Okay, thank you. When I read your post, I looked up Chiu Chow and realized for the first time that it's the name of a city (been going to HK regularly for over a decade, but I don't know anything about the mainland). I thought Chiu Chow was just the name of my favorite dumpling at Tim Ho Wan.

Asides from those Chiu Chow regional things, it's not like this restaurant puts some sort of 'Chiu Chow style spin' on all the usual Cantonese dim sum items (hargow, char siu bao, etc), correct?

All in all, I am leaning towards Lippi CC now. Being an acclaimed hotel restaurant, I guess it's no surprise that Summer Palace sounds pretty much along the lines of Shang's and Yan Toh Heen. And if you don't think the quality is that much better, then it would not be worth paying 2x.

That's correct. The usual dim sum items are made in the typical Cantonese way. They have a good variety of desserts as well if you're a fan of sweets.

Okay, thank you! You've been a great help.

There's some great information on this thread - thanks to all who have contributed opinion and recommendations.

I'm printed the posts to a PDF so I'll be able to easily reference them during travel.

attitude mostly. not worth the hassle or money.

I once went with my friend during CNY and every staff member in the restaurant front and back lined up to collect red packet from her.

Then a race horse owner showed up. All attention turned to his table and ours was ignored thereafter.

My feeling (after several visits) is that they are all "old style" restaurant workers, no modern hospitality training or much education in general.

Justdifferent in culture. From the food style (many dishes u cant find elsewhere that looks for good margins) to the service.
I guess the same tipping culture exists in the US. If you dont tip well(not to mention tipping or not) and you're a returning customer, you are definately getting mediocre service. I dont personally see much difference u tip before or after your patron (if you are a regular... or even not)

There is now a restaurant in Pacific Place called Dim Sum Library, thinking it's new-ish (or I've missed it multiple times at Conrad over the years!). Looks like it'll be an option for solo dining, anyone have an opinion? TIA

Exactly a year ago, I asked about the best reasonably-priced dim sum in Admiralty. Ended up going to Lippi Chiu Chow last year. Glad I went, as it was a new place I hadn't tried yet and the food was quite decent. There was one stand-out dim sum item - this fried shrimp thing that came with this incredible spicy mayo dip. On the other hand, some of the other things we ordered (eg, hargow, chiu chow dumplings) didn't blow me away. Considering the food quality and the rather casual service and ambiance, I felt that the price was rather steep. I've been to Metropole before, which didn't blow me away either. I don't remember either place well enough now to be able to say which was better. Hate to say it but, while Crystal Jade isn't Cantonese and it's a completely different category of restaurant than we're discussing here, I still haven't found a place I like more in Admiralty.

Anyways, heading back next month to Conrad. Thinking about doing Summer Palace at Shangri-la this time. It's quite a bit pricier than I'd like. But I don't know where else to try. Looking for a place in Admiralty on par with Pen's Spring Moon in terms of taste, service and ambiance. Is there anywhere else I should consider? I'd love to hear about another dim sum place that's just as good, but cheaper than Summer Palace.

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New fusion dim sum with exotic ingredients. They do do a good matching unlike some places with Jambon Iberico and Truffle randomly added.
I think they have been there since CNY 2017.

This new Dim Sum Library is right there! Will make an effort to try it next week.

Yup, opened Jan 2017, found in a review!

I recommend Duddell's in Central for dim sum in a fancy setting: (2 Michelin stars)
http://duddells.co/home/en/

I've had a look at their menu and also looked at the photos on openrice. Some of the stuff sounds really intriguing, although our kids will be with us and they're not willing to explore beyond hargau, xlb, char siu so/bao, spring rolls. Black truffle hargau sounds amazing, but they will raise a fuss when they see little black dots. We may still decide to drag them along.

If you go, I'd love to hear what you think.

Be careful what you wish for - my parents ended up with a 7yr old begging for caviar all the time ;) [she was - and still is - easily distracted by cheaper salty fish eggs, like greek taroma, but still :p]

It is traditional dim sum methodology with a change in the ingredients as well as the skin/wrapper.
I find is a good refreshing change.
Two other places like this are: Yum Cha and the Social Place further west.

It's pretty mediocre and full of star-chasing poser beautiful people. For that price point, head over to Lung King Heen at the FS, or the Man Wah at the Mandarin.