Dim Sum Library Elements (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Even little nugget noticed that it's been a while since we last had Chinese dim sum for lunch.  Since I didn't want to venture too far out this afternoon, we decided that we should simply swing by Elements Shopping Mall for a quick one. After all, they have quite a good number of Chinese dim sum restaurants around.

Obviously, everyone is sick and tired of eating home so every single Chinese restaurant was full except Dim Sum Library.

Crystal shrimp dumpling (水晶蝦餃) ($48) - Thin wrapper, nice bouncy ball of shrimps. Very very nice.

Black garlic siu mai / pork & shrimp dumplings (黑蒜燒賣) ($58) - Little nugget loves his siu mai as usual but he had a hard time dealing with the sweet flavors from the black garlic.

Rice flour rolls with Iberico pork with spring onions (香葱黑毛豬腸粉) ($78) - The barbecued pork didn't taste like its usual delicious self this afternoon.

Chicken and spring onion with soup noodles (蔥香雞肉濃湯拉麵) ($88) - Little nugget wanted his soup noodle and he wanted it right now.

I thought pretty decent.

Hokkaido king crab & sea urchin spring roll (海膽蟹肉春卷) ($82) - Still the best dim sum here by a country mile.

The crispy wrapper and fresh king crab meat were complemented perfectly by the couple of tongues of sea urchin on top. Very very delicious.

Crispy taro puff with snails (田螺芋角) ($68) - It was pretty impressed with this when I was here last time.

But I thought the batter was a little thick today and a bit too chewy for my liking. Not bad but not as mind blowing as I remembered from last time.

Deep-fried pumpkin with rosemary and salted egg yolk (香草金沙南瓜) ($68) - One of the most disappointing dish from this meal.

The batter seasoned with salted egg yolk and rosemary was way too salty for me.

Singaporean fried vermicelli with Iberico pork char siu and shrimps (星洲黑豚叉燒炒米) ($158) - Love the texture of the fried vermicelli but I probably won't mind a bit more spicy kick. 

It's my third visit so I think that makes me (sort of) qualified to give a fair assessment on the food quality here. While I thought most dishes weren't bad (except the pumpkin dish), they were at least a notch or two below what was offering at their Pacific Place branch. It's obvious even to the untrained palate.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Shop 1028B, 1/F, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Kowloon Station

Tel: +852 2810-0898

Website: www.dimsumlibrary.com.hk

Opening Hours: 10:30am - 10:00pm daily