Tin Lung Heen 天龍軒

Tin Lung Heen

Ritz Carlton Hong Kong @ International Commerce Centre

Glamour and Glister – That’s the first impression when I stepped into this luxurious hotel and restaurant. Located on the 102nd floor, the view at Tin Lung Heen is definitely unrivaled! This restaurant has just recently been promoted to two michelin stars and I thought it’s a must visit when I am in Hong Kong. Definitely, I kept comparing it to Lung King Heen and although I felt that LKH food might have been slightly better, this is a restaurant that has secured a place in my heart. It is one that I will definitely return to when I am back in Hong Kong. A really great view and atmosphere to immerse yourself in and tbh, it’s the second dim sum restaurant that beats those in Singapore. Indeed, it was very worth the visit and actually exceeded my expectation. We ordered slightly more than 10 dishes and everything was a hit except for one.

The view from my seat. Very breathtaking isn’t it.

The interior of the restaurant which looks really lavish!

My other view. It would be a much better view if air was not that hazy.

The glitter that sparkles everywhere in the restaurant. Really makes this restaurant very opulent.

The prawn har gao that we started with was the miss! It may look really exciting with the gold leaf there and everything looks rotund and symmetrical. But, skin is really thick and it gets super sticky after a while. As this was my first dim sum, I thought that it is a restaurant that only has outer beauty but my hopes were quickly restored after having subsequent dim sum! HKD $86.

Slithery char siew cheung fen. Char siew is sweet and savoury while cheung fen is thin and slithery. This cheung fen differs from other restaurants as they don’t wrap diced char siew in it. Instead they put big chunks of char siew in it which makes the filling more substantial. I like the way this is prepared and also presentation is upped one level by 2 asparagus. HKD $98.

Like how Lung King Heen has their signature siu mai, Tin Lung Heen also has theirs. Scallop and large prawn siu mai. We got two baskets of this to share and each siu mai is huge! I can’t finish it in one mouth which I usually do for siu mai. Scallop and prawn are both really fresh and succulent while skin is of the right thickness and the meat in it is very substantial. Yums! HKD $96 per basket.

Yes, it’s the snow skin char siew bao again that has been raved all over HK and Sg. Though it may look similar to the one in Tim Ho Wan, it is actually quite different. The crust is not as sweet but fluffier while the one at tim ho wan has a much sweeter and thinner crust. I like both renditions but somehow I prefer the one over here though some bloggers may not like it. It really depends on what kind of crust that will make your day. Char siew is of the right sweetness for me and I love it. yums. HKD $86.

Abalone zhen ju gai. Super delicious zhen ju gai here. Every grain of rotund rice is uniformly fragrant, very fragrant actually while abalone is springy – love the texture. There’s also tender chicken and egg yolk in the rice. Very delicious! HKD $98.

Turnip cake which was interestingly plated. The cake is quite smooth but not gooey while the condiments on top of it makes it really fragrant. Don’t really know what the condiments are actually but it makes this turnip cake quite unique. HKD $86.

 

If you still remember, I also had this abalone puff in Lung King Heen. While the one in Lung King Heen has diced chicken in the pastry, Tin Lung Heen uses roast goose which makes it SUPER heavenly. The roast goose has a slight pepper taste which makes it super fragrant and definitely tastes different from chicken. The abalone sauce is also rich and soothing while abalone is thick and has a super good texture. Puff was also very fragrant. I really don’t mind having two of this. HKD $174.

E fu noodle with crab meat. Though it looks bland and unappealing, it actually is very delicious. This dish is meant to be light but together with it, the noodles were actually surprisingly fragrant. Crab meat is smooth and noodles are uniformly quoted with the fragrant sauce. Very special way of preparing e fu noodles and it is the first time I taste such a rendition. Yums. HKD $248.

And then we came to dessert. The egg tart is nice but just the usual egg tarts that we can get from other places. Crust is thin while the custard is very buttery. Good. HKD $78.

I believe most people wouldn’t have guessed what’s in the sesame ball before biting it. Yes, it’s the super fragrant lao sha! Very delicious fragrant runny salty egg custard in this sesame ball. This is my first time eating this and I like it! It should be quite easy to imagine the taste for such a combination. HKD $68.

Never would I have thought that I would order a bowl of mango puree with pomelo as it is something that is easy to make but this was highly recommended by the waiter and I like it. The special ingredient added was the aloe vera actually and it’s high quality pomelo. Creamy puree with all the fresh ingredients tasted really refreshing and is a cut above most mango puree. Yums. HKD $88.

And then they gave us the complementary gui fa gou and cookie. Gui fa gou wasn’t overly sweet and tasted slightly fragrant too.

So after saying so much, I guess the verdict of this restaurant is apparent – a MUST go! Creativity can be seen in some of the dim sum dishes, if not they are cooked to perfection. Service here is also very attentive as they will keep refilling your cup of tea and the waiter who kept serving us has tvb charisma and is quite knowledgeable. His recommendations were good and it was like a cantonese chit chat when we asked what the far away islands are. They also gave brochures to us about their CNY menu but I would be in Singapore already regrettably. Very good service indeed! Given the service, ambience and quality of food, I must say that this restaurant is one to look out for. I am really impressed by the way Hong Kong manages to make their traditional food so upmarket and opulent really! This is by far, the best overall dim sum experience. And yes, Merry Christmas from Hong Kong!!

Verdict: An excellent restaurant!