HK Café

First time dining here and it was alright. Nothing special. Nothing terrible. Though I will mention that the soy sauce I feel was mixed with red wine vinegar which didn’t appeal to me very much.
Me and my lady started with the BBQ pork buns and shumai. She liked the buns and the shumai were alright. Next we had vegetable chow mein and two orders of Shanghai style dumplings. Both were alright. Nothing special.
Overall for the price I shouldn’t complain. Walked out spending no more than $ 30. If I was on a budget (which I am now) and was hungry for some cheap Chinese food, I would head over there but other than that, I’ll search elsewhere.

Absolutely the best dim sum in Portland. Everyone who’s complaining about the service needs to get real! Of course the service is atrocious — always has been.
You don’t come to HK for the service. You’re here for succulent Pork Siu Mai and the best hangover brunch in town.
Take your time ordering. Don’t let the aggressive staff force your hand by heaping steamed, fried and baked offerings, noodles, and desserts onto your table. You’re the boss here. Tell them what you want and give a polite (but firm) «No» if they put dishes you haven’t ordered down on your table.
Come in large groups so you all get a chance to try everything. Dim sum is twice as good when enjoyed with friends.
These are some of my personal favorites (if you don’t know what to order, start here):
Steamed Soup Dumplings
Shrimp Dumplings
Pork Siu Mai
Steamed Pork Ribs
Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf
Steamed Pork Buns
Taro Root Dumplings
Fried Sticky Rice
Chinese Donut Noodle Rolls
Deep Fried Twisted Egg Puffs
Fried Sesame Balls
Sponge Cake

I am a San Francisco native, I know good Dim Sum.
In the entire Portland area there is not a single place that remotely up to par with this one.
Obviously it will never taste as authentic and directly cooked in the mom n’ pop shops in California, but… the people here HUSTLE and get through orders.
Are they friendly, not so much, but they get shit done, and thats what I appreciate. I want the food, not to talk to the people there.
Definately recommend the Shu-​Mai and they have really good Crab balls

Great place to go during lunch for their dim sum! It gets super packed though everyday! So expect the long wait

I have been here a handful of times. The food is always good and the service is ALWAYS SLOW & UNWELCOMING… Unless you’re Asian. We sat for 20 minutes without even being acknowledged… There were tables that came in after us (4 to be exact!) and they were Asian families and they were served with great respect and timeliness. We were treated like customers who were bothering them or putting a kink in their chain.
I loved the squid and my daughter loves the dim sum. The duck is also tasty.
I just am not certain I can stomach the service and ill treatment any more.

Went there for dinner. Food came out warm, not hot :^(t
They have so much MSG in their dim sum i cry MSG now

2^nd Place 2016 PDX Take Out Dim Sum Throwdown
Fourth and last stop on the take out dim sum throw down left me thinking, «were’s the beef?» I dropped by at noon and this place was hopping. Interesting décor with an Austin Powers look and feel. Counter ladies were nice. Placed my order and got my dim sum in about 10 minutes which was great because I was in a 15 minute parking space. Overall the dim sum was slightly above average with some highs and lows. The highs were the har gow and pot sticker which both were executed well with the right thickness of wrapper and right amount of filling. The siu mai and char siu bao were average. The bao had not much filling for it’s size. They would be better off making the bao smaller so the filling to dough ratio is correct. The bean curd roll had almost nothing in it, really shameful. All three in the order were the same. So here is how I rated them Har gow 4/​5, sui mai 3/​5, bean curd roll 2.5÷5, baked cha is bao, 3/​5, pot sticker ⁴⁄₅. Total score: 16.5 The cost was around $ 18, $ 1 more than the other 3 for the same items. I’ll come back to dine-​in next time. I liked the canto vibe here.

