Hong Kong Cafe

We went there for lunch since we read all the good reviews about the place. We were greeted by the owner/​chef. He was so welcoming and friendly! The food took no time and oh my God it was amazing!!! We were so impressed by quality of the food. Best Chinese restaurant in town.

The best authentic Chinese food I’ve ever had! The owners are super nice, and the food is amazing!

Shady on the outside, delicious on the inside! I stopped in for lunch and the super friendly owner helped me select several items from the dim sum menu. First up, BBQ pork bun that was mostly bun, and of the four items I tried was the least impressive. Round two was chicken egg rolls that were crispy and full of meat and vegetables. Next up was the seafood sui mai with large pieces of shrimp and pork surrounded by a delicate dumpling. My dim sum adventure concluded with the spicy and sour pork wonton, which was amazing. I would drive back just for this dish, as the mixture of flavors was top notch. Service was friendly and the homemade kimchi was also very good.

Remarkable people. Remarkable food. The alligator is fantastic and the fried rice is too. It’s all fantastic.

I have to revise my review. The second time we visited, some of the food was overcooked and overspiced, and server forgot one of our dishes, despite only one other table of customer at the time. We will probably not return, as it is quite a drive for unreliable quality.

Well folks, this is it. I just got take-​out from here and got it home and YES! This is some serious, spicy, fun food. I got the Spicy and Hot Chicken and this is mind-​blowingly delicious and really hot — screaming with flavor. A chicken with scallions and ginger wasn’t on the menu but they whipped something up that was equally as good. And the Chinese broccoli dish was simple and perfect. This is some of the best Asian food I’ve had anywhere, period! I can’t imagine anything else in the area coming close. I will be back to try several more dishes, especially where it’s just 5 minutes from the house. I am thrilled!

I grudgingly agreed to my husband’s suggestion for chinese. I was pleasantly surprised! Throw away preconceived ideas of Americanized chinese food. First off, owner is super nice. Get the fried rice! Best I’ve ever had… loaded with fried garlic (my new addiction). Hubby got fried noodles. Good but wished he had the rice. Spring rolls and coconut shrimp tempura very good. Will be back next time in the area.

Don’t let the façade fool you. This place has authentic fresh Chinese. I had fried rice and spicy beef, which had the right amount of heat! The service was great and the dim sum was as close to Hong Kong as you can get living in St Johns County.

Small place but totally worth stopping at. Great food and service was great too! Menu has lots of different options.

I had high expectations of this place as it being advertised as traditional chinese food and not americanized chinese food. But it was sub par my expectations. It’s a cute place with only seven tables and run by wife and husband. I never saw my bill and suspect I was charged for items I did not eat. I got home and looked up the menu and added everything we ate and it came to $ 10 less than what I paid at the time. Ask to see your bill!
Don’t think I will be here again.

The food was very good. We ordered several items from the menu and everyone had an enjoyable meal. The kimchi was by far the best I have ever had.

I am wondering if this place is beginning to go downhill. The first time we ate here we had enjoyed it (we had got the sesame chicken which is good & some deep-​fried chicken with a lot of red spicy peppers stir-​fried with it – seemed authentic/​good). But we went back tonight and we were not satisfied or happy with our experience. #1 reason is that we spent $ 50 and left hungry. Additionally:
–the spicy seafood soup hardly had any seafood (the shrimps were good, I’ll admit) but there were just a few of them and a few fish slices, whereas the term «seafood» seems to imply that maybe it would have a bit of crab and/​or scallop mixed in or at least a wee bit of some other seafood-​ey thing to give it variety. Also, the broth was VERY sweet. I did not know I was getting a sweet soup! I didn’t feel I could send it back after it came to the table & I tasted it. I am pretty much allergic to sugar (I have candida/​yeast/​painful reactions to it). So I just had to endure… It did have a nice amount of «spicy hot» though. But also, the soup was for the vast majority, just broth! (not really much shrimp or fish, but only a couple tomatoes in there, no noodles, no dumplings, no veggies, etc — any type of filler would’ve been nice!!!)
–the juicy pork buns were just okay. It did say 4 but the picture showed 6 so I was hopeful maybe I would get 6. It was 4. And they were small. (I know there are pork buns that are bigger).
–the sweet & sour shrimp came with not a whole lot of shrimp, and it was the dry kind where you dip it in the sauce on the side. The picture showed it already poured over. Didn’t like dipping it, would’ve preferred it already coating it as just a nice saucy succulent dish! Although maybe I was supposed to just pour it over, myself. I don’t know. But then again I didn’t want to pour it on because it was actually this unappetizing quite pale yet kinda flourescent pink color — not your standard red, or even a clear; (also the pic showed a different color); plus, it was jelly-​like as though it had too much cornstarch, dense & un-​runny. :(
–the sesame chicken: this is *always* great! The only weird thing actually, is that they brought a sauce for it and it was the same sweet n sour sauce as for the sweet n sour dish. (If one gets sesame chicken, and already has sweet n sour as well, it’s weird to have a second «sweet n sour sesame» one…)
–there was a pitcher of sauce brought to the table in the beginning & we were never told what it was to be used with (everything else we had ordered already came with a separate sauce)… would’ve been nice to know
–not too much selection of your standard stir-​fry type dishes
–waiter (probably owner) is very friendly and nice, but was unattentive to us most of the time
Anyway, bad experience… I want to like it, seems like it has potential, seems like the sesame chicken is a sure bet; but for $ 50, we won’t be returning — We had a WAAY better/​nicer/​higher quality meal, with WAY more food, better service, and just as friendly owners/​family too, AND just as authentic too (moreso actually) at Chef Chan’s (Southside) — and it cost the same ($ 50) as HK Café!

