Han Palace has a Dim Sum promotion from 8 am to 2 pm Thursday to Sunday. It’s apparently quite popular and I thought it was a dim sum buffet, but it’s not – it’s a la carte dim sum dishes for weekend mornings.
Han Palace is on the second floor of Grand Palace Hotel, Miri. I went there with Faye for some food before heading to the beach after just four hours of sleep compounded to a hefty sleep debt incurred during all the clubbing in Miri.
Han Palace is a Chinese restaurant, with an interior decor resembling…well, just about every other Chinese restaurants out there. I don’t know, y’all look alike to me. 😉
The tables are set with the standard napkin and Chinese cutlery – soup spoon and chopsticks, with a plate, saucer and Chinese tea cup. It doubles as a Chinese restaurant at night and the setting is what you would expect in similar joints, except Han Palace is doing a dim sum promotion brunch.
Tea is served the moment you are seated, with a waitress pouring out a hot cup with the blend of your choice for you. You can gaze at the tea leaves and attempt to predict your future by the way the tea leaves settle in the cup. There’s even a name for it – Tasseography. The divinations I gleaned from reading the tea leaves told me that this is a blend of Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy) Tea and it would cost RM 4.10 ++ for the pot.
The dim sum is carted out from the kitchen regularly with fresh offerings straight from the dim sum chef. The push cart is heated and the waiter goes around to every table with the dim sum options for you to pick and choose. There is a card on the table that is marked accordingly with each dim sum dish that you take from the cart. It’s a good system that works.
There is also fried dim sum offerings in addition to the traditional steamed dim sum. This is presented on a separate cart by a different waitress so there’s two dim sum carts going around at any time – one with the steamed dim sum offerings and one with the fried dim sum options.
There is also a third cart, presumably manned by the head waiter, which has the premium dim sum offerings on it. This cart only comes out occasionally and the waiter will also take orders for a particular dim sum that you have a hankering for. It kinda works like a sushi train – except this one is the Dim Sum Cart (TM).
We picked a couple of dim sum baskets to begin with. Han Palace serves two kinds of dim sum – Steamed Hong Kong Dim Sum and Fried Hong Kong Dim Sum. Each item on the cart costs RM 4.35 ++ each. The standardized pricing is achieved by increasing or decreasing the amount and size of the items in the dim sum baskets.
This is the Steamed Phoenix Claw in Minced Garlic. Phoenix Claw is a euphemism for chicken feet. The Chinese eat a lot of the parts of the chicken that is shunned by other cultures. One other example is the Bishop Nose, which is the preferred euphemism for chicken’s ass.
This is the Chicken Cube with Dried Oysters and Prawns. It’s done Thai style, with sliced chilli on top. It tastes great but the portion is a little bit too small, probably due to the premium ingredients.
This is the Baked Mini Egg Custard Roll Spanish Style that the waitress recommended. It was surprisingly good – the custard is warm and practically drools out of the roll the moment you bite into it. Delicious!
This is the Shanghai Siew Long Pau. It’s a staple of dim sum where the meat is steamed inside the paper thin pau (requires careful handling) until the essence (juices) comes out in a form of soup inside the bun. You’re supposed to take a small bite and suck the soup out before consuming the rest of the bun in one bite.
This is the Fried Seafood Spring Roll and is served with a side of mayonnaise. It’s cut up into manageable pieces with a pair of scissors by the waitress before being served. This is not a strictly traditional dim sum dish but most dim sum offerings have local fusion influences anyway.
I was practically falling asleep at the table due to the considerable sleep debt I was running up during my trip to Miri. No, that isn’t an expression of ecstatic anticipation of a particularly delicious morsel of dim sum on my palate. It’s the manifestation of a post-lunch coma.
I figured I’ll be better off wearing Faye’s new RM 1,400 Gucci sunglasses to hide my less-than-presentable eyes from the combination of sleep deprivation and substance consumption. 😉
I did wake up when the dim sum cart with lo mai gai (Glutinous Chicken Rice) came over to our table though. This is another dim sum staple that is very popular.
Han Palace does a great lo mai gai but the best I’ve ever had was this microwave version that I got from the supermarket when I was probably 12 or so and have never found the product on the shelves since.
Han Palace has a wide range of freshly made dim sum during weekend mornings. The price range is affordable too, considering the hotel setting and it’s a nice place for some air-conditioned comfort while enjoying a friends/family gathering.
Hallo….
its really a great blog u here here… originally i’m from Miri and nw working in Sibu… glad that u promote Miri to those who never been there before… ha ha ha take care of yourself ya… its good to enjoy life but take care of your health ya…..
cheers…..
Regarding Siaw loong Pau you mentioned ” You’re supposed to take a small bite and suck the soup out before consuming the rest of the bun in one bite.” OMG if you suck the soup when it is hot sure you burn your tongue. Your supposed to let fluid flow out to a spoon a sip it later.One more thing does your digicam got macro mode? Seems most of the food pic taken either blur or out of focus. Maybe a flash will help.