2^nd Place 2016 PDX Take Out Dim Sum Throwdown
Fourth and last stop on the take out dim sum throw down left me thinking, «were’s the beef?» I dropped by at noon and this place was hopping. Interesting décor with an Austin Powers look and feel. Placed my order and got my dim sum in about 10 minutes which was great because I was in a 15 minute parking space. Overall the dim sum was slightly above average with some highs and lows. The highs were the har gow and pot sticker which both were executed well with the right thickness of wrapper and right amount of filling. The siu mai and char siu bao were average. The bao had not much filling for it’s size. They would be better off making the bao smaller so the filling to dough ratio is correct. The bean curd roll almost nothing in it. I had to use a magnifying glass to see the meat, really shameful. All three in the order were the same. So here is how I rated them Har gow 4/​5, sui mai 3/​5, bean curd roll 2.5÷5, baked cha is bao, 3/​5, pot sticker ⁴⁄₅. Total score: 16.5 The cost was around $ 18, $ 1 more than the other 3 for the same items.

Ant floating in my soup!!!
Prelude: before reading my rant, you should know I have one of the best complimentary pork bone soups in any restaurant. Hence, I am taking my husband to try it.
We walked in and our waiter told us there was an hour wait even though we were seated and the restaurant is less than half full. As we were about to walk out, the owner lady promised that it wasn’t going to take that long. So we decided to stay. We proceeded to ordering four dishes — about $ 40 worth of food for two people which came with a complimentary soup.
40 minutes later, our first dish was served. The soup didn’t come until I had asked for it twice to two different servers and after the second dish was served (which is atypical of a Chinese restaurant). Then I noticed an ant floating on my soup. So I sent it back and they supposedly replaced it with a fresh bowl. The soup was bland as hell, so I told the owner, who suggested that they might have forgotten to salt the soup.
Also, one of the dish is fried smelt with roe (多鰆魚) — but only half of it had the roe inside.
We have had many positive dim sum and dinners here, tonight was quite a bad experience that leaves a bad taste in my mouth — literally! It’s gonna take me a long while before considering to try them again

So this place is my fav dim sum in Portland. It’s good but not great. The food is sometimes hit or miss with some dishes tasting better than others. I get my standard dim sum fare, congee, har gow, shu mei, radish cakes, etc. Sometimes it makes me sad that this is the best dim sum in town. Sometimes I’m glad it’s there.
It’s bright, loud and large. The outside really doesn’t show you that since it’s located in a strip mall but it’s large inside. Find the clipboard girl and put you name down, hope that you came early enough that you don’t have to wait with the hoards of people. If you have to wait, find a spot you won’t be always in the way or some grandma giving you the stink eye for sitting down. It’s usually pretty nicely decorated inside, bathrooms are the usual for a Chinese restaurant.
They give you hot tea and iced water and then you wait for the cart ladies coming by. If you need something special, I think it’s best if you ask one of them. We haven’t been able to get xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and were told to wait for the fried shrimp balls.
It’s usually too hard to have a conversation because it’s too loud in there. I think that’s typical of many dim sum places. I just wished the food was a little better and hotter. That said, it’s consistently good. For two of us, if we pick just the right amount of food, I can usually leave with a tab $ 20. There is a balloon guy walking around if you’re into that. Me, I’d rather have an extra shu mai!

This place was highly recommend for dim sum. It’s very crowded and can get loud at times. The servers push around carts with various dishes that you can choose from. Each dish looked and tasted really good. I would give it 5 stars but I wish they had a menu to order dishes that weren’t on the carts. Other than that, it’s definitely worth coming back again.

Good food. Carts seem a little pushy, we had 4 dishes on our table the second we sat down. Bathroom smelled like the inside of a car air fresher and the stall lock was broken so anyone could push on it and come in. Dishes average about $ 2.50 each, so reasonable pricing for what you get.

