One Dim Sum - Hong Kong

One Dim Sum is a one Michelin star restaurant in Hong Kong, one of the cheapest ones out there! Having been to the so-called cheapest Michelin star restaurant i.e. Tim Ho Wan, i was eager to try One Dim Sum as my hong kong friends have reassured me One Dim Sum is comparable in price and the one that hong kongers prefer.

We traversed through the busy hong kong streets following my trusty google map directions, walked past the flower market and finally found the big red sign!! It is quite misleading as the entrance is not on the street per its address. If in doubt, give them a call =)



A line of chairs were positioined outside for patrons to sit down whilst they wait, but i was too eager to suss out the dim sum board!





Grab an order sheet and mark away! nom nom nom...



Once we got inside, i was surprised that they had such a good air conditioning system! It was a vast contrast to the mucky outside temperature and not the usual sweaty cafes i was used to in hong kong.

Prices were very reasonable, approx $10-20 HKD ($1.25 - $2.5 AUD) for a dim sum.

We ordered the typical dim sum items to see if they were up to scratch. The beef balls were a bit too soft and not as textured as i would have preferred.



The BBQ pork rice noodle rolls were super silky! But yes, i know it is silky because of the copious amount of oil that goes into it haha. It slid into my mouth with ease, coupled with the sweet soy sauce. However I would have liked the rice noodle sheets to be thinner and more transparent.



Was a bit disappointed with my favourite dish i.e. the fried dough wrapped in rice noodle, "Ja Leung". The fried dough was so soft and soggy!! Not happy =(



I dont usually order this steamed chicken dish "Gai Zat" but it was surprisingly flavoursome. The chicken was very tender with the shiitake mushroom and fish maw. YUM.





The BBQ pork bun is another of my favourite all time dim sum because i love the sweet bun and honeyed bbq pork centres. This one didn't disappoint either! It had enough juicy filling that wasn't dry with a hot, cotton soft sweet bun. At $12 HDK ($1.5AUD) for 2 BBQ pork buns, you cant ask for much more at a one Michelin star restaurant.







One Dim Sum
15 Playing Field Road
Mongkok, Kowloon Hong Kong
tel - +852 2789 2280

Cafe Mint

Walking from Town Hall to Cafe Mint on Crown Street Surry Hills sounded like a great idea as i needed to burn off a few calories before some indulgence! But i forgot about the weird humid weather and arrived after 30 (very sweaty) minutes. It is a very cosy cafe with wooden fitouts that could easily have been missed if i walked too fast but i think it was well worth my sweatiness.

Cafe Mint serves modern middle eastern cuisine and in my mind similar to Kazbah if you want to compare. This cafe is a fantastic sunday brunch hangout but only if you have a small group as it is tiny!

The breakfast menu is refreshing and not overloaded with a list of egg dishes made twenty ways. They have sweet breakfast couscous, a turkish style breakfast plate, breakfast hummus wiht spiced chickpeas just to name a few.

I read somewhere that the sweet mint tea is superb so i ordered one in anticipation.


Sweet moroccan fresh mint tea $4.50


The mint tea is definitely sweet as the name suggests! It is quite minty but the sweetness is overpowering, like drinking concentrated honey. I didn't mind it as much as i have a sweet tooth, but you have been warned! =)


Spicy merguez lamb sausages and lamb kefta, baked in chackchouka with peas & mint served with za'tar bread $21.50


Cous cous salad with fresh and roasted vegetables and grilled haloumi $15.50


Turkish breakfast, with spice roast tomato, spinach, boiled egg, olives, haloumi and za’tar toast $16.90

I ordered the turkish breakfast which came with big pieces of haloumi which i had a craving for =) It came with 4 triangle slices of za'tar toast, which is basically toast that is smothered with za'tar spice mixture, sesame seeds, salt and then toasted. It is a much healthier option compared to the normal butter oozing toast! The soft boiled egg was goey and wobbly which tells me they know exactly how to make their eggs! The spice roasted tomatoes were sweet and the mix of different olives complimented the dish well.

Cafe Mint
579 Crown St
Surry Hills
Tel - 02 9319 0848
www.cafemint.com.au