Tim Ho Wan

Unlike most other expensive eateries on the strip, this place actually serves (some) decent dim sums. We tried 5 dishes, chasao buns, leeks dumplings with shrimp(??, but where’s the rest on my shrimps), pork with mustard green on rice and chicken in sweet rice. They were all pretty good except for the sweet rice chicken (糯米鸡）. It was very salty and the chicken was definitely overcooked along with the sweet rice. All others were tasty and well made. The leek dumplings could use a bit more shrimp(s), but the leeks themselves were fresh and excellent. The service was kind of your typical Cantonese (or Hong Kong) standard: efficient yet indifferent. The seating area was airy and you can watch Hermes across the hall. The use of plastic dinnerware was a bit surprising for this expensive and famous dim sum place. We’ve had dim sum at several places on Oahu and this was probably the top one, thus far. The one in Irvine, California was better than this location. Bonus: it has its own bathroom. Unfortunately the bathroom wasn’t really clean and had quite a bit of puddles on the floor.

Tim Ho Wan (THW) is a place I’ve wanted to try for awhile… being at a conference at the Sheraton, I took the opportunity to grab lunch there. The menu has a good selection of traditional dim sum. I knew my stomach was bigger than my eyes, so I tried to tamper my order. I went with steamed lettuce, the cucumber salad, and the Char Siu Rice roll. All of the dishes were good, with the rice roll as the stand out. The lettuce was good while the cucumber salad was a little underwhelming (it needed more cilantro). Service wise, the staff were very attentive and friendly.

We had an amazing experience at Tim Ho Wan in Honolulu, everything we ordered was absolutely delicious. We tried the steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow), soup dumplings with minced pork (xiao long bao), fried rice with BBQ pork and shrimp, baked BBQ pork buns, shrimp wonton, and the fried crab and shrimp dumplings with wasabi mayo. Every single dish was packed with flavor and had the perfect texture. The food quality was consistent and everything came out just right. Definitely one of the best dim sum experiences we’ve had in Honolulu. Highly recommend!

Michelin food and service! Just saying, the food was too good for me to compile all the pictures together. Everything from the service to the food is Michelin quality! Highly recommend any visitors or locals to Tim Ho Wan!

We went during Lunar New Year and it was very disappointing. The food was not good. We ordered pan fried noodles and they were oily and soft/not pan fried crispy at all, and the portion was very small. The wonton soup was served lukewarm. The chili oil wontons (you get six) were not spicy at all and were also served cool/not at all hot. The manapua/pork buns (you get three) were good, very sweet. The service was horrible! Two waiters for the whole (100+ seat?) restaurant. No greeting, rude order taking, had to flag them down to get order, to get check, etc. = very understaffed, unprofessional, and unfriendly. The food runners just left dishes, no niceties, not helpful. The restaurant is generally clean. The tables and menus are wiped down, but the soy sauce bottle was sticky. The restroom was clean.

My family and I tried Tim Ho Wan for the first time. My favourite dish was the pan fried chicken dumplings with ginger essence. They were full of flavour. My son was a huge fan of the deep fried shrimp spring rolls and kept reaching for more. We also ordered the steamed shrimp dumplings (har gow), siu mai, sticky rice in lotus leaf, and the steamed rice roll with BBQ pork, which was soft, silky, and really satisfying. To drink, we enjoyed warm jasmine green tea. For dessert we had the lava custard sesame balls, and they were amazing. They came out warm and the sweet custard inside made them such a treat. Definitely my second favourite item of the meal. The restaurant itself is beautifully designed and very aesthetically pleasing. It looks like a newer location and they are clearly taking great care of it because everything felt clean and well maintained. The staff were friendly and welcoming, and we had a great overall experience. We will definitely be back the next time we visit Waikīkī.

Tim Ho Wan – Waikiki Came here excited for dim sum, and it was a bit of a mixed bag. A few items were definite misses: the siu mai was very mushy, the pork had an old smell, the steamed bean curd skin was hard, and the wontons were unfortunately just bad. That said, the manager was kind enough to not charge us for the siu mai, which we appreciated. On the brighter side, the har gow was solid, the steamed shrimp and chives dumplings were tasty, and the steamed rice rolls were enjoyable and worth ordering. The restaurant itself is clean, service is decent, and they offer one-hour parking validation, which is a nice perk. It’s conveniently located inside the famous Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, making it an easy stop while shopping in Waikiki. Overall, come knowing what to order—and what to skip.