I was very excited to go here but we went for dinner and not for dim sum which is what I really wanted so I think that might be part of the problem. It was good but not anything special. We ordered salt and pepper squid, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, jelly fish appetizer, and sweet and sour pork. My favorite was the squid but then again anything is good when it is fried that much. I was disappointed with the jelly fish, it was a huge portion and very bland… it mostly tasted like sesame oil. I have had amazing jelly fish at Tanuki so I was expecting something a little more along those lines. Atmosphere is busy with bright lighting and there were lots of families with kids running around. I will probably be back to try their dim sum but I wouldn’t bother going for their dinner menu.

HK is slightly better than OK … and mostly because HK Café is simply convenient in Southeast Portland in the Eastport Plaza at 82^nd & Holgate (south of Powell). Dim Sum is best shared with as many friends and family as possible, so, you can try a wider variety of small plates and food. Mandarin or Cantonese isn’t required, but I was lucky to join my in-​laws (immigrating from Shanghai) and wife for a late breakfast and dim sum to try some classic Chinese favorites.
* Congee Rice Porridge
Dim Sum and Congee = Comfort
* Youtiao Chinese Cruller
Add pieces to the Congee for memories
* Custard Egg Tarts
Below average version here … fresh?
* Leaf-​Wrapped Rice Balls
The meat/​rice blend will fill you fast
* Steamed Tripe
Light on flavor, but fine
* Xiao Long Bao Steamed Dumplings
Everyone loves XLB, but probably not these
* Pepper Salted Smelt Fish
Small thin fried whole fish with peppers
* Seasoned Beef Stomach
Surprisingly well done. Surprise.
* Spicy Chicken Feet
Chicken Feet = Dim Sum in my household
* Pineapple Buns
Sweet and safe. Boring?
* Duck Lips in Maggi Sauce
Not for everyone. For you?
Service at HK Café is the classic Chinese Dim Sum experience in the States. Order anything you want from the main menu and don’t be shy about asking for service. Our wait was about 25 minutes, but I can imagine it being worse on weekends & holidays.
The food may not be superior, but the convenience of having HK Café serving Chinese Dim Sum in Portland makes HK Café a reliable OK 3 stars.

I went here on a Tuesday evening, around 5 pm. It was right before dinner, and was completely empty. I got immediate service, so there’s definitely no complaints there.
I got the eggs and bitter melon from the $ 8.95 menu. It’s like a frittata with onions and ‘bitter melon’ — which is exactly as it sounds, bits of bitter vegetable that looks like a green pepper. It was really delicious, and big as a pizza. I ate this for breakfast for days after!
For dumplings, I had the shrimp, the shrimp and taro, the Shanghai style and the bbq pork steam buns. The Shrimp and Taro were my favorite — the taro tastes pretty much like potato in these dumplings. Om nom! I would love for them to make steam buns with a savory filling (Chicken and mushroom? Ground pork?). But if you’re into bbq pork, they’re yummy. The ‘Shanghai style’ dumplings had something like spam or processed meat inside of them, with a bit of soup broth. I liked the broth, but the meat filling could have been better — although I’m assuming that’s pretty bog standard back in Asia. Shrimp and Taro are still the best!
The quality of the food here is on par with what you’d find in larger cities, and places like East LA — it’s good, and nothing like the deep fried carbohydrate-​bomb factories you find in so many ‘Chinese’ restaurants in Portland. I look forward to returning when they are carting around dim sum!

First off, there are good places for dimsum in Portland. Wongs king, Ocean city, and HK café are all hugely busy for a reason, they are all very good. Today was my first trip to HK and I must say that at this very moment I rank it just ahead of the other two in food quality. However the service and personality leaves something to be desired. The food cart ladies were prompt and fair enough to deal with albeit in a hurry, after that came the tea and they were done with me lol no asking me if I need anything or even eye contact, but to be honest the quality and freshness of the food helped alot. .if your one to want a water refill I suggest you ask for a picture of water when the tea comes lol

I would give this place «0» stars if I can. There is no flavor in their food. Seriously I think the chef that is cooking in the back has no taste buds. We had ordered take out from here and the traditional chinese dishes too. Green Onion Chicken (no flavor, just tasted like steamed chicken), Peking Ribs (sauce was black, little ribs and no flavor), Garlic Peatips (No garlic flavor tastes steamed).
Overall horrible!