So happy to have found this great place. We had our dinner delivered so I can’t speak for the ambiance or staff. The food came when promised, was hot and delicious, and no delivery fee. Have our driver a tip and we sat down to a delicious dinner. The only reason I gave 4 stars and not 5 is that I thought the food was a bit too salty. That said, I come from California where salty is not used quite as much.

Delicious! Huge menu and variety. Friendly service. Great for take out and you can also eat in.

This wasn’t my first visit, but definitely my last. First off, the owner was annoyed that our party of five didn’t make reservations, I don’t know about you but this place is not some Michelin-​starred restaurant in NYC, gimme a break, make a reservation?
The owner was very rude with us as well when ordering our food, their menu is terrible, with a laminated picture menu and a separate paper menu with kid doodles on it and the entrée prices. So it did take us a while to to flip back and forth between the two menus to finally come to our decisions.
We ordered several entrees and they were terribly salty and very oily. The orange slush drink my daughter ordered was just a watered down version of an Orange Julius certainly not worth the $ 4.95 we paid.
I also find it ironic that the owner finally warmed up to us and got chatty only after we paid our bill reminding us emphatically that we must come back to try their special Chinese New Year menu. Thanks but no thanks folks this place is not what it seems, don’t believe the hype!

Both our entrees (fried oysters $ 17.99; beef stir fried with green beans) were very salty! The only thing we liked were the fried spring rolls. Even the boba teas were mediocre. I don’t know why this restaurant average 5 stars. The owner/​server was always smiling & friendly but was also very impatient with us because it was 45 mins till closing when we got there, he kept trying to make us hurry with deciding when there were a million things on the menu and it was our first time

The owners name is Howard (American version of Chinese name Lee) and 9 of us sat down for Christmas day feast as that’s where Jewish people go to eat when everything is closed for Christmas. Great egg drop and won ton soup. We also had fresh shrimp spring rolls, chicken spring rolls, sesame seed chicken, crab, greens freshly cooked, etc… everyone should try this place at least once and it’s been open for only a few months. My nephew leads tour groups and we got the recommendation from him to try it, Benjamin Price whom just got back from Egypt with my brother. Awesome time in Egypt as contrary to the news Egypt is a really great place to visit I’m told.

Alright, so I got frustrated with the lack of good Chinese food in the area. After leaving St. Augustine, we headed north on US1 and right before you hit the airport sits The Hong Kong Café.
Walking in, you know you’ve hit gold, it’s small and cramped and people are stuffing their faces with all their favorite foods.
My wife, son and I sat down to a feast! I kid you not. We started out with chicken spring rolls and mini pork buns. They make their own plum sauce and it’s point. The pork buns come with a small bowl of vinegar and they are phenomenal.
For our entrees we ordered mixed meat and noodles, sesame chicken, and hot and spicy pork. The dishes came out as they were ready, but all of them came out within a few minutes of each other. The mixed meat and noodles was perfectly seasoned and a very large portion. The sesame chicken came out with the plum sauce on the side with cooked carrots. The chicken was moist and had a true sesame flavor that so many places miss out on. They incorporate the sesame seeds in the batter before frying instead of sprinkling on top. The show stopper was hot and spicy pork. It is hot! The plate comes dripping with chili oil. But despite the heat, the pork doesn’t get lost. It comes served with vegetables and fresh jalapeños.
We also had a pot of lavender tea which was fantastic. They were extremely friendly and told us that they can cook a lot of things not on the menu, so just ask if you don’t see what you want.
I don’t give out five stars easily, but I’d give a sixth star to Hong Kong Café if I could. It’s that good.

Love their gator meat, so tender and moist. Not your typical Chinese take-​out but has a unique twist of it’s own. Owner is actually from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese. Ordered the duck also, juicy and yummy. Price $$ but worth it.
Hubby tried lunch special on another day and it’s the best deal with good food.

A stunningly delicious meal. Everything we ordered was unbelievable. The atmosphere is cozy and we were treated like guests in the family’s home. A real gem of St. Augustine.