PenXin Dim Sum Restaurant — Restaurant in Taichung

酥皮焗叉烧包 Baked Flaky Bun with BBQ Pork = TWD115 魚子燒賣 Steamed Dumplings with Crab Eggs = TWD105 水晶鮮蝦餃 Steamed Crystal Shrimp Dumplings = TWD128 臘味蘿蔔糕 Pan Fried Turnip Rice Flour Cake with Dried Pork = TWD76

1 Free Flask of Pu-Er Tea Included in the Price Service Charge 10% = TWD42

This was a Large Dim Sum Restaurant, Not Particularly Atas, but Nicely Renovated and Airconditioned.  I was slightly amused that the Background Music they played here are Still Contemporary Taiwanese Pop Songs.

I do appreciate their Cute Attempt to paste Faux HK Street Signs on the Walls as Decoration.  TBH these Stickers were abit Cheap Looking,  but I appreciated the Effort nevertheless.

There were a Few Customers within, Not Crowded at around 2.00pm on a Weekday Afternoon.  All of the Customers look like Locals, not much Tourists around.

As per my Usual Test, I did request if they were able to Serve Up All Dishes to me at the same time.  They weren't able to do it, but I appreciated that they at least tried.

It took 6 Mins for the 蘿蔔糕 Turnip Cake, 8 Mins for the 叉烧包 CSB, and Strangely 21 Mins for both the Siew Mai and Har Gao. In Total it took 21 Mins for Everything to be Served Up.

No Idea why Siew Mai and Har Gao took so long.  And its not as if the Eatery was Full House when I was there. I mean if its going to take 21 Mins, wouldn't it be possible to keep the Turnip Cake and CSB in some Heater Rack while waiting for the 2 Items to be Ready?  I thought thats abit strange they couldn't serve all of them up at the same time.

I liked that both their Steamed Dim Sums come in Authentic Bamboo Containers.  Nothing Special about the Layering though, they use Standard Parchment Papers.

魚子燒賣 Steamed Dumplings with Crab Eggs = TWD105 水晶鮮蝦餃 Steamed Crystal Shrimp Dumplings = TWD128 臘味蘿蔔糕 Pan Fried Turnip Rice Flour Cake with Dried Pork = TWD76 酥皮焗叉烧包 Baked Flaky Bun with BBQ Pork = TWD115

Due to Text Limit Constraints, I won't go into details describing every Ingredient here. If you are interested to know more, come visit my Facebook Food Blog: "A Solo Singaporean's Guide to JB Foods (And More!)" to view the Full Review with Photos.

Conclusion and Closing Thoughts

Overall, this wasn't a Very 100% Authentic Hong Kong Dim Sum Eatery as there are many Flaws and Imperfections. Despite that, I could tell there were at least some Effort done and even some Surprising Attempts at Innovation  especially when I saw how they tried to incorporate Fried Onions into a Har Gao like this.

I have Zero Issues with the Customer Service Level and I liked the Very Polite and Friendly Staffs who I felt tried to go out of their Way to make my Dining Experience a Very Good One.  They do keep the Dishes when you're done Eating but of course they are Very Polite in doing so.

If you're in Taiwan Taichung and feel like having some Dim Sums and don't mind that it will not be 100% Authentic and want to see how a Taiwanese would intepret Hong Kong Dim Sum,  I can recommend this place because I still did enjoy my time here.

Thanks for Reading. Come join my Facebook Food Blog: "A Solo Singaporean's Guide to JB Foods (And More!)" to view the Full Review...

PenXin Dim Sum Restaurant is easily one of the best dim sum restaurants in all of Taiwan. The food is true and authentic to what one will find in a Hong Kong dim sum tea house.

Other than the variety of dim sum snacks on the menu, the selection of congee is a must-try. The pork congee with century eggs and the chicken congee with mushrooms are full of flavors and are the standouts.

The restaurant also offers appetizers such as pickled cucumbers and tomatoes, among others. Roasted meats such as chicken, duck, and pork are readily available and kept warm in traditional dim sum carts.

What is missing from the menu are stir-fried dishes, but PenXin makes up for this by having beef balls on their menu. I mention this because there are dim sum restaurants in Taiwan that do not offer beef balls, and those that do, are not able to make very good ones.

The restaurant offers plenty of seating, but it is best to make reservations as they tend to get very busy, especially on weekends. There is also a paid parking lot across from the restaurant, and the rates...

I think this place deserves its 3 stars rating. It’s just ok. Nothing special.

We ordered many dishes: The Duck was ok but dry. Pork that comes with the Duck was good. Raviolis were very thick and tasteless. Spicy beef noodle was a bit numbing which is nice but did not taste like anything otherwise. Broth was very oily.

Dim sums which are their speciality were of lower than average quality: Xiaolongbao were not good. For a taiwan speciality, we felt it was a shame. I’m not even comparing to Din Tai Fung, but street stalls around have better xiaolongbao than this. Pork buns were fine. We finished these. Salted yolk (one of my all time favorite dim sum in general) were tasty.

Overall I would say this place deserves 2.5 stars as it’s just average but because the service was rather quick and the staff was nice I’m leaving it a 3 Star review.

But considering how expensive the place is for the quality of the food you get I would advise against eating there as there are plenty of yummy alternatives on that...