Hong Kong Bistro & Dim Sum — Restaurant in Jacksonville

I took my family here to celebrate Father's day a day later, so we came in after lunch, around 12ish on Monday, didnt need to wait at all and the place was pretty busy even on a week day. I love the open space, tall ceiling with these beautiful chandeliers. The interior design is simple, traditional yet elegant and inviting.

The host sat us down, and brought us our hot Tea and water, came back to check on us twice, so we had to flag down other waiters when we needed something. Menu was given to us but we could order right off of the carts they pushed around. Everything looks delicious and steaming hot! We pretty much tried everything that was available during lunch hours:

Fried shrimp ball (tasted the same as any other ones I had in the past, not as crispy as I liked). Shrimp dumplings with mixed veggies (These were great, pretty fresh but I didnt see any shrimps in the ones we had, oops!) Chicken sticky rice in lotus leaf (These were huge, plenty of rice and chicken, a but soggy bit still tasted good) Chicken feet (always our favorite, seasoned was on point, I kept going back for more) Shrimp rice noodle rolls ( Very light, served with soy sauce, good to have these as fillers, not a lot of flavors) Bean curd shrimp rolls ( I enjoyed these the most, very well seasoned, Sweet and juicy) Beef tripe with onion gingers (My least favorite because there was not flavor and chewy, but at least we tried it :) Pork shrimp Shu Mai (typical in taste, not too impressed) Fried taro balls (which are my all time favorite at every dimsum place, unfortunately.. HK bistro didnt meet my satisfaction, they were not hot when served to us, they were probably been sitting out for a while, the flavors were there, just wish they were more fresh).

We had a couple more items along with what listed above, everything seemed to be on point except for a couple of things. It's fairly a new place so maybe they will improve in the future, but all in all, we were left stuffed and will be...

I really wanted to like this place. We ordered takeout so perhaps it would’ve been better if we had eaten in the restaurant. This is a Cantonese restaurant so my review is kind of mixed between the Cantonese items and the non-Cantonese items. We had a very large order, with two full-size Peking ducks, orange beef, jellyfish, stuffed eggplant peppers and tofu, spring rolls, and boiled spicy fish. I like that the restaurant staff seem very friendly and the stuffed eggplant peppers and tofu was really really good, I would give that dish 5 stars. However, the Peking duck was a disaster. I was hesitant to order picking duck from Cantonese restaurant since it’s a specialty of Beijing. However, I was open to trying it. Unfortunately, it was essentially an overpriced roast duck. First of all, there were bones in the duck; Peking duck should be boneless, and this duck was sliced completely wrong. Second of all, the skin had a lot of fat and it was not crispy, nor was it the right color for a properly roasted Peking duck. Thirdly, they used the wrong wrapping. Instead of pancakes, they had buns. Fourthly, they did not give us cucumber, but gave us lettuce instead. Fifthly, the hoising sauce was incredibly salty; I’m not sure if it was really hoising sauce or just soy sauce mixed with sugar and corn starch. Had it been a roast duck, it would have been an excellent roast duck. But roast duck is typically around $20 for a whole duck, not 50. I was very disappointed. That being said I also blame myself for ordering Peking duck at a Cantonese restaurant. I would also recommend not ordering the boiled spicy fish fillet. That is more of a Szechuan specialty and not something that this restaurant does very well either. I did not get a chance to try their dim sum, but I would go back to the restaurant again for their Cantonese items. My husband loved the orange beef and spring rolls, so I guess their Americanized items are probably...

Our experience was mixed. Good part first: we ordered from the menu and wound up with two dishes (shrimp with cashews and sesame chicken) that we both thought were very good. Also, the place was prettier and nicer than expected from the somewhat tacky exterior. As to what we didn't like: granted, we aren't familiar with dim sum and basically just wanted Chinese food. HOWEVER we might very well have been willing to try dim sum if we'd been welcomed in and given some idea of how it was supposed to work. You know how a lot of restaurants will say, "Is this your first time dining with us?" and if you say yes, they give you a little tutorial. That's what is needed here. The guy who seated us and then waited on us actually started out acting rude and condescending. We were given one dinner menu and one dim sum menu. Immediately after we were seated, the dim sum carts rolled over. Nothing was recognizable to us (not their fault) and we had no idea of how the pricing worked. Did each little dish have its own price? Did you pay a flat price for a dim sum meal and get to choose several? We had no idea and nobody seemed interested in acquainting us with the process so we just said no thanks, we'll order from the (one) menu. It was barely lunchtime on a Saturday and I inquired about lunch specials but was told by the rude guy that they didn't have any specials on the weekends. Therefore every dish was at least about $12. My husband was asked if he wanted to small or large shrimp in his dish and he made the mistake of saying large, so his entree was over $22. Once our food came and we dug in and were happy with it, the rude guy seemed to warm up some. But $50 for a Saturday lunch is a bit much. I think in the future I would stick with Rice Bowl which is nearby and has never...