“ First time here. The best dim sum Chinese food in the city! Make a booking or expect to wait outside in a line to be seated. ”

“ HK Lounge bistro is an upscale dim sum restaurant in San Francisco. The restaurant is a bit small, so I recommend reservations for large parties. I went both in the afternoon and evening to try their dim sum and dinner menu. Their dim sum menu has all the traditional dishes. Their hargow and cheung fun was soft and fresh. The baked buns were savory and sweet. Everything came out fairly fast and was fresh and delicious. I visited another time during dinner and got the steamed chilean seabass with tofu. The tofu and seabass were soft topped with plenty black bean sauce. We also got the glazed coffee berkshire pork ribs. The glazed coffee ribs were a bit too sweet for my taste and were okay. The servers were friendly and checked on us quite often. Overall, HK Lounge Bistro was one of my favorite dim sum/Chinese restaurants in San Francisco, and they have a variety of different dishes to choose from. ”

“ Wonderful service in an unlikely locale. Their duck offering was our reason for trying this new spot (new for us, anyway). We only had 2 dishes, a half duck order with dry braised green beans. While both dishes were tasty, the duck was not deboned, making it difficult to assemble in the buns. The green beans were delicious, but not quite the dry-braising you would expect. Overall, I would recommend for the service alone! ”

“ My family loves good dim sum so I was excited to discover HK Bistro as a lunch option during our recent trip to San Fransisco. It is a small dining room so be sure to make a reservation as your wait will be lengthy otherwise. Reservations open up 30 days in advance via Open Table. We ordered the Vegetable Dumplings, Shrimp Dumplings, Shanghai Soup Dumplings, Snow Pea Shoots and Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf. The dim sum was truly some of the best we have had. The snow pea shoots were flavorful and crisp. The entire meal was delicious. The staff were attentive to our needs and efficient in moving around in the dining room's tight space. Thank you HK Bistro for a delightful lunch. We look forward to future dining experiences with you. ”

“ KenScale: 8.5/10 Visit: December 2023 On our second day in San Francisco during our California trip last December, my wife Jun and I wanted to get a quick bite for early lunch before meeting our dear friend and her husband for dinner at Lazy Bear later that day. As we had not had dim sum in a while, and San Francisco is not a slouch when it comes to dim sums, we made a quick trip from our hotel in SoMa to check out HK Lounge Bistro. We had no background on HK Lounge Bistro whatsoever (I later learned that the original restaurant Hong Kong Lounge II in the Richmond District of the city burned down in 2019 and this was a second act from the same time), but in any event we were so glad we stumbled upon this restaurant because the dim sum here was incredible. Having lived in New York City many years, Jun and I had of course been to Chinatown numerous times to get our dim sum fix. So how does a San Francisco establishment stack up against NYC Chinatown? Jun found herself surprised to admit that HK Lounge Bistro was better than what she had encountered in Manhattan. Take, for instance, the beloved classic Shanghai soup pork dumpling. Jun was thoroughly impressed how pure and clean the flavor of the soup was, in contrast to NYC's version that feels, while delicious, like the kitchen focuses too much on emphasizing richness of the broth to perhaps accommodate non-Chinese diners. The shrimp dumpling was also spot on with wonderfully crunchy texture of the shrimp. My favorite dish during our meal was the spicy shrimp wontons. Having seen spicy wontons with pork much more often, I was curious to see how using shrimp worked and it turned out to be quite a delight with addictive but not overwhelming spicy flavor of the wontons making me wish we could've ordered more even after getting an extra. We could tell that the restaurant's focus on execution shines in other dishes such as salt and pepper soft shell crab which Jun was very fond of, as well as string beans that were dry fried to perfection. The restaurant is relatively modest in size and it is not surprisingly a very popular place in the city, so I highly recommend either getting a reservation in advance so just walking in right around the time the restaurant opens. As we were savoring all the deliciousness thinking how lucky we were to walk in without a wait, we saw multiple diners without reservations turned away. Add some hot teas (even the tea here was not some generic version using tea bags but real tea leaves), and you have one heck of a dim sum meal. HK Lounge Bistro was a revelation in our California trip and we won't hesitate to come back for more of the wonderful dim sum dishes here next time we are in San Francisco. ”