Short Story:
A rather good dim sum place in Portland.
Long Story:
I didn’t think Portland would have good sushi or dim sum but I was fairly impressed with HK Café! We made sure to get there early as we guessed that dim sum places would be packed. We got there close to 11am and we were one of the first ones there.
We had a table for 7 but soon after the place started to fill up. We got all the traditional dim sum dishes such as shu mai, har gow, and chicken feet and boy were they good. The prices were definitely cheaper too when compared to the bay area.
The ambiance and décor are pretty standard for a dim sum place… meaning high ceilings and tall windows. The service is pretty average too… meaning you’ll have to flag down someone in order to get food or water, etc. The bathrooms are okay… not too dirty.
Verdict: I gave this place 4 stars for the food and price… you can’t have everything such as good service… sigh! I’ll come back.

The dim sum and environment teleports me back to China. You have people speaking Cantonese everywhere and the food is dim sum and then some.
A lot of Chinese but good for any cultures and languages. You definitely want to go early because it gets packed and there can be a short wait.
There are carts of dim sum being pushed around and you can also order off menu. Just like Chinese culture you gotta go for what you want and be persistent. Make sure to wave down the carts with the food you want and don’t be shy to ask for the hot and fresh ones. I’m very hygienic so I try to avoid the food on top because when people talk, you know, they spit a little.
My favorite is the shrimp dumplings or har gow. I like to get at least one of each savory dim sum whenever I go to a place like this and it is all delicious. Drink some authentic Chinese tea with your meal to make it complete. Dim sum is very authentic and like I said you get that culture shock from the food and environment.
I was a little disappointed when I ordered beef chow fun from the menu. I have had better. The flavor on this one was off and had too many sprouts.
Despite the packed place, this is a great place in Portland for dim sum.

Much better dim sum than California.
Came here right when it opened. They were slow in serving me, so I guess they needed more time to prepare. I ordered 2 servings of shu mai, 1 har gow, and 1 chicken feet.
The shu mai was awesome. Very meaty and delicious.
The har gow was also great, and it did not fall apart at all.
The chicken feet was just ok.
My total came out to be $ 11! Super cheap and delicious dim sum!

Problem with Portland is most Chinese restaurants cater to non-Asian’s which means they tend to have super un-​aunthentic dishes.
While this isn’t bad a bad thing, you got to ask yourself, just because the restaurant has big Chinese letters on a big red sign, at the end of the day are you just paying for over priced Panda Express?
HK Café is probably the most authentic Cantonese style restaurants I can think of in the Portland Area. They don’t sugar coat the food to try to match western taste and a lot of the specials are pretty-​ok.
Look, it will never compare to the amazing cheap Chinese food in California or Seattle, but for what it’s worth, in Portland, it is probably the best.
Dim sum blows the other places away in terms of what you can order, and the dinner specials are really good.
Only thing is dim sum gets stupid crowded and the staff sometimes just DGAF. Now that, my friend, is authenticity.

Service here was rather frightening, honestly – but I’m very, very used to it, having eaten at many a Chinese restaurant. The server told us to move our own chairs and get our own takeout boxes, for example. And the whole place was a swarming mess. Customers waiting around and vacant tables still littered with trash and dirty plates. However, the space had both classy and casual vibes, and the food was classic Hong Kong fare. There was no doubt this place was a popular stop for many folks, including those who don’t live in the area.
I ordered three consistent dim sum favorites – the ha gao (shrimp dumplings), siu mai (pork + shrimp + mushroom dumplings that look kind of weird), and these greasy, delicious fried seaweed rolls stuffed with vegetables and shrimp.
The ha gao and siu mai were pretty darn good here – steaming hot, savory, and chock full of meat We also ordered custard buns, but sadly, the custard buns were not satisfactory according to my mother, because the buns are supposed to ooze out the custard and the cream should be runny. It was more of a paste, instead. Whoops. Plus my mom is from the HK motherland, so she knows what’s up.
The seaweed rolls were fried to a delicious crisp, but surprised me with a mouthful of salty, salty flavor. I had pretty high hopes for this classic, but I suppose the day just wasn’t HK Café’s best. I’ve been here before when the food is better quality, so perhaps that Saturday afternoon was just a rather hectic circus of activity.

