Hong Kee Tim Sum Restaurant

Changes are for the better, I always say.

How can the beauty of spring be enjoyed if winter’s snow would not go away? Okay, we live in a springless, snowless, humid, sticky, gaseous society but I'm sure you know what I mean lar.

So, instead of frowning over the moving-on of the beloved dainty dim sum called Xiu Long Bao, a group of fellow dim sums.....

....I mean food bloggers, gathered to celebrate this joyous occasion.

Hong Kee was the choice. Great, I said. The endless praises for the Sang Chow Lor Mai Fun or fried glutinous rice got me really interested in this otherwise out-of-my-radar dim sum restaurant. And did it live up to my sexpectation? Well, yes. Though slightly undercooked, the rice was a celebration of all wonderful flavours. The sweetness of the lap cheong (waxed sausage), the aromatic scrambled omelette, the piquant scallions, the inevitable MSG and most importantly, the fragrant, heavy dose of oil. Lardy lard. A sinful, smooth indulgence.

Imagine Heidi Klum in a 2-piece Victoria Secret. Now, put on her a puffy winter jacket (no skin exposed). I'm not sure if any guy will call this picturesque, but the Kai Wor Pau was certainly not my idea of a creative dim sum. It was basically an elaborated lor mai kai (glutinous rice with chicken) covered with a thick layer of steamed bun skin. The skin was dry too.

I like the egg tart for 2 reasons. One, for being an aftermath relief and two, it was good. The filling was sweet with a hint of egginess while the pastry skin was crisp and not dramatically oily. Giselle Bunchen it was not but could still pass for a feature in Sports Illustrated.

The Crispy Pancake With Lotus Paste Filling was generically good as the filling was optimally sweet while the skin was crispy. With a description like that, I could not think of a supermodel that I could relate to.

The Steamed Glutinous Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaves was quite tasty as there was good resonance between the blandness of the rice and the savouriness of the filling, which included pork and shitake mushroom. Unlike the fried version, the rice came warm and soft. Love the fragrance of the steamed lotus leaves. An oriental touch. A Maggie Q.

The other typical dim sums (served in bamboo steamers) tasted rather generic. The consolation being the freshness of the ingredients. No strange taste nor texture detected.

And there were desserts. Sid’s macaroons were a nice twist to the dim sums. The first thing that caught my attention was the size of the macaroons. Huge. There were many flavours to choose from. Even green tea. I had the one with chocolate and crushed peanuts. The shell was slightly crisp and light while the filling was dense and sweet. Thanks, Sid.

The celebration ended with goodbyes and promises of trips down south.

Here’s wishing XLB every success and joy in the roaring city.
Enjoy the change for an opportunity like this does not come by often.

Especially today, this date.

Hong Kee Tim Sum Restaurant
No 18 & 20
Jalan SS22/25
Damansara Jaya
47400 Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 012-6069787

Check out these links for more information on Hong Kee:
Precious Pea
Masak-Masak
Lyrical Lemongrass
WMW
Jackson
Teckiee
Ekeng