“ Made reservations for six on a Sunday at 1:30pm, restaurant was full with a small line waiting for seating. Checked in with the host upon arriving with a portion of the party and they seated us pretty quickly. Food: Shrimp and truffle salt toast - fantastic, a favorite amongst the ground, crunch fried bread topped with a generous amount of shrimp seasoned lightly with truffle salt, a must order Duck Dumplings - a steamed tapioca starch wrapped filled with minced duck and mushroom, really unique flavorful and well balanced, another favorite Shrimp har gow - good, pretty standard, wrapper was medium thickness, good amount of shrimp, pair this with a bit of soy sauce and hot sauce for more flavor Xiao Long Bao - okay, wish this had a bit more soup/ broth, pork had good flavor but have had better XLB in the city Pork and preserved egg porridge, generous portion, well seasoned with lots of meat and egg along with ginger, a hearty warming dish to share Pea shoots with garlic - veggies were tender and well seasoned, not greasy, a nice contrast to the meal Beef rice roll - good, generous amount of beef, roce rolls could have been a tad thinner and softer but might have just cooled before I got to it Green onion pancake - super crispy and flaky with a bit of greasiness, served with pickled radish which added nice contrast Sticky rice in lotus leaves - two large bundles, rice was tender and sticky, wit bits of pork and mushrooms Egg Tarts - good, pastry was baked to a light golden brown, custard was smooth and silky with just the right amount of sweetness Sponge Cake - nice airy delicate crumb structure, brown sugar forward, a nice sweet treat to end the meal Service was very good, efficient and accommodating. We thought we might expand from 6 guests to 7 guest, they quickly pivoted to make work. When the bill came because there were some stragglers and we went from 7 to 5 staff changed teac drinking cost Overall had great dim sum at the new Hong Kong Lounge bistro, definitely more surprising from the double deckers to feed the hungry ”

“ Tiniest Dim Sum place ever. Nicest dim sum service. Expect to pay more for everything. Most of the food was average with these exceptions: * Coffee Ribs - excellent textures and flavors * BBQ Pork Bun - must eat when hot - very little meat, but amazing textures in the bun These are the best I have had in the US. I did not care for the Egg Tart while in the restaurant, but it was good when completely cooled. (I took them home.) It is smaller, less crispy craggily than the best ones in North Bay because it has less trans fat. These are the rest of the food we ordered that I won't get again: * Truffle Salt Shrimp Toast (4/5) - could not taste the truffle, personally prefer actual toast * Shrimp Noodle Roll (3/5) - average * Beef and Broccoli Pan Fry Rice Noodles (3/5) - decent beef, rice noodles okay * Roast Duck Meat and Peanut Dumpling (3/5) - totally not into the textures * Berkshire Pork Shanghai Soup Dumpling (2/5) - subpar * Chinese Donut Noodle (2/5) - very doughy inside, not freshly made * Berkshire Pork and Shrimp Gyoza (1/5) - weird sauce Since there are only a few things that I love here, it will be takeout for me from now on... ”

“ Yummy place! Just a bit expensive for what you get -- I can pretty much get equal quality dim-sum at other restaurants in Chinatown SF for half the price. Most dishes were quite salty as well, but it's ok. That said, the servers are super attentive, friendly, informative & nice and the interior is clean and elegant. Went on a Monday at 5 and it started to get really busy around 6. The one dish that really stood out for all of us was definitely the Truffle Salt Shrimp Toast -- can't find this anywhere else! Was sooo crispy & loved the sauce & sprouts that they sprinkle on top. I'm not sure if I tasted the truffle flavor much, but would come back here just for the shrimp toast! I didn't try it, but my friend said the peking duck was amazing as well. I'd say the biggest let-down was the yin yang fried rice; it's fried rice with half of it drowned in some white glaze sauce & shrimp, and the other half drowned in tomato sauce & chicken shreds (not sure what part of the chicken they used). It was way too much sauce, the fried rice ended up turning into porridge and it was very, very salty. Would have preferred no sauce or at least much less, but I guess we blindly ordered it and did not know what to expect. Overall, good experience :) ”

“ No doubt about it -- this was Fancy Dim Sum! We had been meaning to try HK Lounge Bistro for a long time, especially given it's status as the successor to the famous Hong Kong Lounge II which burned down five years ago. We had read that reservations are recommended so we made sure to make a lunch reservation, although on a weekday there were open tables so we needn't have bothered. The space is surprisingly small though, so if you go at a busy time it would be helpful. On reflection it's unusual for a dim sum spot to even take reservations but this isn't just any regular place, it's Fancy Dim Sum. Let me explain -- the food and service were significantly upgraded from the usual dim sum experience. The soup dumplings? Berkshire pork. The shrimp toast? Topped with truffle salt. The pork ribs? Glazed with coffee and served with whipped cream. (Ok, that last one was a little weird for me and I will likely stick to the garlic and black pepper version moving forward). The sauces? Applied tableside for you by the waiter. The dishes? Introduced by name instead of being quickly dropped on the table in silence. Overall, it was nice, if slightly unsettling for me, used to the economy of movement that pervades the regular dim sum experience. The prices definitely reflected the premium ingredients and attentive service, but if I had one complaint, it would be that I miss the iconic dim sum carts! ”