Regarding Siaw loong Pau you mentioned ” You’re supposed to take a small bite and suck the soup out before consuming the rest of the bun in one bite.” OMG if you suck the soup when it is hot sure you burn your tongue. Your supposed to let fluid flow out to a spoon a sip it later.One more thing does your digicam got macro mode? Seems most of the food pic taken either blur or out of focus. Maybe a flash will help.
have to… *sic*.. stop reading… *sic* HB’s blog… Making me so hungry…
The price was before the petrol price increase right? Would like to try the Kaykah and that egg custard.
Miri living standard is higher than Kuching, for sure. Or I am away from Kuching for too long already, outdated.
The timsum looks so good, especially the chicken feet and xiao lun pao. They are my favorite. Will make a note that I must visit this place next time I am in Miri.
Coincidentally, I also blog about dim sum today! LOL!
Hi, finally I found you. I have heard of you sometime ago, sound so mysterious to me at first but after reading your blog I think you are a great person.You have nice photos and interesting stories to share. keep blogging.
ohh looks good, i haven’t even been there yet, must go there one day.
The food is nice in deco. You should come and blog about the Dim Sum at back of Rejang Medical, Sibu, I forgot the shop name, try it out!.
Hmmm…the chicken cubes. I doubt it’s Thai style. I’ve lived there for a few years and never seen anything like that. Yes, it’s got chilis in it. But I wouldn’t call it Thai style.
And yes, blog about trees or something. You make me go hungry! 😉
luckily it wasn’t buffet. with the lack of sleep + OD on dim sum, she would need to cart you out in a wheelbarrow. Or those dimsum carts.
I’ve heard that the dim sum at that hotel is good but I never had the chance to try it even though I’ve stayed there a few times. But I’ve had the dim sum at 2020, a coffe shop behind that hotel…and it’s pretty good. Drool…the loh mai kai looks absolutely tempting!!!
HB. Nowadays they dun serve pork, so their taste also not as great as before. Somehow, heard that another called Boulevard Restaurant are doing quite well too. You should give it a try next time. When ah?
I wish I had tea that could tell my fortune! What did your tea say?
bubble7866: Thanks! 🙂
Where are you working in Sibu? It’ll be fun to meet up. We’re having a blogger’s meet tomorrow night.
Anyway, thanks for the concern, I will take care of myself, even more so now. Miri is a fun place to be. Now, I like Miri in addition to Kuching (for most livable cities in Sarawak).
Roland: Oh yeah, I’ve seen on TV that the proper method to eat it is to take one small metal straw (provided) and SIP the soup out before consuming the pau in one bite. The show was featuring a famous specialty place in Shanghai.
I suppose you can let the soup drain out first though, that would probably be easier on the tongue. 😉
Yeah, all digicams have macro mode nowadays la…it’s just that my hands were shaking from the previous three nights due to…er, you know what. 😉
That’s why some of the photos came out blurry. Flash doesn’t look nice in macro. The best method to counter Shaky Hands (TM) is to put the digicam on a small tripod. I’ve seen fish fish with one mini tripod, takes GREAT photos, regardless of shaky hands OR lighting conditions. I should get one…
al’sera: I would write less food posts and more XX Chromosome ones but I fear alienating my female readers. 😉
Perhaps it’s time for an XY Chromosome category.
fish fish: Yup, the price only increased after I got back from Miri. It was scary, the queues at the petrol stations that night…
Miri seems to be a more expensive place compared to Kuching but they have a beach right in town so it’s nice. 🙂
Choonie: Yeah, I was recommended this place as well, which was why I went that morning. 🙂
Clare: Oh, I know that place! I’ve been meaning to go there for a long time but haven’t found anyone willing to wake up early on Sunday to go with me. I can’t go on other days coz of work. You wanna go again this Sunday? 😉
philip: Thanks, buddy! I am really a nice guy if you get to know me, people always think that I’m not, but I am. Thanks for the compliment and I will keep on writing.
Darren: It’s apparently quite well known in Miri. I was told about the place before I even drove down.
babycicak: That’s the Mitsu tea house dim sum right? Operated by the same people who owns Shabu Shabu. I wanted to go there for a long time but no one would wake up on Sunday morning to go with me!
;): I just took a photo of the menu (or rather the charge sheet) and wrote down what they write as their official name for it. 😉
I want to blog about nature retreats but it’s hard with my current schedule…no holiday time until 31st August.
essentric: Yeah, and then my ass would probably be cooked from the steam heating from the dim sum cart. 😉
suituapui: It’s pretty good, some of the dim sum there. How are the rates at that hotel?
You know the best lo mai kai I ever had from Sibu? It’s from Ta Kiong, microwave lo mai kai for about RM 4 for six individually wrapped ones. That was back in 1991 or so, have you ever had that before? Most awesome lo mai gai, or maybe it’s just nostalgic making me see things through rose tinted glasses. 🙂
goolooloo: Lo mai gai used to be served with pork? I didn’t know that! I always thought it was chicken! But it’s a non-halal chinese restaurant, why would they take pork away from the lo mai gai?
Hmm…I don’t know the next time I’m going to Miri. You know la, It’s Complicated (TM). 😉
Thanks for the special deal on the cell phone. I got the present from her already. 🙂
jessy: It told me it would cost RM 4.10 ++ and that it was Iron Goddess of Mercy tea – a very popular “premium” tea blend – supposed to taste fragrant, but to be honest, I could never tell the difference between tea blends. Unless it’s infused with flavors).
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