The day after joining Chris and Tehlin and their children for a proper Cantonese dinner at Tsui Hang Village, Tawn and I met up with Tehlin and her son Sam for dim sum at West Villa, another Curry Puffy recommended restaurant.

Located in the Lee Gardens Two building in Causeway Bay just a few minutes away from the Times Square shopping center, West Villa is a nicer quality dim sum restaurant.  What was interesting about it is that the food, while tasty, isn’t necessarily all that different (or better than) the cheap yet decadent dim sum at Tim Ho Wan.  Let’s take a look at the dishes we enjoyed.

Chinese “donuts” wrapped in rice noodle skin.  These are unsweetened sticks of dough fried just like donuts.  They are often served (unwrapped) with rice porridge called jok.

Chao fun – Rice noodles with shrimp inside with a sweetened soy sauce.  Similar in quality to what we had at Tim Ho Wan although I think the noodles were thicker and less delicate here.  Compare here.

Deep fried spring rolls.  This dish and the next one illustrate the risks when eating dim sum of choosing dishes that leave you feeling heavy and full.

Fried taro paste puffs.  Better than it sounds.

The signature West Villa dish – char shu – barbecue pork.  These was really meaty and tender.  Great flavor.

Tehlin and Sam.  Oh, wait!  What’s that outside the window?  Where did Tawn disappear to?!  Ha ha…

Braised veggies, kind of like lettuce.  Very tasty.  The clay pot lends a wonderful smoky, slightly charred flavor.

Steamed glutinous rice with pork and shitake mushroom in a lotus leaf.  Compare this to the version with large slices of pork served at Tim Ho Wan.

Fried fish with a slightly salty and spicy batter.  Very light and not at all oily.

Beef “meatballs” sometimes called Chinese hamburgers.

Siu Mai– pork and shrimp dumplings.

Fried pork spareribs with a sprinkling of a salt and white pepper.

Overall review: good quality dim sum with the barbecue pork and spareribs being the highlights.  Service was good although there was a fifteen-minute wait even though we had reservations.  This wasn’t necessarily the best food we had in Hong Kong but if you are in the area and are looking for good dim sum, West Villa would be a good choice.