We’ve been told repeatedly that the Hong Kong Lounge is one of the best restaurants for dim sum in the city. We finally decided to try it for brunch . We generally avoid any restaurants with lines, but this is one place that was really worth the wait. We headed to Hong Kong Lounge II (the first location is just down the street) for brunch on a Saturday. We showed up to a long line of other people waiting to dig into these dim sum delicacies.
We asked for a menu while we waited to help pass the time. Having a menu in hand allowed us to identify our must-haves in advance and Google any unfamiliar dishes. We also peeked at Instagram to see photos of the actual food and noted that three people whose food judgment we trust – Maria Sinksey, Shelley Lindgren, and David Lebovitz – had all dined here on numerous occasions.
We choose a variety of dishes including spring rolls, pork buns (how can you go wrong), shumai, various dumplings, and fried rice (it’s a guilty pleasure). We left with a few boxes of leftovers. We had several days of delicious leftover dim sum.
Some dishes we recommend (some pictured above) include Wonton Soup, Sautéed Pea Shoots with Garlic, Pork & Shrimp Shumai, Steamed Pork Buns, and the Shrimp & Chives Dumpling.
HINT: Skip the line. Plan to go towards the end of lunch, and you’ll most likely walk right in.
Hong Kong Lounge II is closed due to fire. However, it’s being reported that they will soon open a new restaurant in SOMA.