Of all of the dim sum places that I have tried here in Portland, this one by far has been the most tasty. Tho it is a little bit out of the way for us, so we probably won’t be able to visit frequently but its a nice «little» spot to visit before heading out to Mount Hood or Hood river.
There is always a wait on the weekend and the hostess may not always have a smile on their faces and you have to wave the carts down (be proactive when ordering) the food is pretty good and the prices is definitely good.
Do visit this place. Yes you have to be cut throat to order but I think once you do you will ended up liking it as much as I do.

All the dim sum dishes we tried were pretty tasty (shrimp shumai, pork shumai, steamed bok choy, shrimp wrapped in flat wide noodles, string beans). It was pretty busy on Saturday for lunch.
If you’re asian and don’t speak the language, just be warned that the servers WILL try to talk to you in some dialect of chinese. Don’t fret though — the great thing about dim sum is that you can just point to what you want on the cart that comes around.

Food is awesome
Service is lousy
Tables are falling apart.
I realize late afternoon is slow and a good time to get set up for dinner, but why park all the dirty carts and bus carts next to those eating?
Food is awesome.

I’ve been going to dim sum in PDX for well over 10 years. I tried HK on a Sunday recently and discovered it was a complete shithole with a Lord of Flies mentality towards customer service.
First, the fact that it is crowded and you have to wait in line is expected in the dim sum world. The customer service at HK however, is limited to giving you a number and vaguely pointing you in the direction of a table. Apparently, it’s survival of the fittest after that. When our number was called we were directed to a table that had not been bused. To be clear, it looked like a pack of hyena’s had killed a gazelle at the table. We stood there awkwardly for a few minutes before a waiter came by to «clean up» the carnage. He made no eye contact nor did he say a word. What he did was gather the dishes and pick up the table cloth.
At this point the table was covered in what I pray was only spilled water. He then unfolded a «clean» table cloth and put it on the wet table. The fact that the new table cloth was now soaking wet was overshadowed by the fact that this replacement cloth had a nickel sized chunk of food that had been «cooked» into it during the wash phase (see photo). This chunk of food (which I later scrapped off with a spoon) was directly in the middle of the table cloth and in plain view of the waiter who ignored it in the same way he ignored us.
Given this attention to detail I guess it isn’t too surprising that the carpet surrounding the table was covered in crumbs and vegetables. And lest you think I’m exaggerating… the attached photos show not only the crumbs which surrounded the table but the used fork and broccoli that I had to kick out of the way before sitting down.
Again, this place was filthy. The only reason I’m giving it 2 stars is because of the variety of dishes and the cheap price. That said although most of the dishes were well prepared they were also cold. Frankly, I’m thinking 2 stars is 1 too many.

hmm this is tough to say because it is the best dim sum I’ve had in Portland thus far, but eek I’m from the Bay Area aka dim sum mecca so honestly this really doesn’t compare by a long shot. It’s good if you’re absolutely craving dim sum/​Cantonese food and need your fix. Definitely go with a large group so that you can sample the selection and get a feel for what you like, so the dishes that might disappointment are easily brush offed in lieu of the ones that didn’t!
This makes HK Café sound a sad second best, but it’s definitely worth going to and I would go back! It’s tough to find good Chinese/​Cantonese food round Portland! Props to HK Café for doing them.