Luk Yu Tea House

there r better options for traditional dim sum in hong kong imo. very average and nothing to write home about hard to order as the menu is in traditional chinese - wanted to order char siew paus but got bread buns instead. wasn't bad the bun was v soft but wasn't what i expected. char siew also too sweet for my liking har gow skin tooooo thick. the siew mai is better also very pricey - c. hkd500 for 5 dim sum dishes for 2 pax for tea time

The food was delicious. However, many of the menus are in Chinese and it is difficult to make reservations. If only this could be improved, I would go again. Looks good.

May2025 Traditional HK style tea house that feels like stepping back in time and has preserved this feel and it menu for many decades From the dishes to the way that it is served much of the way has been preserved and so it offers a unique experience to the diner. One just wishes that they allow more patience and leeway for foreigners as they often treat and serve them differently. The menu is classic and yum cha is often the popular option Service is quick but inconsistent to how you are viewed unfortunately The place of course is wonderfully preserved even after many returns

Upon entering Luk Yu Tea House in Central, the staff immediately directed me upstairs via a door on the side. Once on the second floor, I was simply told to sit anywhere. I was handed a menu that was entirely in Chinese and had no pictures, so be prepared to either know your dishes or use a translation app! When I placed my order, the staff thoughtfully suggested I order less, which I appreciated. While waiting, I noticed that there are stairs leading up to a third floor, and crucially, there is no lift. So, if you're visiting with prams or elderly family members, please be prepared to take the stairs. When the food arrived, I was genuinely shocked by the portion sizes – the dim sums were absolutely huge! I definitely couldn't finish my meal alone. This is definitely a place you should visit with a group of friends or family if you want to try a variety of dishes. The huge portions make it perfect for sharing!

Read about this place and decided to check it out. Traditional set up and well kept. Menu was in traditional Chinese. They have a simple English menu with limited items listed. Overall quality of the dim sum is good and staff were very friendly & helpful. Price is on the higher side.

Came here after hearing about how it's an old school vibey spot for dim sum, and knew that pricing was on the higher side so it wasn't a nasty surprise. The staff were lovely older gentlemen, and the food was good as well. I went on a weekday before the lunch rush, was sat upstairs, and it was very quiet, which was a different feel to the other raucous, rambunctious energy to other dim sum spots (which I prefer actually, so I'd recommend coming during more popular times)

More nostalgia for me since i remember eating here 20 years ago, but the food is just okay. i would say there plenty of similar choices that are much cheaper. but still cool eating in one of the oldest restaurants in HK, according to wikipedia

Traditional dim sum restaurant that brings one back to experience the old world charm of Hong Kong. Limited variety of items on the menu, and sticks to its tried and tested formula used for decades. A must try would be the pork liver siew mai, where the pork liver is steamed to perfection. It was the only item that we liked so much that we ordered double!

I came here while on vacation in Hong Kong and it was kind of a let down for me. Food was average but pricing was extremely high even for Hong Kong standards. I will say my Jasmine tea tasted like it was high quality though! I ordered the shrimp Egg foo young with Sweet and sour pork. I grew up eating these Cantonese style dishes in the US and I felt like they weren't well executed here. My waiter was very attentive while serving me but came across as down right rude and pushy when asking me for a tip at the end of my meal. Hong Kong and China aren't really known for tipping so I was surprised by him asking so bluntly. If I ever came back to HK I would definitely skip this place!

On one hand, I love that Luk Yu Tea House (陸羽茶室) is still around. It is often said that this is the city's oldest operating Dim Sum establishment. It's been renovated several times over but it totally has the antiquated decor and feel, which is a big boost for their overall nostalgic vibe. It's located in Central and gets a steady mix of locals and the occasional (#1) tourists. On the other hand, the food is incredibly mid, at least by Hong Kong standards. There are many items that feel borderline mediocre and some others that are just decent enough. The prices are going to be on the high end and might end up being double the cost of some other nearby local spots. Most smaller dishes would vary between $55-90HKD, but don't be surprised if the more interesting dishes are between $200-300HKD. Premium pricing, but average execution at best. The wait staff is usually made of older men who have been at the place for decades. They're usually a little opinionated and not particularly warm. They are every bit a part of the experience, which is partially why this place has become such a destination. I wouldn't discourage anyone from coming here but I think it's likely more suited toward folks who there for the scene, more than the food. Reservations might be recommended for larger groups. I think getting here at opening time is usually the best course of action for fresher food and fewer people. Cash is always preferred, but consider a credit card for how high the price tag is going to be. __________ (#1) Usually Chinese speaking. Some Canto and a lot of Mando.

