

I liked that the skin was fluffy and not too thin, so that it didn’t break easily when being handled (especially when we were squashing it to squeeze out the custard). Taste wise, it was actually pretty delicious. The dim sum had a good blend of sweet-savoury custard and salted egg yolk. And it wasn’t too rich, so even after eating my second bun in a row I didn’t feel it was too jelak (overly rich).

Yum Cha Menu (Click to enlarge)

Conclusion

we got our cute dim sums fix!

We enjoyed our dim sum brunch at Yum Cha Hong Kong very much! To be honest, our expectations were quite low because from experience, overly cute food usually don’t taste good. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the tasty dim sums at Yum Cha. Despite their playful presentation, the dim sums were actually quite fresh and delicious. There is certainly still room for improvement, but on the whole it was quite a satisfying meal. Our only regret was not ordering the signature BBQ Piggy Buns (HKD49). Yum Cha is definitely a must-visit if you are having a holiday in Hong Kong!

Yum Cha (Central)
What to order: Hot Custard Molten Buns (HKD49), BBQ Piggy Buns (HKD49), Baked Pineapple Puff (HKD59)
Address: 2/F, Nan Fung Place, 173 Des Voeux Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
Directions: Two-minute walk from Sheung Wan station Exit E3, second floor of Nan Fung Place
Opening Hours: | Mon to Fri: 11.30am – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm | Sat, Sun, PH: 11.30am – 4.30pm, 6pm – 11pm |
Phone: +852 3708 8081

Other Yum Cha Branches
Causeway Bay: 2/F Emperor Watch & Jewellery Ctr. 8 Russell Street Causeway Bay
Tsim Sha Tsui: 3/F 20-22 Granville Road Tsim Sha Tsui Kowloon
Mongkok: Shop 07 Level 4A Langham Place Mongkok