The story
Located in the heart of Sai Ying Pun, Sam Hui Yaat is a quintessential neighborhood destination for an authentic, everyday dim sum breakfast. This unassuming spot is celebrated for its traditional craftsmanship, with every item prepared fresh in-house. It remains a rare find that balances high quality with remarkable value, offering baskets priced between $2 and $4.
Food personality Mark Wiens highly recommends the restaurant for its classic appeal, noting that it is the perfect place to experience high-quality dim sum without the premium price tag. The menu features a wide array of staples, including expertly prepared Har Gow, Char Siu Bao, Beef Balls, Fish Maw, Bean Curd Rolls, and Malay Cake. Whether you are a local or a visitor, Sam Hui Yaat provides a genuine taste of Hong Kong’s vibrant culinary culture in a cozy, accessible setting.
Synthesised by AI from every creator’s review. First reviewed 2024.
Most-loved dishes
AI summary of what 6 dish mentions say about the food
Sam Hui Yaat’s har gow earns raves as the standout, with Mark Wiens calling it transcendent. The overall vibe is a warm, unpretentious celebration of honest, masterful dim sum.
“This is one of the classic dumplings of any dim sum meal. I go for submersion into the chili oil — it's like you're eating chili oil with a side of dim sum. First bite: oh yeah, it's just simple and almost tastes homemade. The chili oil is nice and spicy, garlicky. You got the bouncy shrimp on the inside, and bamboo shoots which give it a little bit of crispiness and crunch. Bamboo shoots are also so fragrant. That's delicious.”
What creators say
1 creator has covered Sam Hui Yaat. Most active: Mark Wiens
A small neighborhood dim sum spot where everything is made fresh in-house, with prices ranging from $2 to $4 per basket — a great place for an affordable, authentic dim sum breakfast.
Dishes mentioned
Har Gow
This is one of the classic dumplings of any dim sum meal. I go for submersion into the chili oil — it's like you're eating chili oil with a side of dim sum. First bite: oh yeah, it's just simple and almost tastes homemade. The chili oil is nice and spicy, garlicky. You got the bouncy shrimp on the inside, and bamboo shoots which give it a little bit of crispiness and crunch. Bamboo shoots are also so fragrant. That's delicious.
Char Siu Bao
Another one of the absolute classics is a char siu bao — a steamed bun with char siu, the red barbecued Cantonese pork on the inside. I split it down the center to see what's inside. Oh, you got the juicy barbecue pork inside. It's fluffy, it's bouncy, and it really holds together. This one is fantastic — it's not too sweet. Sometimes you get a char siu bao that's really sweet, but this one is more savory, almost has a little bit of a hoisin flavor to it, kind of saucy.
Beef Balls
One of the famous things here are the meatballs — these big, mega-sized meatballs. There's a little bit of bean curd on the bottom. Oh man, these are hearty. Really smooth and soft — the texture is less spongy than other beef balls, it's nicer. It's more of a meatball texture and it has some kind of spice in it — I don't know if it's caraway seed, almost tastes like caraway seed. That brings out the flavor. Really soft, you can tell it's pretty fatty from the bouncy texture, but that's good. So tasty. Could do with a nice dunking of chili oil — that's mandatory.
Fish Maw
This is fish maw — fish swim bladder. It's spongy and a little bit chewy. That would be good with a chase of some chili oil.
Bean Curd Rolls
One of my absolute favorite plates of dim sum is the bean curd rolls — a whole roll like a mini burrito of bean curd wrapped on the inside, should be a mixture of pork, maybe chicken, maybe mushrooms, a variety of different things. Ever since I've been a kid, this has been one of my favorite things to eat — I never miss it when I eat dim sum. This one is actually mostly tastes like woody mushrooms on the inside, but I love that skin texture of the bean curd, and then it's just so juicy at the same time — it's fatty, it's oily, it's warm and comforting.