Great Hong Kong traditional tea house. Definitely will come back again. Food is delicious. Location is spotted.

This long-running Chinese restaurant with old-fashioned decor was amazeballs. It might not be everyone's cup of tea though. It's pricey and not quite the traditional dishes we usually order at dim sum but WOW they had some amazing dishes with traditional ingredients. The English menu is limited so make sure you go with someone that can read Chinese. The pork liver dumpling was insanely good The sesame bao was good but not my cuppa tea. The shrimp and rice dumpling was well executed with perfect texture. I'd highly recommend this place as a unique but high quality option of the many dim sum restaurants in the city. Taste: **** Service: *** Ambiance: *** ------------------------------ Luk Yu Tea House 24-26 Stanley St, Central, Hong Kong ------------------------------

In 2002, a lone customer in the back finished his meal, paid his check and on his way out, put a single bullet in the back of Harry Lam's head killing him instantly. The gun man then casually left. He was caught in China 2006 and given a death sentence. Google it. Quite a scandal at the time. Luk Yu is purportedly to be the oldest Tea House in Hong Kong. I don't know. It could be. But it's the regular place for quite a few rich folks. The regulars pull up by the chauffeurs and eat at the ground floor. Visitors will be ushered upstairs. The food is actually quite good. Prices are 2-3x normal dim sum prices and the list of dim sum you can order is short; only older traditional stuff. No newfangled dim sum and no English. Ladies use to carry the dim sum around to sell it like the cigarette ladies in old US night clubs. But they have all gotten too old to go up & down the stairs and retired. The waiters (all men) are old and not particularly friendly, unless you are a regular. The wooden chairs are not that comfortable, the spittoons are gone but the bowling water for tea in the large old pots on the floor are still there. All the better tables have "reserved for xxx" on them but I don't know if it's real. Mrs. Wong's table was later occupied by a old guy. Mr. Wong? Anyway, it's like going back in time.

My friend is going to Hong Kong and asked me for suggestions where to eat. I've been to HKg many times on business. Here's one of three places that I think is a must. Luk Yu Tea House for a traditional Chinese breakfast. Yup, it's dim sum. On any given weekday morning, you will be dining with the most powerful C-level men (yes, men) of Hong Kong. I kid you not. Power brokers from business and government are there. It's like the town hall meeting in a donut shop. The food is your typical fare of dim sum. Shu mai, BBQ Pork Bao, Gai lan, and more. The little silver bowl is for you to wash your hands. Service is non-enthusiastic, so don't expect the 5 star treatment. English is barely spoken. So what you might think? It's Crazy Rich Asians in the morning!

Perhaps I came with inflated hopes - but Luk Yu delivered a solidly average dim sum experience in what should be the finest dim sum city. In short, Luk Yu is a good choice for folks looking for interesting and more premium dim sum items; but if you're looking for just good old classics, Luk Yu is not the best option. We arrived around 10AM on a weekday and were relieved to see plenty of seating. This is a classic dim sum spot: no menus, ladies come around with trays of fresh dim sum plates. My main complaint is that it took a while for some of the classic staples (e.g., har gow, shiu mai, etc.) to come around and some simply never came around (e.g. har fun, various puff pastries, etc.). There seemed to be a rotation of particularly premium items I've never seen at a dim sum place before - e.g., dumplings stuffed to the brim with a crab ball and roe. Some were better than others - but I still would've preferred the more basic dim sum classics. I wish we knew the price tag on these more exotic items before picking them (no price tags on anything in this restaurant btw!). For $75USD, we could've eaten a very nice meal elsewhere.

Very traditional dim sum restaurant. Don't come with expectations and you will not be disappointed. The service is non existent until you call on them. If you like this style of service this is the type of restaurant that suits you. If you are looking for a full dining experience where the wait staff waits on you then you will be sorely disappointed. The food overall is not bad but just like the service nothing special given there are other places in the area.

Limited choice, disappointing food quality. Rude service. Treat locals better than visitors. Pricy. Ambient is. Traditional Chinese. Not worth the price or trip. Lots of good restaurants in HK.

I really don't understand why Luk Yu has such bad reviews. I honestly find the dim sum here to be better than the ones at the famous Tim Ho Wan, even with its Michelin star and all. Luk Yu has a much more traditional dim sum house feel. They restaurant has 3 floors and many of the tables are reserved for their regulars. We arrived at 10:30am on a weekday and didn't have to wait. We were told to go to the 2nd floor. The menu on the table is in Chinese but I heard that you can ask for a menu in English. The waiter did mention that they change the items on the menu every so often so you can't just look at past photos. The price is a little steep for dim sum. We ordered 6 items and that came to $428HKD or about $60USD. I honestly don't think it's worth the money but I guess you're paying for the experience at one of the most traditional long-standing dim sum house in town. The best items that we tried were the Har Gow (shrimp dumpling) and the pork spare ribs, The most unique was the bun with a sesame paste with a salted egg yolk in the middle. It's more of a dessert dish so I recommend eating it at the end. Another plus to this restaurant is that they take credit cards.

Typical HK standard restaurant where everyone loves their tea and over priced dim sum. Because my aunt and uncles have been going to this place daily for the past 20+ years, everyone at the restaurant on the floor they go to knows us and are super nice to us. Otherwise, I'd say things are just pretty overpriced for what you get. If I didn't know them / if they weren't nice to me every time I go, I'd probably give this place a 2 or 3 stars - just to be honest here. This place is famous as they still use boiling hot water from a large silver pot to pour extremely high heat temperature into your tea cup. As traditional as you can get from a HK joint.

This has been the worst meal and experience at a restaurant in Hong Kong during my 8 day trip. This place is a pure tourist trap DON'T FALL FOR IT like I did. The service was terrible (I even speak Cantonese), food was bad and totally overpriced. We ordered 5 items and they only brought us out only 4. When we got the bill and told them we never recieved the siu mai, they did offer to bring it out to us but by that time we didn't even want it. 4 items cost us $360 HKD ($46 USD) FOR DIM SUM!!!! That is crazy!!! They charge $33 HKD ($4 USD) for tea. There was 3 of us so $12 USD was just for the tea. I wouldn't mind paying these prices if the food was actually good, which it totally wasn't. I'm from Los Angeles and Chinese so I'm very familiar with dim sum quality. Save yourself time and money and go to Tim Ho Wan!!!

Every guidebook/blog tells you to go to Luk Yu. we had to beg to be seated on the first floor (why j was empty). There were very few choices as it was not busy (yet). The things we did choose were cold and pretty unremarkable. The dining room is nice, and very dated. The service is abrupt. The prices are high. I think the experience would have been much better a little later... when the tea is flowing and the dim sum is hot.. as we were leaving the well-heeled were coming in... I would try this place again... I'm thankful we didn't have to wait in an hour long queue

I was really wanting dimsum that morning but line up waiting for all other restaurants was just too crazy. I ended up thinking about this traditional restaurant that got the attractive look from the historical site. Upon arriving, I ended up walking to the third floor to get seats. The tea price per head was super expensive yet I did not find the tea any tastier. There are funny and traditional decoration every where, which made the high tea price worthwhile for the first time. As the food arrived, I was surprised how ordinary the food taste along with how few options are there. Not that they are terrible, but the could have done a lot better with the shrimp dumplings and making other dishes more remarkable to match it price and traditional ages. After all, good for one visit but will not come again. Not worth the price.

My friend and I came here because we expected good authentic dim sum/yumcha in hong kong. The place looks nice from the outside and inside would be a typical look for a chinese restaurant, so I was surprised that the service and food were horrible! First off, if you don't ask for an english menu, they will not give it to you. They have the chinese menu on the table and you fill out the sheet. The server will not double check your order. I understand that it is typical in HK for diners to clean their own utensils prior to eating and also to bring their own napkins, but at least at other restaurants you can tell that they pre-clean them. We had to ask the other servers to bring a pot of hot water so we can clean our tea cups and utensils. I saw the other servers cleaning the tea cups for other customers, but our server didn't and there was mud on my cup, so I didn't even bother using it. We only ordered 3 types of dim sum because I was already unimpressed and lost my appetite after seeing my dirty tea cup. We got the typical har gow and shu mai, which we thought would be the safest because seriously, how can any chinese person mess that up? I was wrong. Everything was bland. It might even be possible that I can make better chinese food than the chef here. I felt like I paid to eat soy sauce, which they only gave us a dipping sauce plate with a small amount of soy sauce. The har gows (dumpling) had too much noodle and not a lot of filling. I've had better dim sum in the U.S and other asian countries than here. My friend who is chinese was also disappointed. In fact, she was embarassed. I do not recommend this to anyone esp. not to tourists or foreigners. Place is overpriced.

