That basically said it all.

I might have been crazy or conned or both to have done that on my off day. I was still grinning to myself thinking how wonderful it was to have an off day on a Monday. When everyone's slogging away and having Monday blues, I would be sipping Chinese tea and enjoying my dim sum at the newly opened Tim Ho Wan at Plaza Singapura. There's bound to be no queues, I thought. Doesn't everyone need to work on a Monday??

I cannot be more wrong. Apparently, 1083972487846721 other people had the same fabulous idea as me, and decided that it was worth trying Tim Ho Wan on a Monday. The SMS queue system where you get a queue number then go off shopping while waiting for an SMS to be sent to your mobile phone, notifying you that your table will be available soon, is not ready yet apparently. So, anyone who would like to try the cheapest restaurant with Michelin star rating would have to obediently join the queue and wait patiently. And so, my friends and I did just that. From 12pm, we joined the queue hoping to have our lunch, we queued till 2.30pm before we managed to enter the restaurant, just in time for tea break. :P

I tried the Hong Kong's original Tim Ho Wan just a couple of months back, and the taste of the char siew bun was still so fresh in my mind. Too good, and probably why Singaporeans are flocking to the Singapore branch (first overseas outlet by the way!) like nobody's business. The queue deterred some people from joining in, but most waited patiently for their turn.

What's my verdict, you ask??

I think the Hong Kong's version is slightly better, in my opinion. Their legendary char siew bun is more crispy in Hong Kong than in Singapore, but taste-wise, they are quite comparable. The rest of the dim sum dishes were still delightful, as expected.

Their egg cake was very yummy - soft, tender, sweet.

Vermicelli rice rolls were soft and so thin!

This totally surprised me with the burst of prawn freshness in my mouth at first bite. It was soooo good.

Glutinous rice with chicken - Pretty normal.

Beancurd skin - Nice and fresh with whole prawns inside.

Deep fried egg white popiah - Quite interesting!

I like it a lot!

Braised chicken feet

Prawn Dumpling

Pan Fried Carrot Cake - Fine & soft

And of course, the legendary char siew buns. Sweet, chewy & soft. This is a very interesting twist from the traditional char siew buns - A lot yummier!

I heard that the char siew buns were sold out by afternoon during the first few days of operations, so they implemented a rule that every customer can only order one plate of char siew buns each (Each plate consists of 3 buns). Along with other dim sum, one plate is really more than enough actually.

I am not a fan of beef, but friends said this beef balls dish was not bad.

A nice finish to the meal - Osmanthus cake (Sweet, fragrant and melted in my mouth, I'm serious!)

I think the Tim Ho Wan in Singapore serves up pretty good dim sum, but I do not think I would queue another 2.5 - 3 hours just to have a 30-minute meal. Perhaps, when the novelty dies down, the queuing & waiting time would be greatly reduced. My friends and I ordered a lot of food (as anyone would after queuing for 2.5 hours right??), and we ended up paying $32 per pax. I was sooooo full after the meal.