Hong Kong Lounge Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Hong Kong Lounge is a popular Chinese Restaurant located in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond district that opened in late 2008. They serve dim sum at lunch time and are quite busy. We were nearby, had never tried them, and were looking for decent Chinese food at lunch time. Their second location opened in 2011, and is also on Geary Street, closer to Laurel Heights.

Decor, Vibe – Hong Kong Lounge consists of 2 medium sized rooms stuffed full of tables. Clean but simple decor with large mirrors on the walls to make the place look bigger. Hong Kong Lounge was packed with locals, both Asians and some whites. We had to wait 30 minutes for a table at 1pm, so come early.

Hong Kong Lounge Menu

Hong Kong Lounge’s Dim Sum Menu has all the classic along with a couple specialty dishes and some old school dim sum items. Specialty noodle and rice dishes are available. Prices are very reasonable.
The waitress suggested that we order dessert items when we were ready for them, not at the same time with everything else.

Signature Dishes – Coffee pork ribs, Salt & Pepper Calamari

Full Hong Kong Lounge image set

Hong Kong Lounge Dim Sum Picks:

Coffee pork ribs ($6) is a new school classic with deep fried boney ribs coated with a sweet coffee flavored glaze. Cool whip on the side made it interesting. Koi Palace does a better version.

Salt & Pepper Calamari ($4.95) was a huge plate of overly breaded, deep fried artery clogging goodness. A bit salty but acceptable.

Shrimp Noodle Roll ($3.75) or Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll was big and had lots of real shrimp. Solid rendition

Fish w/cilantro in noodle roll ($3.35) was even better than the shrimp version. It came with the dipping sauce that was unnecessary.

Shrimp Dumpling ($3.75) or Har Gow had 4 classic, large, piping hot, but very well done dumplings filled with fresh shrimp.

Chiu Zhou Dumpling ($2.95) or Chiu Chow Steamed dumplings were huge translucent steaming hot balls filled with peanuts, pork, mushrooms and the like. A bit of zestiness was present.

Sticky rice in lotus leaf ($3.55) were 2 pretty sizable portions of glutinous rice with lots of minced pork, shrimp, and mushrooms. More an exercise in size than quality.

BBQ Pork Puffs ($2.75) had 3 VERY large and flaky pastries filled with goodness.

Pan Fried Tofu Skin Roll ($4.95) were lined with bits of shrimp inside. Nice crispy skin contrasted well with the soft internals.

Black Sesame Roll ($2.25) is a classic dish not found in many restaurants any more. Subtle sesame flavor and hints of sweetness accent this dish.

OK:
Steamed Pork Buns ($2.45) had 3 good sized buns with average filling.

Deep Fried Pork Puff or Dumplings ($2.45) had 3 large ones that while tasting fine, lacked any sense of delicateness.

Fried Sesame Balls ($2.95) included 5 small balls filled with a tame lotus seed paste. The skin was thicker than it should have been.

Pans:
Steamed Pork Ribs ($2.95) was greasy and full of fatty parts. Slight pomelo hints.

Service – Hong Kong Lounge had decent service with servers running around in this small space. You check off what you want and the food starts to appear in a couple minutes.

Value – Prices are cheap, quantity high, quality solid, making Hong Kong Lounge a very good value.

Alternatives – Nearby restaurants include really cheap but marginal Good Luck, touristy Ton Kiang. Yank Sing, Cityview. Great Eastern. Koi Palace. Asian Pearl Peninsula

Verdict – Hong Kong Lounge is one of the few places in this area serving up solid traditional Chinese dim sum. No wonder they are so busy. See Chinese Restaurants of San Francisco for our favorite San Francisco dim sum places which include Koi Palace and Yank Sing.

Also at:

(415) 668-8802

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

Hong Kong Lounge Overall Rating: (Good 2)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Very Good)
Service Rating:	(Good)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Average)
Value Rating:	(Excellent)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Beer, Wine
Attire:	Casual
Hours:	Mon - Fri 10:30am - 2:30pm, 5-9:30pm, Sat/Sun 9:30am-2:30pm, 5-9:30pm
Parking:	Street
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$2.25 - $8