Considered a landmark dim sum destination in HK, apparently the tourist presence has picked up the pace over the years given the price for the quality. The place has a very traditional feel to it and our selection of dim sum was certainly large with some atypical items like the dumpling version of gun tong gau. That and the steamed beef balls were the standouts while everything else was above average. Not a bad place at all on the whole, just not worth the premium.

Most of the dim sum were terrible! The only thing that I'd say is okay was the BBQ pork pastry (char siu so). The dumplings had wrapping that either ripped apart or was too thick. The tea was flavorful with good aftertaste (I recommend the dragon well!), but come on there are tons of other places in HK that serve much better tea. Why did I come here? Well, cos I was in Central and I knew this place was famous and almost historical but I haven't been at all, so I decided that would be my lunch spot with my mom. I called her up and she didn't sound too excited, "Alright, we can eat there, but their food is just so-so." My mom knows that her answer alone will not satisfy my curiosity... haha. I gotta say, being inside the restaurant is like traveling back in time. It's like an isolated piece of land from the bustling, metropolitan, modern HK. I really like their dim sum sheet, the old-style font and paper with a yellowish tint. It's almost like a living museum of HK history. Service was actually good! The servers (mostly older Chinese men) kept filling up our tea pots. I also enjoyed the decor which reminded me of the 1960s of HK, just like how I see in movies and black-and-white photos...However, I still can't get over with the overpriced meal with subpar quality of food. Hence a rating of 3 stars only. It's good to come here once, but just once for the experience. Also if you wanna run into old movie stars or m/billionaires, this could be the place to hang out. It's sad to see a once-so-famous iconic Chinese restaurant serving subpar food. I guess it used to be really good back in the days...

Bad/weird service. Creepy waiter. Felt not totally clean. Very slow service. The food was repulsive. Gristly bits of pork in a blah sauce for the sweet and sour pork - totally nasty. Would never go back, would recommend no one else go there.

Came here straight from the airport to get what I was told would be some really good dim sum. Boy, was I in for a surprise... We were seated and tea was served to us along with several menus (one in Chinese, one with pictures, one in English). As we prepared to order, we noticed that the prices were insane: close to $8 USD for a basic order of Har Gow!? WTF? We figured at that price, the food must be amazing, but we were still wary. We ordered the Har Gow, Siu Mai, and pork buns to share between the 2 of us. We waited nearly 30 minutes before our first dish finally came out. Shortly after, the last 2 dishes came out as well. While the food was decent, it was not nothing spectacular and certainly not worth the outrageous price bump. This especially since the har gow and siu mai only came with 3 pieces each (most places will give you 4). To add insult to injury, we were charged $6 USD per person for tea and then an additional 10% service charge on top of everything. In the end, we paid $30 USD for 3 dim sum dishes and sub-par service. Definitely skip this place and go to Dim Dim Sum or seriously anywhere else in HK.

Walking in here felt like going through a time warp and landing back into 1950's Hong Kong. From the wooden tables to waiters dressed in white suits... everything seemed hand picked from the days of old. We came for dinner and the food was slightly better than average. I liked the pigeon as well as the fried noodles. Didn't notice any of the guai lo bias that others have mentioned but I did dine with two Asian faces.

There are two problems with Luk Yu. 1) Not foreigner friendly. I'm sure this isn't a requirement really, but for me, the fact that there weren't any english or even pictures to order made me rely on a friend who could speak cantonese and my own mandarin just ordering out loud and trial and error if they had anything. (they did not) 2) Variety. Honestly, maybe it was the fact it was CNY week, and a weekday but they didn't have a lot. The Lo Mai Fun, I think, was not in a wrap but served a bowl upside down. While delicious (actually really good) I didn't expect it. The shrimp dumplings were good, with a beautiful thin wrapper. Pro buns were okay. But that's pretty much all I had. Everything else I asked for they seemed to not have or they didn't understand. In all fairness, I may need to give it another try. Its not what I expected, but then again, Dim Sum is such a Western concept that maybe I shouldn't have expected it, and I need to be fair and maybe just order what's on the menu vs what I think should be there. Maybe next time if I had my parents in the place or someone really aggressive sat with us it would be different, but overall, I'd say go to Tim Ho if you want to get a flavor of what you expect.

