Dimsum @ Hong Kong Tea House & Ice Cream (again) @ Cold Stone, Tokyo

It's been awhile since everyone last ate dimsum, and one of my friends from Perth, also living in Tokyo, expressed her dismay at not being able to find any good Chinese food in Tokyo. It's true - as I've said it before, and I've said it so many times already - there may be a lot of restaurants in Tokyo serving Chinese food, but it is a hit-and-miss game finding a good one. The last time we got together, C said she was craving dim sum, so we promised to bring her to Hong Kong Tea House, which we know serves decent dim sum.

We'd been there once before, almost two years ago, and while we enjoyed the all-you-can-eat made-to-order dimsum option, we'd barely made up for the cost of it. With Rob's current fitness goals, and C's small appetite, we knew that there was no way our group will be able to eat enough to make it worth the value, so we went for the a-la-carte option. We were a little surprised to find that the a-la-carte menu was more limited than the buffet menu, but I guess the restaurant is trying to make the buffet option more attractive because that's where the profit is. I wonder if the restaurant would honor a-la-carte requests from the buffet menu. We had to order double serves of each dish because each serve contains only two pieces, and each plate cost between 600yen to 1000yen per plate. Quality was generally good, with the only caveats being the small serving sizes and the accompanying steep price. I guess that's the price to pay to enjoy dim sum in Tokyo that doesn't disappoint.

Delicious Lo Bak Gou (fried daikon cake); and tasty fried Taro Dumpling with pork and shrimp:

The healthier ones - steamed Scallop Siu Mai; and Har Cheong (prawn rice wrapped in rice rolls):

Lor Mai Kai (steamed glutinous rice with chicken), one of my favourite dimsum dishes, but this one was only so-so; and teeny tiny Egg Tarts:

After lunch, we headed to Cold Stone Creamery for some sinfully decadent ice cream, which seems to have become an unhealthy tradition we indulge in whenever we're in the Hills. Photo courtesy of my sister Honey.

Clockwise from top: C's Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip; Rob's creation of dark choc ice cream, fudge and pecans (I forget what else); and Honey's Strawberry Blonde with strawberry-dipped waffle bowl: