Hui Lau Shan
Multiple locations
Hong Kong

When Anthony Bourdain had a layover in Hong Kong, he visited Hui Lau Shan, a mango focused dessert shop.  I love mango and I love desserts, but watching Anthony Bourdain eat orange goop was NOT appealing to me.  I prefer my mangoes on the tart side, and I assumed that the mango desserts here leaned more ripe and sweet.  Hui Lau Shan was not on my radar, but Miss Rheeee said I had to go.  Since they are all over the city, it wasn’t hard to just stumble across one.

Mango Romance mango sago with chewy balls, mango crystal jelly, mango mochi
We didn’t know what to order and really wanted just a sample of things.  The romance was a perfect way to get just a taste.  What’s sago?  It turned out to be a mango puree with chunks of fresh mango and chewy mochi balls.  Seriously, goop never tasted sooooo good!  It wasn’t over ripened super sweet mangos.  It was tart and well balanced with sweetness.  The crystal jelly was a textural delight for any jelly lover.  A scoop of creamy mango ice cream and more fresh mango only made things better.  While still good, my least favorite was the mango mochi.  It wasn’t as mango-y as the other ones.

Jumbo Mango Pop Pop Set
Following our taste of some mango romance, The Annoyer and I went for an hour junk boat tour around Hong Kong Bay.  It was beautiful and a great way to spend an evening.  Afterwards, we were still craving more mango desserts.  Lucky for us, we stumbled across another Hui Lau Shan that was just by the pier.  The menu was a little different and there was no mango romance here.  They had a selection of these jumbo fish bowl type of dessert sets.  We had the same mango sago, mango ice cream, and fresh mangoes.  The new addition was the “pop pop” which looked like boba but were little balls filled with mango juice that burst in your moth.  Pretty gimmicky but not bad.  I enjoyed this but it was probably too big and too much.

Panfried Radish Cake xo sauce
Pretty mediocre.

Mango Crisp
This was actually kind of interesting.  It tasted like a vanilla semifreddo, being somewhat frozen but not quite frozen like ice cream.  It was covered in ground sesame seeds and topped with mangoes, of course.  It was tasty, but certainly not as good as the main mango dessert options.

Hui Lau Shan is deceptively delicious.  You would never imagine that mango goop could be soooo good.  If you’re a mango lover of any sort, Hui Lau Shan is a must-visit stop.  If you don’t have time to sit for a plated dessert, they have a large array of drinks, smoothies, and to-go options.  It seemed like most people took that option than sitting in the shop itself.  I wish Hui Lau Shan would open up branches in America.  They would be quite successful!

10 – You NEED to eat here (for mango lovers)
9 – Awesome
8 – Very good
7 – Good
6 – OK
5 – Average
4 – Not bad
3 – Not good
2 – Terrible
1 – Do NOT eat here