Shame on Lonely Planet for listing this place as a starred location in their HK guide book. Weary from the long plane ride we came here first thing after landing hoping for a pleasant and relaxing morning dim sum experience. We had suitcases and backpacks and were ushered upstairs and had to lug everything up the staircase. I noticed others wrote that if you are foreign you are forced to sit upstairs. The food was overpriced and average at best. Service was OK but not very friendly. Also there were not a lot of different dim sums being offered. There are much better places that are less expensive in HK. I don't recommend anyone wasting their time and visiting this place.

We came here not for dim sum but for dinner. I am glad we got a chance to check out this historic restaurant in Central HK. Upon entering, I felt like I was thrown back in time at least 80 years (pre WWII HK). It looked as if the servers there were from an earlier time period as well! Perhaps it was their age; perhaps it was their uniforms. There was a little bit of a wait but eventually got a table. There were plenty of empty tables, but they were being used to stack dishes, table linens and utensils. There just wasn't an efficient use of tables, chairs and space. Service was a little relaxed. We got a number of good dishes (see pictures). All were decent but nothing that stood out. I probably would not come back on my own as there are many better dining options in HK.

I was disappointed with the quality of service. I visited this place four years ago. The service quality now is just as bad as my last visit. In term of food, i personally feel that we could get better food with this price.

Only because I was starving at 9am, my friend suggested this place. All other dim sum joints opened at 11am. She said this was where billionaires congregate. It's a staple. Yaddah yaddah yaddah...ok let's try it. First off, there's the typical Chinese service...dry and quick. I asked for an English menu. None received. 15 minutes later I asked the same waiter for it again. He finally retrieved one and apologized for forgetting the first time. Bonus points for an apology... Their siu mai was pretty good. Har gow was a bit bland. Their bamboo wrapped rice was ridiculous! Where's the glutinous rice? It was plain rice grains. Heck..where's the salt? I think the chef must've forgotten the seasonings. It was brown..so they must've added SOMETHING to it! It's a mystery..a conundrum. Don't repeat my mistake. Their saving grace was the egg tarts. Their pastry was perfectly flaky. The filling was light and sweetened just right. I could've eaten a dozen of those in a heartbeat! Their char siu bao was also noteworthy. No matter how good their egg tarts were, the price just was not justifiable. My friend however said he knew a guy who goes there every morning at 6 am, even though they open at 7am. They treat him like a king. They even orders off the menu. Apparently, good service from them required deep pockets and loyalty, neither of which I have.

It is HK's iconic (and historic) dim sum place, but very pricey. The food is good but not for the price. We were eating on the 2nd floor. The 1st floor is booked up by their usual customers who show up every day. We came for the historic reason.

Old-school / established Cantonese place in Central HK. Food is quite average - dim sum and Cantonese dishes are all "ok" - standard good but no standouts. Ambience is quite nice with the historical / old school feels. But for the food, there are just so many other good Cantonese / dim sum places out there that I would skip this one.

I made a visit to this restaurant being that it is, in fact, the oldest dim sum restaurant in HK. Just to sum it up, service was terrible and food was not only poor but OVERPRICED!! 4 items cost was $40 USD and they charged over $4 USD sitting fee per person for tea. Wtf? In total, $50 USD for 2 people. I'd recommend Tim Ho Wan over this place, hands down. Don't waste your time or money here.

Not my first Dim Sum, but maybe my last after this. Just too much uncertainty about what will come out from this place. Ordered only 4 items but 8 items came out to the table. 2 of which only tastes decent. Each item was pretty pricey (You can buy a 5 day SIM card for each dish price). Ended up paying $72 dollars for about three bites of food at 9am. Not a great way to start a day in HK. Service was decent and staff was friendly, but think we were slightly taken advantage because they figured we wouldn't argue the bill.

