Tin Lung Heen
Dim Sum Above the Skyline in Hong Kong
Tin Lung Heen is easy to describe badly.
It is on Level 102 of The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. It has two Michelin stars. It has a polished room, proper service, a strong wine list and the full ICC skyline performance outside the windows. The name means something close to “sky dragon pavilion”, which is about as on the nose as it gets.
The more useful story is Chef Paul Lau Ping Lui and the Hong Kong luxury hotel Cantonese tradition around him. Lau has been cooking for more than four decades, with time across Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai and the UK. His cooking sits in the classical lane: roast meats, double-boiled soups, live seafood, dim sum, tea, wine and private-room hospitality. This is the type of restaurant where the basics matter more than invention. Heat control. Knife work. Stock. Seafood timing. Roast meat. Restraint.
The Ritz-Carlton opened in 2011 and Tin Lung Heen opened with it as the flagship Chinese restaurant. It could have stayed a high-altitude novelty. Instead, it became one of the more serious hotel Cantonese rooms in Hong Kong.
The room is impressive. Double-height windows, Hong Kong spread out underneath, service moving around with that luxury hotel smoothness. It is expensive and it knows it. This is a business lunch room, a family celebration room, and a visitor’s “one proper Cantonese meal in Hong Kong” room.
We came for dim sum.
The meal started with a crispy crab roll in salted duck egg batter. Interesting idea, more novelty than classic dim sum. I think ours was a little undercooked.
The har gow was traditional, with gold flake added on top. The wrapper and shrimp were fine. The gold did nothing, as gold usually does.
The egg tarts were the classic flaky lard-crust version. Properly made.
The siu mai were massive, probably the largest I have had, topped with a big slice of shrimp or scallop. Impressive to look at, although size is not the same thing as balance.
The rice noodle roll with clams was the best of the unusual dishes. Normally this is shrimp, char siu or fried dough. Clams make sense here. Sweet, briny, and much more interesting than it sounded on paper.
There was also a steamed and pan-fried bun with uni on top. Again, unusual. Good idea in theory. The execution did not quite land.
Desserts were weaker.
The mango and pomelo sago was the best one, because mango and pomelo sago is hard not to like when the fruit is decent.
The cold red date and snow swallow jelly did not work for me.
The glutinous rice dumplings with black sesame were fine, but not memorable.
The petits fours came in a Star Ferry container, which was cute. I liked the container more than the sweets.
I may have caught Tin Lung Heen at the wrong meal. Dinner may be a better expression of what the kitchen does. The restaurant’s strengths are probably roast meats, soups, seafood and the more formal Cantonese dishes where Paul Lau’s classical background has room to show.
For dim sum, I was not particularly impressed.
The classics were competent, although a bit plain. The creative dishes were hit and miss. Desserts were the weakest part of the meal. At this price, that is a problem.
You are paying for the room, the view and the service. All three are real. I just do not think the dim sum itself justifies the premium. Frankly, I can get much better dim sum at a much lower price point. You’re paying for the view, and the service. The dinner service may be better, but I’m definately passing on the dim sum here.
Total damage: $1200/4 people.