Had D’s family dinner at Tim Ho Wan at Toa Payoh, in the old entertainment centre. I shan’t elaborate on the food since it’s been reviewed to death; Here’s a short recap on our dining experience.

At the famous 1 Michelin star restaurant...


My mom reached around 530pm on Tuesday this week (public holiday), with only a few people in the queue. They require all diners to be present before getting seated so she waited in the queue for us to come. The wait wasn’t so bad because they put chairs outside the restaurant and near the escalator area for those waiting to have a rest. Shortly, my sis arrived and joined my mom, followed by me then my elder sister.
We requested to be seated because my dad told us he would be arriving soon and they were flexible about it and gave us a table for six. Last to arrive was my dad- he arrived slightly before 7pm, about 5 minutes after we were seated and ordered.

after getting seated

checking out the monthly specials 

We ordered the famous char siew bun and a couple of other items like the glutinous rice, the gui hua cake, siew mai etc. Food was reasonably tasty, and prices are acceptable. Everything was served to us within 20-30 minutes of us being seated- talk about being efficient!

porridge - average 

glutinous rice - above average. Rice was chewy and meat was marinated thoroughly. Serving size also very generous 

carrot cake- one of the '4 heavenly kings/dishes' - above average. moist but firm, when you break it apart and eat it you can taste the strips of carrot inside

beef with egg and rice: above average. meat has a slightly raw taste; good for those who like their steak medium rare or rare. 

fried prawn with wasabi sauce and cod roe in the front, some meat dumpling in the back, both average

siew mai: average

stewed/steamed pork ribs- average

monthly' special noodles- average 

D’s not typically a dim sum lover but after taking one bite of the char siew bun, he muttered ‘tasty’, surprising me. The buns are also of a good size- neither too large nor to small. The slightly flaky exterior and chewy interior contrast nicely against each other. When you chew it you also get the feeling that it is slightly crispy due to how it’s made.  It’s very unique compared to the typical char siew bun. If I had to describe it the exterior would be something like Crystal Jade’s milk bun, with the interior of a charsiew bun/char siew su (flaky version)

finally here!

crisp on the outside, full of meaty goodness on the inside 

They serve the hot food first; for cold items you will need to request for it to be served. Our gui hua cake came at the end- was fragrant and tasty, if a bit too sweet for my mom’s liking. Sis and I had fun making the gui hua cake quiver by shaking the plate it was placed on, haha.

quivering tasty :) 

We finished the food within an hour and got the bill settled very quickly.
Overall I would say it’s an above average dining experience. Having eaten at places like Victor’s kitchen in Sunshine plaza, 126 dim sum in geylang and Swee choon at Jalan Besar, I would say this is a good alternative go-to dim sum place if you happen to be in the heartlands, or if you want to try out Tim Ho Wan for the first time. A 40 min-60 minute wait is definitely much more reasonable for the food quality and taste, compared to the insane 3-4 hour wait at Dhoby Gaut.