HK Cafe is located in southeast Portland's Lents neighborhood. Ainslee Dicken of Portland Monthly has described HK Cafe as a "sprawling, gaudily decorated restaurant offering an abundance of small dishes".[1] Ben Waterhouse of The Oregonian said of the interior: "You won't find any fancy chandeliers or shark-fin displays here. HK Cafe's crowded dining room is brightly lit but spare, decorated with hanging paper lanterns and parasols."[2]
The restaurant specializes in dim sum; specific menu items include bok choy, cha siu bao (barbecue pork buns), custard buns, har gow, noodles, radish cake, and shumai.[3][4] The menu also includes beef short ribs in broth, salad with pig-ear, roast pork, deep-fried rice balls with sweet pork, and "Chinese sushi" (fish and shrimp wrapped in seaweed, breaded and fried).[2]
In 2013, Ben Waterhouse of The Oregonian said, "HK Cafe proves that even the bleakest of asphalt deserts can be home to great food."[2] In 2020, Michael Russell included the restaurant in the newspaper's list of "Portland's 40 best inexpensive restaurants", and described HK Cafe as one of the city's busiest restaurants on weekends.[6] Seiji Nanbu and Brooke Jackson-Glidden included HK Cafe in Eater Portland's 2021 overview of "Where to Find Outstanding Chinese Takeout in Portland and Beyond".[7]Portland Monthly included the dim sum in a 2022 list of "The 12 Best Breakfasts in Portland".[8]
