Missed out on Fat Duck? Try the world’s cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant

Heston Blumenthal has a new rival in Australia. Source: News Corp Australia

Despair no more, because there’s an equally delicious and far cheaper option.

The world’s cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant is coming to Australia.

The Hong Kong restaurant looks low-key, but is Michelin-starred. Source: Supplied

Hong Kong’s Tim Ho Wan will open three outlets in Sydney next year, including one on George Street in the CBD, as well as one in Melbourne’s Chinatown in March and Brisbane on the radar too.

The move comes with no fuss, hype or ridiculous waiting list.

And the simultaneous appearance of at least four restaurants means diners won’t be scrapping over tightly limited space, as with Heston’s six-month Melbourne visit.

The dim sum specialists will open their Chatswood outlet in February, a second at Westfield in Burwood in June, and the George Street restaurant in October.

Tim Ho Wan serves fresh, made-to-order food, including these pork buns. Source: Supplied

Instead of a 15-course, $525 menu featuring snail porridge and bacon-and-egg ice cream, Tim Ho Wan will be offering the freshest, made-to-order bite-size dumplings.

Rivalling the British chef’s “Sound of the Sea” extravaganza, which has an iPod in a conch shell as its centrepiece, the Cantonese eatery serves “Big Four Heavenly Kings” — pan-fried turnip cake, baked BBQ pork buns, vermicelli rolls stuffed with pig’s liver and steamed egg cakes.

The Mongkok mainstay has already expanded across southeast Asia, with outposts in Singapore, Hanoi, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Taipei.

Its Australian operation will be run by Vince Howe, who told Good Food: “Most of our restaurants you can queue for up to an hour and a half, in Sydney we’ll be offering a reserve option.”

The Cantonese eatery is famous across southeast Asia. Source: Supplied

He said Australia was chosen before Europe and the US because our palates are tuned to Asian food.

Several Tim Ho Wan restaurants open for 24 hours a day, meaning we could soon be enjoying their award-winning pan fried carrot cake, congee with lean pork and fried rice with shrimp and mushroom for breakfast.

But there’ll be no dim sum carts here.

“Everything we make is fresh and made to order,” says Howe. “Nothing is made overnight or frozen. It’s also good to have a menu, so you know what you’re paying for. With [the cart system] there is that surprise at the end of the meal when you find out what it cost.”

If you missed out on snail porridge, try a cha sui bao, or crispy pork roll. Source: Supplied

Source:  news.com.au - 12th November 2014