Traditional Dim Sum place. Food is good, staff are nice. We ordered around 7 dishes for 3 people. Everything tasted great

陸羽 is one of those famous old school yum cha place (dim sum for you non-Chinese speaking folks) in Hong Kong which is more famous for their ridiculously high prices and surly services than the quality of the food. Sitting right smack in the middle of Central it is on some prime piece of real estate commanding astronomically high rent which is partially responsible for the redonkulous a they charge. 陸羽 is from the Tang Dynasty and wrote the first treatise on the art of tea in his 茶經 (book of tea). So as one would expect from the namesake, this place is more concerned with the tea than the food. As tradition goes, the "tea" part is the main attraction and the "dim sum" is secondary. Most of the subtleties of the art of Chinese tea is completely lost to foreigners (and sadly a lot of Chinese people as well, including me), and they are only interested in the food and not the tea. I guess a close parallel is oenophile's enjoyment of wine with haute cuisine, not even the incredible creations of Michelin 3 star chefs are as important what is in the bottle. Food lovers like me put the food first and wine as a manner to enhance the enjoyment of fine cuisine, Luk Yu is an establishment which place the primary focus on the tea. While I am not an expert in Chinese tea, which can get even more fussy than even Japanese Chado (the way of tea, which has a lot of emphasis placed on the ritual and ceremonial aspect), I do know a tiny bit and can appreciate how dim sum can enhance a good tea. The food is crazy expensive, I can not really justify a $50 HK ($6.50 US) spare ribs (Tim Ho Won's 排骨 is $17 and tastier) that is half the size of what is served elsewhere. The $115 ($15) Portuguese chicken rice and baked pork chop rice could be had at cafe de coral for around $30 HK for double the portion size. We ended getting mostly seafood (even more over priced), the jumbo prawns, garoupa (grouper), and the "soft" chow mein were all competently made (all off menu items). This is one of those places where you get surly service even when you are a "regular", though it is "surliness with a smile" instead of being completely ignored. It is different when you are there with a VIP and/or regular, while the dim sum really ain't that great, the tea is superb. It is difficult to give them a fair rating, as I am generally not a fan of rude wait staff, the quality of food is uneven but they do excel at what they advertised themselves as (tea experts), so I am giving them a 3. 清倉令郎聽湯

They probably charge the most for tea in the entire city, and you will probably pay the same price for your dim sum as you would at the Four Seasons or the HK Shangri La, but going to 5-star hotels to yum cha are nothing compare to coming here. This place is a legend! They are in the hall of fame of yum cha! If you are comparing Lin Heung to this place you are comparing the Holiday Inn to the Four Seasons, the food the service the deco are way far off. Not to mention the chaos and the noisiness of Lin Heung (蓮香).... If you are looking for affordable food this is not for you, go to 稻香, 新光 or other local chains of that sort. If you are looking for 5-star service where your server wait on you from head to toe this is not for you either - well unless you are one of the regulars or the rich and famous - and as a matter of fact, the rich and famous are their regulars. While the bosses are drinking tea inside, their chauffeurs are waiting outside. So why are all the hypes about Luk Yu? Well, other than it's a legend, it's also a piece of history of HK and the history of tea houses in Southern China. From the way tea is served - NOT in a teapot, to how dim sum is sold - those ladies carry them on a big trays over their shoulders, they are all still how it was 50 years ago. So if you are interested in food history or if you are into archaeology, it's way worth the $$$ bills to spend a morning here. A piece of advice: seat on the ground floor to see the crowd and order your dim sum from the list. Or seat on the 2nd or the 3rd floor to enjoy the tranquility of the big city and sip your tea slowly, of course you get to see the ladies carry the dim sum on a tray over their shoulder, and you may find the Chief Secretary of HK or the CEO of HSBC sitting right next to you.

Okay, while I'm no expert with regard to dim sum, I've had my fair share here in Hong Kong and across Mainland China. While Luk Yu may be authentic as other reviews have stated, I'll be bold enough to claim that authenticity doesn't necessarily equate to quality or affordability. Needless to say, my experience was a bit off. Star 1: How were the service and atmosphere? I will say, as others have, that the atmosphere is a good one. This really is a step back in time to a colonial period of sipping tea with a newspaper in hand, and I like that. There's abundant seating and your standard rotation of dim sum bites pacing around. Even if you don't speak the language, pointing and some minimal english is enough to get by. Star Granted. Star 2: How were the portions relative to the cost? So here's my first issue. I had tea, one small dessert pasty, and three dim sum dishes, and my card was stamped as such. My bill? Over 320 HK$. What? Surely that can't be correct. I protested, but received a blank stare in response, and I honestly am still of the opinion that I may have been ripped off for not speaking the language. Surely not though right? Either way, this was not even close to 320 HK$ worth of food. No Star Granted. Stars 3 and 4: How was the food? Good? Yes, although not of the higher end quality that you'll find at nearby Din Tai Fung. There were some bones in some of the dishes and quite a bit of fat in others, and while I was there for a good hour and twenty minutes, there were never any classic pork soup dim sum pieces offered, which I found strange. Either way, it was just okay, although I very much liked the tea. Single Star Granted. Star 5: Would you eat here every day if you could? Come for a historical experience, but eat elsewhere. No Star Granted.

