Hey all,
A trip to Hong Kong without Dim Sum is like going to Texas and not getting a steak, Japan and sushi, New York and a bagel/hot dog, and… well you get my point. We knew we needed to find and cover dim sum on our last Hong Kong trip, but which place would be best? After studying various options we settled on City Hall or Maxim’s Place on the 2nd floor of City Hall, Central.
We decided on this one because it’s not as trendy as the others…. we’ll do that next time. According to most sources this is the last of the traditional dim sum locations and very worthy of a top in city ranking.
I don’t know what we expected in terms of ambiance, but I think it’s fair to say that we weren’t expecting a hotel conference room type vibe… which is pretty much what this place feels like. But that’s OK, we were there for the food and not to look at a pretty room. The place is massive and was already packed. After about a 20 minute wait we took our seats.
Besides the glowing recommendations from many articles, the main reason we chose this location was that they serve the dim sum on passing carts. I learned dim sum in Bangkok. Learning dim sum there is great, but unfortunately I learned things in Thai…not super helpful outside of Thailand. So when I read a menu with English descriptions of the offerings I’m lost. It’s so much easier to have carts roll by and all you have to do is point and eat.
I won’t try to match up the names and the pieces. They moved too quickly for us to appropriately name all the dishes we tried. I will say that all were good quality and well made. It’s amazing to me that they can pump out good quality dim sum to such large numbers of guests.
Some of the items that caught our attention on the menu included:
Deep Fried Dumpling w/ Shrimp
Steamed Shrimp Dumpling
BBQ Pork Bun (one of my all time favorites…and breakfast in Bangkok)
Baked BBQ Pork Puff
Steamed Sponge Cake
Rice Roulade w/ Shrimp
Fried Cuttlefish w/ Spicy Salt
Deep Fried Taro Puff
It was a nice meal at our own leisurely pace. It’s nice sitting and having tons of different “waiters” passing the table from time to time with various goods. Can eat, digest, get ready for more…with no pressure. The place is a bit packed out, but the noise wasn’t bad at all.
I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to try dim sum in Hong Kong, unless you’re wanting ultra modern/clean/new interpretation kind of stuff. Also this isn’t a cheap, road-side stand kind of place with plates averaging between 25-44 HKD per dish.
City Hall Maxim’s Place
Low Block, City Hall, Central, Hong Kong
2526 9931
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5 comments
Marie says:
Jun 18, 2009
My Chinese friend took me to a Dim Sum place on the south shore of Montreal and it was like that with carts and all. A great experience! It helps to have someone who knows what to order as well!
Paul says:
Jun 22, 2009
Yeah, I think anything Chinese is best appreciated with a Chinese friend along to help out…best Chinese meal I ever had was on the streets of Chinatown in an alley at 4 am in Bangkok… wouldn’t want to try to find it again on my own
danielle says:
Feb 5, 2010
a friend n i tried maxim after being told this is one of the last traditional dimsum places left in hk but were disappointed by the lackluster food. the har gao (shrimp dumpling) skins were thick and the cheong fan (rice roulade) lacked filling.
if u’re up for dimsum in hk again, check out fook lam moon in wanchai instead. though u have to order from a menu, the service is much better, n the dimsum is close to perfection
frequent visitors include hk tycoons looking for a biz lunch, yet the price is reasonable.
ps: love that i discovered ur blog because i moved to singapore from the bay area about a yr ago, n am always on the look out for good recommendations!
Paul says:
Feb 5, 2010
Yeah, I wasn’t super impressed either. We only had the one Sunday in Hong Kong on this trip and thought that we normally always go for the fancier, more modern options…. maybe this was best done traditional. It’s not bad, but not that great either and the interior experience definitely leaves something to be desired (traditional Chinese restaurants need to GO
). It was nice picking from carts though, would be nice to see a modern approach to this…
danielle says:
Mar 12, 2010
well, if u’re up for a local chinese fare with a ‘chinese friend’ u know who u can ask