Hong Kee Dim Sum - Aman Puri, Kepong

The Dim Sum in Hong Kong is so good. My still young son, many years ago, used to innocently request to go to there just for this. His palate is basically western and quite rigid with it when he was young. But he accommodated this particular Asian food because it was very good. Good Dim Sum is hard to come by in Sri Damansara. We are confined to lean pickings in the coffee shop's stalls. The only way to satisfy this craving is to hop over to 1 Utama or Ikano/Curve area.

I was thrilled to bits with the recent opening of a Dim Sum Restaurant in Aman Puri, just 10+ mins away. This is a huge joint. I wonder whether it has the the same management/owner as its namesake in Damansara Jaya.

We ordered 13 trays averaging RM3.00 each. We over-expected and they under-delivered. Maybe our expectations were sky-high as the operators were big-timers looking at the investment poured in. In addition, we were used to pretty good Dim Sum in similar restaurants in Puchong. Maybe the competition was stiff as they are many there.

Not satisfied another trip was made and the taste and texture of the food were better but still below expectations. The 'Har Kau', 'Siew Mai', 'Fish Balls' and Char Siew Pau' were the acid test of whether a Dim Sum operator is hacking it or not. Maybe its teething problems. Maybe my expectations were higher. As for me I wanted them to succeed so that I can have my Cantonese's idiosyncrasies satisfied.

The subtle taste of the steamed items comes first before going into the deep-fried end for obvious reasons at least for the strange Cantonese mind. Other dialects esp. the Hokkiens will find me strange as they would reverse the order. But strangely it is the deep-fried oily items that will arrived first. It does not make business sense as the oil and deep-frying will give the "I am full" sense and feel pretty fast thus there will be less trays being ordered.

Siew Mai was average. Meat was over done and texture was too firm giving rise to the feel that the meat was tough.

Har Kau was also average but the redeeming factor was the prawn was fresh. The insides had a tad too much flour fillers/leftovers within. It fared better in the second visit.

The outer skin was thick and the fish paste was not of top quality giving rise to some less than desirable fishy smell. In the second visit the thick skin and smell were gone.

The Siew Pau was ordinary possible saddled with an ordinary dough. It was not the off the kind that makes the Pau extraordinary. The fillings were good but sweet. Recurring theme. Cut down the sugar please.The Yong Tau Foo was above average and the real kick was it came piping hot on both occasions. Not many joints could surpassed that. The complaints were the sauce was too little, somewhat sweeter than I like and was thin.Pretty ordinary. I found that the pastry skin was not suitable as it is thick and had also lost its crunchiness.Acceptable standard but the sauces were sweet.Overdone and sweet Chicken Feet.

Address: 3-51-A, Jalan Desa 2/1, Desa Aman Puri, Kepong (Behind Pappa Rich)