Ordered the peach crepes, lotus leaf sticky rice and the rest I couldn't even remember since it all tasted bland. Overpriced for the quality you get. The lotus sticky rice wasn't even sticky - I had a much better experience at Lin Heung Tea house down the street!

Luk Yu Tea House is a quintessential dim sum house and in my opinion, one of the most authentic Cantonese dining experiences you can have. Open since the 1930s, Luk Yu is one of the of the oldest tea houses on the island, the decor takes you back at least fifty years with its colonial fittings - stained glass, detailed paneling and romantic ceiling fans are abundant. Even the waiters' uniforms are nostalgic - crisp white jackets with mandarin collars.Then there's the fact that a businessman was assassinated by triads here in 2002. Sure it's a bit creepy, but it certainly adds to the history of the place. The service is brash but again, this is part of the charm. However, when you make a booking, make sure you insist on a downstairs table - there is a tendency to shove foreigners upstairs when the street level dining room is the best place to eat. The dishes are traditional - steamed BBQ pork buns, har gaow (shrimp dumplings), rice in lotus leaves. duck meat pies and roasted pigeon. The dumplings are plump and sizable so it's easy to over order, but you should go ahead anyway. It's all wholesome and delicious and the price is pretty reasonable for the Central location. My bills generally amount to $200 per person for lunch. The dimsum is available right up into the afternoon (5.30pm) and it's always busy - booking advised.

Luk Yu was the name of the tea connoisseur in ancient China. This tea house was supposed to represent the quintessential experience of tea drinking and dim sum. So I brought my American husband here to try it out. The dim sum was so-so and the tea was so water-downed it tasted nothing. The prices were crazy high $54 (US$7) for a basic dim sum dish, which normally is US$3 in a regular dim sum place. The dim sum were cold, not steaming hot so they must have been sitting in the kitchen for a while. The server was very friendly and nice he poured tea for us. Overall it was for touristy experience not for those who long for delicious dim sum.

First time having average dimsum in Hong Kong. This place is better than most dimsums in LA, but doesn't compare to the others - One Harbour Road, Fulam, etc. The decor is was really traditional, and tea was super expensive. Come and check this place out if you want to experience historic dimsum, otherwise your not really missing out.

I'm so disappointed in Lonely Planet for having this place as their top choice. The food was so mediocre and the service was below average. Way too overpriced as well. You're better off eating street food.

I just loved this place. It was the first place I ate at when I arrived in Hong Kong. Wish I had time to go back when I was there. The dumplings are sooo good! But the menu doesn't have English and there are no pictures on the menu. Go with a native of Hong Kong.

Was at this place for dinner which involved ordering from a menu which was quite eclectic and difficult to understand. The food was well prepared but I think we would have been able to do better with local help assisting the ordering. The restaurant has been well known for decades for it's Dim Sum. In the evening this menu is not available and I would definitely recommend visiting for lunch not dinner.

This gets one star because there isn't an option for zero or negative. Food is mediocre and way over priced. Just to give you a sense, tea was 30hkd per person. We're talking watered down oolong tea. This is a tourist trap. Stay away.

Food is ok...not great. It took them a while to take our order while other tables received more attentive services. We felt like second class citizens since we were not regulars and were treated differently. This place, in my opinion, is a one-time deal.

This may be the place to be seen if you are rich and famous or a regular. However, as a first and last time visitor, I have to say this place is old, dirty, and ghetto. Not sure what all the rage is about. The tables are greasy, the seats are uncomfortable, the servers are snotty and rude. Also, spouse got massive food poisoning from their prized half cooked chicken. 7 days of living inside the bathroom. Food is not good at all, well besides serving raw chicken, their other stuff is not even good compared to street food. Go at your own risk, if you like to pretend to be a "somebody".

another historic tea house. giving you the real sense of yum cha, drinking tea, reading the newspaper and snacking on dim sum bites brought too you instead of the chaos of lin heung.