Hong Kong Tea House - Salt Lake City, Utah

William Lindsey

Salt Lake is lucky to have a Chinese restaurant of the quality of Hong King Tea House. We've gone there for years on our yearly trips to do research at the Family History library. The dim sum is the big draw.

People who don't appreciate how good the food is will sometimes kvetch about the neighborhood, which has a larger share of homeless folks than most other parts of the city. Several groups working with the homeless offer free meals and other assistance to those in need on the same street as the restaurant, and this is why you may see a homeless person occasionally if you go to Hong Kong Tea House. We have never once felt unsafe even when we walk from our timeshare near Temple Square to the restaurant.

It's worth the long walk. Sticky rice steamed in lotus leaves, turnip cakes, shrimp and chives dumplings, scallop dumplings with garlic flavor, har gow and shiu mai, snow pea leaves dumplings, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, eggplant and bell pepper stuffed with shrimp paste, stuffed bean curd: Hong Kong Tea House has it all, and it's all delicious. If you like dipping sauce, be sure to ask for soy sauce and chili oil before your order comes to the table.

This is not a place where dim sum carts come around. You order by the plate and your dish is made to order. That means that it can take some time for the food to arrive, and on busy days, service can appear nonchalant and slow.

It's worth the wait, and if you watch the wait staff, most of whom look related to each other, so this appears to be a family business, they work very hard to take orders, seat people, take people's payment, and bring food to tables. If you appreciate excellent dim sum of the quality you can usually find only in places like San Francisco, I highly recommend Hong Kong Tea House. You won't be disappointed.

Justin Lui

Compared to HK Or Vancouver, this place is reasonable.

The water spinach, great. The dumplings are good/average. The roasted pork, underwhelming but reasonable if you never tried it. The fried turnip cake? Nice crisp but hard to the split/cut open. The cheung fun (long white noodle with bbq pork is pretty good). Lots of dim sum option.

Other options: Chicken feet? Good. Seasons ball. Solid.

You’re in Salt Lake City. You cannot expect legit Cantonese food but it’s good for SLC. Recommendable for SLC. Enjoy ppl. 4 star but 4.5 star for SLC.

Glowingmom 08

The best place for dim sum. Family style and child friendly. We have been going to this restaurant for two decades. The food has maintained its flavor, taste, and quality. The quantity is good. It's a good place to meet friends, bring out of state family and enjoy the wonderful food. The staff are amazing, always smiling and welcoming. If you are looking to support women owned restaurant owners, then this is your perfect choice. Every time I go there I forget to take pictures as we just start eating. Today, I managed to get some pictures before my family gobbled up everything.

Lisa Skeen

We decided to try this dim sum restaurant for lunch. Everything from the delicately steamed dumplings to the flavorful beef chow fun was truly delicious. The ambiance of the restaurant added to the overall dining experience – it is a cute little place that exudes a cozy and inviting atmosphere.
However, I would like to highlight that there is limited parking available near the restaurant. The only available option for parking is on the street, which may pose a challenge during peak hours.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this dim sum restaurant for anyone looking to enjoy a delightful culinary experience. The delicious food coupled with the charming ambiance makes it a worthwhile visit despite the parking limitations.

Zhiqing Zhang

The server’s attitude is bad.

When first entering the cafe, she asked if we are Chinese and told us how to order. A couple of rules:
* tick the english line not the chinese line (the menu is confusing, check out the picture to see)
* use number to indicate quantities we need, not circle or cross, tick

I feel not comfortable about this because

1. They could just update the menu to make it easier to read.
2. The server’s attitude is like she’s teaching a naughty kid who is her enemy.

What makes it worse, is that when we place the order, she confirmed the ordered items with us, but she didn’t confirm all items.

She just randomly selected 3 items to confirm, which makes me feel she is just checking if we understand the rules she just gave. Otherwise why doesn’t she confirm all of it?

Now I am sure she is not trying to help us to get the order right, just trying to prove that we Chinese are naughty kids who don’t know how to order.

I don’t like this place and will not come back.

T S

Food is decent. Service was horrible. You don’t get acknowledged and forced to stand outside to wait. They aren’t grateful for the business, you’re treated as an inconvenience.

Tom-Pingkan Black

Today is the first time I went to Hong Kong Tea House. It was a wonderful experience.
The noodle (got the wonton & dumpling noodle), was so good. The wonton & dumpling are essentially the same wrap, but one is shrimp & the other is pork. The wonton was cooked & seasoned perfectly, and the noodle is thin egg noodle. So good.
If you come for the dim sum, you have to come earlier (by 3pm?). You will not regret it. All the dim sum were delicious, but I'll feature the fried shrimp dumpling. The texture of the fried dumpling reminds me of 'crab rangoon', but the inside is shrimp. It is served with mayo on the side. I can't have enough of them. So crunchy on the outside & perfectly seasoned shrimp.
The peking duck was delicious, fried perfectly, crunchy skin & moist/tender, juicy meat. It is served with duck sauce.
The Oolong (hot) tea was 'real leaf' (vs. tea dust/tea packet); that was such a pleasant surprise ?, and the waitress were very attentive.

One caution, if you're looking for that crispy pork belly (Siu Yuk or Sio Bak), it is only available on weekend.

I thought this is important to mention this in case you would be dining during weekend or other high traffic time; the parking is limited right in front the restaurant (parallel parking on road), so you need to plan on that.

Enjoy these authentic meal

Joshua Doyle

Wonderful little place with a calm quiet atmosphere and insanely delicious food, came here during their dim sum hours and got a TON of food for a really good price. Service is great they bring out the tea quickly, refill your water constantly, and they get the food to you in waves so you're never waiting too long without a delicious dish in front of you.