Towering restaurant offering delectable dim sum and impressive views of SFO
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1007
Reviewed: 12/31/2006
Rating: 8
My photo gallery
New Year's Eve and woke up early for dim sum at Hong Kong Flower Lounge. I've known about this place for years and surprisingly never eat here before. People complain the food is too expensive and service unpredictable while others praise the food for some of the freshest ingredients to bless your plate. Here's what happened on my visit.
We arrived around 11AM and parking lot below the restaurant was completely filled. You have 2 options for parking. The 1st one is the $2 parking lot conveniently across the street or parking 2 blocks away in the streets. Millbrae isn't exactly a city limited on parking like San Francisco or Berkeley so skip paying for parking.
I was anticipating long lines and as luck would have it, we arrived just in time with no wait time. They placed us upstairs in front of a large window with an impressive view (image 3). I could see airplanes flying out of SFO...super cool. The dining room was relatively empty when we arrived and within 20 minutes, it was completely full.
Service started out fast with dim sum tray carriers visiting us often. I won't name all the dishes we ordered or you'd be looking at a dozen paragraphs reiterating how great the dim sum was. All the dim sum items were extremely hot and I'm still nursing a burnt tongue 1 day later. All ingredients were pleasantly fresh and portion sizes bite sized. My favorites were the pork and peanuts (image 9), meatball (image 12), pork dumpling (image 11), and deep fried shrimp dumpling (image 10). Most of the dim sum items we ate were standard issued nothing too scary. For more adventurous folks, braised tripe, various chicken feet, pigs feet, duck egg porridge, etc. Dim Sum prices are as follow; A - $2.60, B - $3.20, C - $3.80, D - $5, and Special $.50.
I was disappointed with the dim sum selection towards the end of the lunch. The tray carriers were skipping our table and we didn't get a chance to taste any of the dessert items. I ordered 2 things off the menu, broccoli and oyster sauce and salt/pepper fish. The broccoli took eternity to arrive while the salt/pepper fish never made an appearance.
The final bill was over $60 for 4 people. Not too bad from a standpoint of, wow the food was authentically good, everything served hot, and more importantly everyone at the table enjoyed it quite a bit.
- yes, I agree it's more expensive than others in the area. Maybe it's to pay for the lavish dining settings?
- they do offer some Americanized items, live with it, do yourself a favor and get off your high horse. Not everyone is blessed to speak a foreign language and order off the 'real' menu.
- dim sum might cost 50 cents to $1 more but the ingredients I tasted were a notch above others. Perfectly seasoned and portion sizes AREN'T super sized to hide sub-par food. Hong Kong Flower Lounge serves great tasting dim dum.
I would have rated the score a bit higher but service is unpredictable. We were told they were out of Salt and Pepper fish 45 minutes after I ordered it. They ran out of fish? sounds kind of fishy to me (drum cymbal crashes in the background). The selection of dim sum is noteworthy but smaller than what you'd see at Koi Palace or Mings. I think we ordered 12 plates and the 4 of us loved every single one. What are the chances of that happening?
Ms. Leggy and Ms. Busty wanted to go out for lunch. I was in the mood for dim sum. Hong Kong Flower Lounge fit the bill. We roll up a little bit after 12:00 and the place is pretty crowded. One of the first things I notice is the faint smell in the area between the front doors and the dining room. Its not a pleasant smell, but its not intrusive either. Good thing it doesn't waft into the dining area. There is a little bit of wait, but its not too bad. People were heading out as fast as they were coming in. Definitely a popular place among diners.
The dining room faces El Camino with a pretty good view of the streets and SFO in the background. It feels a little cramp as the tables seem to be laid out in a random fashion. The dim sum carts and waitresses seem to have a little difficulty in navigating around the room. During this visit, we grab shui mai, char siu bao, shrimp and pork dumplings, and chicken feet. We also share some fried rice with chicken and salt fish. All the dim sum we had were standard items. Each was good in its own way. The fried rice included salt fish which added a different taste and texture. A little salty and slightly fishy, its certainly different from what most people would expect from fried rice. Its good and would encourage others to try it. We finish lunch with mango pudding. Its subtle and refreshing.
A week later, I do a second visit with another set of co-workers. During this visit, we start with Chinese brocoli and dumplings. This time though, both were prepared tableside. Pretty nifty. We also order jook or rice porridge. Studed with mushrooms, its topped with Chinese donuts, peanuts, and green onions. Its warm and not too hot. Goes well with a little soy and chili sauce. Very comforting. Like the last visit, we go crazy with all the different dumplings. We also get sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf and rice noodle with beef. As you can tell, Hong Kong Flower Lounge has alot to offer. We round the meal with Hong Kong style chow mein with chicken. Crispy noodles with sauteed chicken and vegies mixed with gravy. This is a favorite and really complemented the meal. Desert is almond jelly.
In summary, the Hong Kong Flower Lounge has alot to offer. The dim sum doesn't jump out, but its satisfying. Items from the regular menu were good too. For lunch, make sure you get their early for decent parking, prompt seating, and proper attention from the waitsfaff. Go with a big group and order a little bit of everything. Even better, get out of your comfort zone and try something unusual or out of the ordinary. You'll be glad you did.
