Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel 當文歷餅店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

We are going back to Dang Wen Li (當文歷餅店) for the third time this afternoon. As Jelloman and I have expected, it's a much smaller crowd this time around because of the recent Coronavirus outbreak.



For the first time, I got their neon-lit milk pantry all by myself. Time for a few selfies!



We got the Lemon Juice Box and Pineapple Bun out of the way on our last visit but there are still a few others that require our attention today.



Fish Balls (魚蛋) ($68) - Chef Ansel's chewy mochi "fish balls" torched to order until they were caramelized.



This was filled with homemade red bean paste and ice-cream in the middle.



I have to admit, I underestimated these mochi fish balls. They tasted so much better than I thought they would. The glutinous rice-like texture and crispy crust were quite the perfect match with the red bean ice-cream. I love this one~



Egg Roll Egg Tart (蛋卷蛋撻) ($38) - The egg tart with its silky custard centre, was wrapped with a hand-rolled egg roll tuile crust. It actually tasted a bit like a Portuguese custard tart. Not bad but definitely not that special comparing to the other creations.



Har Gow (蝦餃) ($69) - That left us with just two more to go, shrimp dumpling (Har Gow) and pork dumpling (Siu Mai). I was impressed with the remarkably cute presentation of the Har Gow. What a striking resemblance to a real steamed shrimp dumpling!



Concealed inside the "shrimp dumpling" was rose and strawberry jam, paired nicely with a soft and delicate peach mousse. There were also almond biscuit and white chocolate crust there to provide some contrasting texture but I thought it failed to deliver a balance of flavors with the whole thing tilted on the acidic side.



Siu Mai (燒賣) ($69) - Again very lovely presentation. Very detail-oriented as they didn't miss the "crab roes" on top.



The timeless combination of chocolate and pear strikes again! Flourless chocolate biscuit, milk chocolate mousse, chocolate feuilletine crunchies and white chocolate glaze with a pear jelly centre. I won't mind a bit of caramel too but this was almost perfect. In my opinion, a tad better than the Har Gow.



I still hope Chef Ansel would start selling his patented cronut here at some point. Perhaps incorporating some local flavors like chilled sago cream, pomelo and mango (楊枝甘露) and black glutinous rice with coconut milk (椰汁紫米露). That would be nice.



Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop OT G63A, G/F, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2613-8618
Website: www.dangwenli.com
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 8:00pm daily