A Tim Ho Wan line check

EVG reader Doug notes that the lines are back to pre-March 2020 levels at Tim Ho Wan at 85 Fourth Ave. at 10th Street ... as seen today for their 11 a.m. open. 

The Hong Kong-based, Michelin-starred dim sum parlor officially opened here in January 2017. And they've been able to keep the crowds coming back (except when they were closed for indoor dining during the pandemic).

Line check at Tim Ho Wan

Tim Ho Wan had its soft opening back in December... and the lines immediately started at the Hong Kong-based, Michelin-starred dim sum parlor on Fourth Avenue at 10th Street.

The restaurant, the first in the United States for the brand, had its grand opening on Jan. 18, expanding the hours of operation in the process. So did that do anything to help reduce the crowds...?

No, at least on the weekends.

Here's a look at the line Saturday morning around 10 (they open at 10:30)...


[Photo by Steven]

... and Sunday at 9 a.m. ...


[Photo by EVG reader JG]

Noted

I was walking south on Fourth Avenue this morning around 9:15... I noticed just a few people standing outside the new Tim Ho Wan at 10th Street. Lines had been back to 11th Street when it opened on Dec. 16. Perhaps the holiday season curtailed the lines?

Oh! The line was on 10th Street, maybe 30 deep...



Lunch service during Tim Ho Wan's soft-open phase starts at 10 a.m.

The grand opening for this first U.S. location of the Hong Kong-based, Michelin-starred dim sum parlor is Jan. 18.

[Updated] A line-waiting opening for Tim Ho Wan

[Photo Saturday by Bayou]

As previously noted, the first U.S. location for the Hong Kong-based, Michelin-starred dim sum parlor Tim Ho Wan opened on Friday... and, not surprisingly, the opening here on Fourth Avenue and 10th Street attracted dim-sumgoers who waited in line in single-degree temps that day for the cheap goods. (Rather inexpensive — every dish costs less than $5.50.)

Eater and Gothamist both reported on the lines.

Per Eater:

Chef Wai Chan will be running the kitchen here. He’s a Chinese immigrant who’s been living in New York for years, and before getting going in the kitchen, he went to Hong Kong to train for several weeks. Tim Ho Wan’s quality is what must set it apart from other dim sum restaurants, Pui says. The team’s been working on the location since last year, and they’ve tried many of the dim sum restaurants here since then.

During the soft opening phase through Jan. 17, Tim Ho Wan will have limited hours. Lunch service will be from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. with dinner service from 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. The grand opening is Jan. 18.

The world famous #TimHoWan pork buns will be available at #TimHoWanUSA. pic.twitter.com/I7OlIzRaCy

— Tim Ho Wan USA (@timhowanusa) December 10, 2016

Updated 5 p.m.

Eater declares that Tim Ho Wan "Has NYC’s Most Maddening Food Line."

Eater senior critic Robert Sietsema shared this long-line dispatch:

After a further wait of 50 minutes, during which the queue crept along steadily in a way that encouraged us to remain, we finally reached the front door, where a woman with an iPad stood.

She was very nice, but told us that our further wait would be 2.5 hours, and offered to take our cell number and call us back. I objected, "Normally, when you stand in line, you expect to get in when you reach the front of the line. Couldn’t you have taken our numbers when we arrived so we didn’t have to wait in the sleet?" She shrugged, and didn’t answer. My guess is that the spectacle of dim sum devotees shivering in line for hours was an important element of the opening publicity campaign...

Tim Ho Wan debuts tomorrow on 10th Street and 4th Avenue

The first U.S. location for Hong Kong-based chef Mak Kwai Pui's Michelin-starred dim sum parlor Tim Ho Wan has its soft opening tomorrow.

And the official grand opening will be Jan. 18 here on the northeast corner of Fourth Avenue and 10th Street.

Here are more details from the media advisory via the EVG inbox...

• The dim sum menu features the world-famous BBQ Pork Buns along with other Tim Ho Wan specialties such as the Steamed Rice Roll stuffed with BBQ Pork, Pan Fried Turnip Cake and Steamed Egg Cake. The Deep Fried Vegetable Spring Roll and French Toast with Custard Filling, a Tim Ho Wan spin on the classic French toast, are the two dishes that will be exclusive to the New York restaurant. All items are priced $5.50 or lower and the full menu will be available during the soft opening phase.

• Tim Ho Wan’s Grand Opening will be on January 18th from 3 – 10 pm. Both the date and time were carefully selected based on the Chinese lunar calendar, to bring good luck to the restaurant. To celebrate and kick-off the official opening, there will be a dragon dance performance in front of the restaurant at 3:00pm EST. After the grand opening, Tim Ho Wan will open for normal business hours from Sunday – Thursday 10 am to 10 pm and Friday – Saturday from 10 am – 11 pm.

• During the soft opening phase from Dec. 16 through Jan. 17, Tim Ho Wan will open with limited hours. Lunch service will be from 10 am - 3 pm and dinner service will be from 5 pm – 10 pm. Fridays and Saturdays starting Dec. 23, dinner service will be available until 11.

In 2009, the original 24-seat dim sum eatery in Mongkok, Hong Kong's Kowloon, was reportedly branded the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world. This location marks the 45th Tim Ho Wan worldwide.

The address was last home to Spice, which closed in December 2014.

Previously

Image via Facebook

Plywood signage arrives for Michelin-starred Tim Ho Wan on 4th Avenue and 10th Street

Also on Fourth Avenue and 10th Street ... on the northeast corner... the plywood signage has arrived for Tim Ho Wan, the first U.S. location for Hong Kong-based chef Mak Kwai Pui's Michelin-starred dim sum parlor.

Here's more about Mak and the operation via The Village Voice, who first reported on this opening back in April:

In 2009, Mak left Lung King Heen — a three-starred Cantonese restaurant at Hong Kong's Four Seasons Hotel — to open the original Tim Ho Wan in a Kowloon neighborhood. When rent rose thanks to gentrification, Mak moved the restaurant rather than raise prices. Six years after earning his first Michelin star, little has changed.

Steamer baskets of plump prawn dumplings, Mak's signature trio of baked buns stuffed with barbecue pork, and Chinese-sausage-stuffed glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf all remain under $5. Even now, the tissues within the boxes placed atop each table serve as napkins. Meanwhile, diners still choose dishes pictured on a paper placemat, fill out their checks with pencils, and rinse their chopsticks in cups of hot tea.

And!

If lines out the door aren't already profitable enough, the New York Tim Ho Wan will also have a liquor license. While the menu will continue to be strictly limited to dim sum, the menu will grow over time and add more dishes appealing to American appetites, including "high quality beef dishes."

The address previously housed Spice, which closed in December 2014.

Previously