This is located on the third floor of the mall. The pork buns are the best. The congee is good. The wonton noodle soup excellent. But Cathay Pacific lounge has better in HK. Also their milk tea was ok, doesn’t really stand up to the HK milk tea. The XO sauce wide noodles were good. As well as the cucumber salad. They frequently have wait lines.

Amazing!! I don’t usually give five-star ratings, but this is a must-go. Our family went here a few years back and we remembered it was near the Hermès, and that we HAD to go eat there again since it was just that good. Atmosphere and Service: Friendly, ambient, clean (the bathrooms too!), punctual, everything you wanted? Five stars. Food: Honestly, you can’t go wrong. We loved everything that we even got seconds for pretty much everything. Now, if you want a detailed dive… - Steamed Beef Balls with Bean Curd Skin: our personal favorite. How is it so chewy and filling of moisture, and also just steamed a tad after raw so the texture is perfect? We got, like, three of these. - Congee with Pork and Preserved Egg (皮蛋瘦肉粥): I love this dish and get it anytime I see it on the menu… the preserved egg was great, and, guess what, there was also salted duck egg! Loved it! - BBQ Pork Bun (叉烧包): I’ve had my fair share of pork buns, but dang, the sauce coating the pork was real sweet, the pork was chewy, and the skin was real crunchy (but how is it so lightly colored? Must be black magic.) - Hot and Spicy Sesame Chicken (麻香口水鸡): I usually can’t tolerate spice, but this kinda spice was spicy indeed, but I kept going back for more. Must be more magic. The chicken was so well cooked but also really white and fresh looking. Must be even more magic. - Shrimp Wonton Soup: noodles were authentic, and boy were those shrimp good. They were so full of chewiness, and the skin didn’t taste cheap or store-bought at all. - Pan Fried Garlic Green Bean (四季豆): perfect balance of not too salty or not too full of garlic odor. - Blanched Lettuce: hey, considering some of our family members absolutely hated eating their veggies, it was quite a surprise that they even ordered seconds and finished this! - Steamed Rice with Pork Spare Rib and Chicken Feet and also Steamed Rice with Chicken, Shitake Mushroom and Chinese Sausage: whoaaa, the chicken was so chewy! Beats the dry chicken breast that I get majority of the time when eating. Nah, this chicken was enjoyable, and the rice with the sauce too. - Steamed Short Rib with Black Pepper: I just be overusing the words “chewy” and “tender”, but, yeah, aromatic, chewy, tender, fresh, all the good stuff. - Egg Cake: moist, chewy, and airy. And not too overly sweet! - Braised Chicken Feet with Abalone Sauce and Peanut (鸡爪): I didn’t get to try this dish, but I ate some of the peanuts and the sauce was great. - Rainbow Mango Slush: yippee, something not made of colors or flavors but the real thing, and also I loved the coconut milk foam on top. Overall, yeah, I rarely give all five stars, but this place was great. Personally, the meatballs and congee blew me away, and I strongly recommend y’all to give this place a try. (Also, 20% off during Happy Hour was much appreciated!)

Not sure when they changed locations, but Gucci appears to be at their old location while they are now located near the parking entrance. ​The restaurant is clean and is definitely a Chinese restaurant for tourists. No one was yelling or walking around with carts of dim sum. However, after you place your order, the food does flood out all at once. ​Their service was exceptionally attentive. Since we had a child in our group, as the orders were coming in, they slid over another table so we had more space and the child in our group wouldn't spill or burn herself. They also grabbed the empty dishes as soon as possible, helping us save space, and offered us a space in the front to park our stroller. They even had high chairs and booster seats for children. They are very accommodating to families and groups. ​The food was pretty typical dim sum with slight differences. The bean curd seafood was in oyster sauce, the pork hash had a goji berry, and they used a white wrapper instead of the yellow one, so it wasn't that 'junk' pork hash filling that other Chinese restaurants use. The fried rice had a char to it, as if the burned layer in the wok was mixed into the rice. It was okay. The wonton noodle soup, rice porridge, and rice noodle dishes were all good. What stood out were the chicken wings. Surprisingly, they had good flavor and were juicy; we didn't expect it. The soup dumplings, however, were a big disappointment. They had no soup and were chewy, but the house tea was surprisingly good. Unfortunately, you have to pay for the teapot. ​Anyways, my experience here was actually pretty good. Even though they catered to tourists, I would come back.