Hong Kong Flower Lounge – Mayflower Dim Sum Restaurant Review

Hong Kong Flower Lounge is part of the Mayflower restaurant group that has four Chinese Cantonese restaurants locations in the San Francisco Bay area; San Francisco, Millbrae, Union City, and Milpitas. We visited the location in Millbrae. This review concentrates on dim sum served only during lunch. They’ve been around a long time, over 20 years. Hong Kong Flower Lounge has an extensive menu and have lot of items are not on carts, thus needing to be ordered through a waiter. Our latest visit was in October, 2011.

Be sure to read our Introduction to Chinese Dim Sum.

Steamer Cart

Hong Kong Flower Lounge is a fairly busy and noisy Chinese restaurant with lots of families and friends eating together. We arrived on Sunday at Noon, and had to wait about 45 minutes to be seated, although we were given a 20 minute estimate.

You can easily pick out Chinese Cantonese restaurants, as most have tanks of fresh fish, crustaceans.

Hong Kong Flower Lounge Menu pics

Dim Sum Menu

Website Hong Kong Flower Lounge Menu

Picks:

Pork Buns ($2.60) – 3 small ones to an order. Texture and meat were okay. About average.

Fried Meat Pastry (Ham Soi Gok) ($4) – Also Fresh and hot out of the fryer. Crunchy, big. Good meat filling. Better than the Sesame Balls.

Chicken Feet in black bean sauce ($2.60) was above average in quality. Tender and fairly average sauce. Greasy.

Quo Ching Lotus wrapped glutinous rice is huge and filled with mung beans, mushrooms, and meat. It is not on the menu, so ask for it.

Har Gow Shrimp dumplings ($4) were 4 good sized hot and silky smooth dumplings.

Scallop and shrimp dumplings ($4) were topped with fish eggs, make them a bit crunchy and full of goodness.

Shrimp Egg Rolls ($3.20) were fresh out of the fryer, crisp, and solid.

Mushroom Rice Noodle ($7.50) was full of mushrooms and wood ears, you need to ask to get it filled this way.

Grass Jelly ($3.20) was pretty bitter but balanced with the sugar syrup and condensed milk.

Sugar Egg Puffs ($3.20) were not as good as Koi Palace but decent and hot.

OK:

Shrimp Rice Noodle (Shrimp Chung Fun) ($4) – Giggly, normal amount of shrimp, pretty oily.

Sesame Balls ($2.60) – Warm, large, not straight out of the fryer.  Filling was not too sweet.  Pretty average.

Steamed Spare ribs in Black Bean (pai gwat) ($2.60) – Tender meat but not a lot of flavor. Also oily and salty.

Shark Fin Dumpling Soup ($3.80) was average. Broth and dumpling not as good as Joy Luck Place’s.

Steam Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus leaf ($4) – The 2 were huge and filled with meats but they weren’t very special, just average. More like quantity over quality.

Pans:
None

Service was about average for a place like this. You have hunt down the workers for most requests. Hong Kong Flower Lounge took our order for roast duck and never brought it.  They also over charged us on the tea charge. The breath of items was very good. Nearby places Zen Peninsula, The Kitchen, and Asian Pearl Peninsula offer better food. Hong Kong Flower Lounge, with long waits, and better quality nearby, makes the decision on where to eat easy. The crowds continue to come though.

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

Hong Kong Flower Lounge Overall Rating: (Good 2)

Come Back?

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

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

Alcohol:	Full Bar
Attire:	Casual
Hours:	M-F 11am-230pm/5pm-9pm. Sa/Su 10am-3pm/5pm-10pm
Parking:	Free Small lot, Street. Pay lot across street.
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$2.60-$15