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    Home » Restaurant

    Lei Garden Hong Kong

    Published: Nov 2, 2017 by Jennifer Che

    Lei Garden Hong Kong
    Lei Garden Hong Kong - TST branch

    Dim sum is such a part of Hong Kong life.

    Originating as tea houses set up along the Silk Road for weary travelers, dim sum has evolved into a feast of small plates and bamboo steamers filled with a dizzying array of dumplings, buns, braised meats, pan fried cakes, noodles, and much, much more.

    So it's natural that when my friends came to visit us in Hong Kong, we spent virtually all of our meals exploring local bests that Hong Kong has to offer. We sampled wonton noodle shops back-to-back, tasted our way through traditional Hong Kong breakfast joints (what they call cha chaan teng, literally a "tea restaurant"), discovered roast goose, ate way too many egg tarts, and had lots of dim sum.

    After trying several places, Lei Garden has turned out to be one of my favorites for dim sum (thus far!). The food is very good, execution quality is excellent, service is fast, and there are many locations around the city, which makes it super convenient.Lei Garden Hong Kong
    I should start off by saying that this write-up will only focus on Lei Garden's dim sum, not the entire menu. Lei Garden is a full-fledged Cantonese restaurant that serves all sorts of dishes at night - everything from abalone and roast meats to all kinds of double boiled soups and a wide variety of seafood (check out the tank!).

    Lei Garden holds one Michelin star and is well recognized throughout Hong Kong. Established in 1973, it started out as a single Cantonese restaurant but soon grew to become an upscale international chain. It now has locations all throughout Hong Kong as well in China, Singapore, and Macau.

    I've gone several times to different locations. Below are some of the dishes I've tried.
    Lei Garden Hong Kong taro puffs
    Taro puffs are airy, light, and super delicate.
    Lei Garden Hong Kong zhong zi
    Bamboo leaf wrapped sticky rice is nice and small (which I like!).
    Lei Garden Hong Kong dumplings Lei Garden Hong Kong dumplings
    In general the dumplings are excellent. We were actually more impressed with Lei Garden's shrimp dumplings than we were with the ones from Tim Ho Wan, which were a bit too loosely wrapped and slightly overcooked. The carrot dumplings are pretty to look at and tasty as well.
    Lei Garden Hong Kong xiaolongbao Lei Garden Hong Kong Teochow dumplings
    Soup dumplings are very good, and I really enjoy the vegetarian Teochew dumplings, which are filled with peanuts, water chestnuts, chives, and mushrooms.
    Lei-Garden-Hong-Kong-1-of-10.jpg Lei-Garden-Hong-Kong-2-of-10.jpg
    Steamed shrimp dumplings (shumai) are great, and Bryan really enjoys the chicken feet (I'm not a huge chicken feet fan so I typically abstain).
    Lei Garden Hong Kong glutinous rice balls Lei Garden Hong Kong chasiu bao
    We’ve tried meat-filled deep fried glutinous rice balls (like salty meat-filled mochi balls!) along with traditional steamed chashu (BBQ pork) buns. Lei Garden does not have the sweet baked BBQ pork buns like Tim Ho Wan and Fu Sing do. I personally prefer the baked ones, but these are great as well.
    Lei Garden Hong Kong steamed rice rolls Lei Garden Hong Kong
    I love steamed rice rolls, and the ones here are great.
    Lei-Garden-Hong-Kong-12-of-15.jpg
    I was very impressed with perfect execution of their fried eggplant with bonito flakes and scallions. I love how they preserve the beautiful deep purple color by not overcooking it. It is excellent.
    Lei Garden Hong Kong pan fried rice rolls Lei Garden Hong Kong pan fried rice rolls
    On one occasion, they had a special of the day - stir fried rice rolls with bean sprouts. I loved the intense charred wok hei in the dish. The resulting flavors were fantastic and I wished it were a normal menu item so I could order it again.

    General Thoughts - Lei Garden Hong Kong

    I really like this place. Yes, it's a chain, but I think it grew to become a chain because it was such a successful concept. They had to keep building more to meet the demand! The food is great, the service is efficient, and the locations are super convenient.
    Lei Garden Hong Kong Lei Garden Hong Kong
    Lei Garden Mongkok Branch

    Definitely make reservations if you want to dine here. The restaurant is VERY popular. You can book online through their website (which is pretty handy) but it's always worth calling even if you can't see anything online. I once got a reservation because I agreed on the phone to give up the table within 1.5 hours (it was plenty of time - they are so efficient!).

    Six Lei Gardens worldwide currently have a Michelin Star: three in Hong Kong (Mongkok - original location, North Point, and APM Millennium City), two in Shanghai, and one in Singapore. I've been to both a "starred" one (Mongkok) and a "non-starred" one (Tsim Sha Tsui), and frankly I thought both were very good.

    I'm not yet an expert on Lei Garden (ha ha, not like the way I know my Din Tai Fungs), but so far I've been very pleased with the meals I've had and the couple locations I've visited.

    Lei Garden Hong Kong
    (multiple locations)

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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Jen's Guide - Best Places to Eat in Hong Kong for Visitors! - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      November 9, 2017 at 10:08 am

      […] price point. Some of my favorite mid-point dim sum which allow reservations (important!) include Lei Garden (1 Michelin star), Fu Sing, and Tsui Wah […]

      Log in to Reply
    2. Kam Wah Cafe Mongkok - Hong Kong Breakfast & Best Pineapple Bun says:
      November 28, 2017 at 9:42 pm

      […] Posts Jen’s Guide – Best Places to Eat in Hong Kong for Visitors Lei Garden Hong Kong dim sum I Am Moving to Hong Kong! Yee Shun Milk Company – double skin milk pudding Tsuta Japanese […]

      Log in to Reply
    3. Tsui Hang Village Hong Kong - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      February 21, 2018 at 8:02 am

      […] sum is solid here and very enjoyable. It may not be my favorite dim sum place at this price point (Lei Garden still wins that one), but it’s definitely one of our favorite charsiu BBQ pork places in Hong […]

      Log in to Reply
    4. Fishteria Wan Chai Hong Kong - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      November 14, 2018 at 11:41 am

      […] seafood. It’s not hard to find great Cantonese restaurants with live seafood tanks dishing up steamed whole fish, braised abalone, and all sorts of […]

      Log in to Reply
    5. Crabtain Wan Chai Hong Kong 一番鋒味 - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      November 15, 2018 at 12:24 pm

      […] reasonable prices. The chef-owner used to work at the well-known Michelin-starred Cantonese chain Lei Garden. The signature must-order dish is definitely the crab congee, which is fantastic. The deep orange […]

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    6. Happy Year of the Tiger! - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
      February 11, 2022 at 12:01 pm

      […] brown sauce is the intensely flavorful, and truly makes the poon choi special. We ordered ours from Lei Garden. It came with abundant types of seafood and a seaweed called fat choy / fa cai 髮菜, which sounds […]

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    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

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