Dim Sum Breakfast @ Oui Kong-shiki, Ropponmatsu, Fukuoka

 

Dim sum is such a rare treat in this part of Japan. Yes, there are Chinatowns around the country and a huge amount of good Chinese restaurants here. However, if you would want to get some good dim sum, there are hard to come by. And I am not talking about just one shop that has siew main with their gyoza. So when I heard about Oui from a Hong Konger friend, I was definitely intrigued. 

I guess the choice is already made for me!

Ran by actual Cantonese from Hong Kong, Oui King-shiki Bistro, or just Oui in short, is a Cantonese inspired cafe and restaurant where the main star makers are, you guessed it, dim sum. I came here with a friend for breakfast here where they have a combo meal for their dim sum. Specifically, for 2700 yen, you get a basket of 3 dim sum pieces, porridge, rice dumpling, cheong fun, and daikon cake. This was one of the heftier breakfasts I had in a long time. But go big or go home right?

What a spread!

But when everything arrived, it felt like a serious banquet fit for royalty. The sheer volume and variety of this breakfast is something I had not had for a very long while. And since dim sum was the main reason as to why I came here to begin with, I took that on first. In the basket you have a siew mai, a shrimp dumpling and a chive dumpling that shaped like a crescent. Each morsel looked like porcelain and shone as though it had a moon kissed glow.  

A good start

The siew mai was decent, and I liked the density of the meat. It was lightly seasoned and you can taste the pork in it, with bits of shrimp too. I probably may have been accustomed to the Japanese style which has more pepper and cabbage, but still enjoyable. The shrimp dumpling or har gao in Cantonese, was some serious killer. The shrimp was bouncy and fresh with lots of flavour, while the outer casing had a al dente texture but at the same time was pliable to the bite. The chive dumpling had a similar texture in terms of its outer layer, but had a nice mix of veggies and pork mince in the middle which I enjoyed. Everything here was pretty good and well executed. You can definitely taste the effort of the chef in making them. 

Decadence, the one next to mine belongs to my friend Bruce

Speaking of soft and silky textures, the cheong fun had a similar profile too. The steamed rice skins that wrapped the char siew inside were just so tender and light but still had a nice substantial bite. Glazed with a light and sugary soy sauce based glaze, this was sublime. I really liked this as it is so rare to find. In fact, this is my first time having it in Japan. I have to give the chef his props for this. Really enjoyable, no qualms about it. 

Glorious

The next on the list was the daikon cake, and oh boy I miss this! The outer part were golden and crispy while the inside were fluffy and had a smooth texture. However, you can still feel the strands of the daikon which I like. And you know me, I like lots of contrasting textures. There are also bits of dried shrimp inside this amazing morsel, which provided an umami-like saltiness. Top tier stuff. 

I mean... its alright. 

The porridge itself was decent, although I am not too blown away with it. It did tick all the right boxes and I would enjoy this on a rainy day. Still it did the basics right, with a smooth and creamy texture, some slight saltiness and every grain of rice seemed to have broken apart and meld into the liquid. Pieces of century egg did provide depth of flavour and feel. The earthiness from their yolks cannot be easily replicated. 

This! When they say its the inside that counts, they are not joking. 

The rice dumplings were the total opposite, it was just packed with so much punch, it was probably my favourite thing in the entire meal. there was bits of pork, salted egg, dried seafood and was a literal flavour explosion in a hand held form. And after a swig of tea, I went off for to tackle the rest of my day well fed and energised. 

Front of the house, and yes, we had our breakfast alfresco. 

This was a breakfast worth remembering and I have to admit it was pretty good. Having said that, I have not spent this much on breakfast before. But you got to enjoy life once in a while right? And seeing a flight to Hong Kong would be too inconvenient and to expensive, going to a small shop near the courthouse is a small price to pay. I definitely am interested in trying some of their other stuff they have for other meal times. But if you feel like you want to try that before I do, or want to sample Oui's breakfast for yourself, the address is as follows:

1 Chome-14-2 Tani, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka, 810-0031