Welcome to Tim Ho Wan
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2700 Alton Pkwy Ste 127 Irvine, CA 92606 Hotline: (262) 888-8828
Tim Ho Wan is a great spot for delicious dim sum. The baked BBQ pork buns are still tasty, but they seem smaller now. We enjoyed every dish we ordered, though the table was a bit sticky when we sat down. The service was decent, and the staff was friendly. We'd definitely go back to try their happy hour menu.
I ordered a few items from the menu, some steamed, and some other regular dim sum dishes. The food tasted great. Everything was well seasoned, not too fatty or greasy. These baked bbq pork buns are seriously my favorite food ever! They're so flaky and moist on the inside with sugar and crunch on the outside. Shiu Mai was not dense and fresh tasting , service was fast. Everything was clean and organized. I am not sure why this location has gotten so many negative reviews maybe the food portion is not much for the price.
We walked around this busy Irvine center and decided on Tim Ho Wan, where we were able to be seated right away. The decor was nice with a modern look. The servers were efficient and came by our table often. Everything we shared: Pan Fried Noodles with BBQ Pork $12.50 Baked BBQ Pork Buns 3pc $8.00 Steamed Rice Roll with BBQ Pork $7.95 Sweet Coconut Cream with Taro and Sago $7.50 The baked barbecue pork buns is one of my favorites. Textured pillows of pastry that was a little sweet with a pocket of delicious char siu. The Pan Fried Noodles with BBQ Pork was another favorite. The portion was a little smaller than I was expecting. The flavor was fantastic and liked the crunch of the veggies. Visually very appealing! I miss the traditional dim sum carts. I'll definitely have to come back to try more of their dim sum!
My first Tim Ho Wan experience was in Honolulu back in ~2018. I've been craving it ever since, probably because I like how structured and operationalized it is. There are none in the SF Bay Area, not sure why, though I can only speculate it's probably because how many "good" dim sum places there are in the SF Bay Area as is. I wouldn't mind if THW still came to the Bay though. The problem with the dim sum places in the Bay are that they aren't nearly as consistent. There are many places that will taste great one time then totally flop the next visit. I'd like to think THW (since it's a global chain) has the consistency portion down. - Baked Char Siu Bao: Good, iconic, but more on the sweet side. There is a sugary coating on top. - Congee: Good, serviceable, well seasoned. - Spare ribs with black bean sauce: I always get it, and it was done nicely here. - Steamed Rice Roll with Shrimp: It comes in 3 rolls, and they didn't cut it. Decent, but wish they would cut it into better pieces. - Chicken Dumplings: Very run-in-the-mill pan fried chicken dumplings with some ginseng flavor to it. I always get the Siu Mai and Har Gow, but they didn't taste that great oddly enough. It's clean, service is good, and it's in a great plaza in Irvine!
