Hui Lau Shan -- Mangoes, Brain Freeze & One Bee Awaiting the Hereafter…read more
9/7/26 -- Irvine, CA -- 5/5
After Korean BBQ, we arrived at Hui Lau Shan -- pronounced roughly hoy lo sahn in Cantonese -- already stuffed to the structural limits of the human abdomen. Naturally, this seemed like an appropriate time for dessert.
Hui Lau Shan is a Hong Kong-based dessert chain heavily devoted to mango, which is immediately apparent from the display case filled with glossy dessert mannequins identified by little tags like "J3 Pomelo & Mango with Sago." The place knows its constituency. If mango is your religion, this is at minimum a chapel.
The Irvine location itself is remarkably unpretentious: cracked, slightly sticky-looking concrete floors, deafening music that sounded approximately 15 years past its cultural sell-by date, and a youthful crowd containing several people whose legs appeared skinnier than my fingers. I felt less like a customer and more like an archaeological specimen temporarily admitted for observation.
Being the radical nonconformist that I am, I came to a mango dessert shop and ordered the watermelon with coconut jelly. On a hot Irvine day, it was excellent -- cold, clean, refreshing and just sweet enough. 5/5. The little yellow Hui Lau Shan spoon, complete with cheerful fruit-headed mascot, provided an additional level of emotional support I did not know dessert utensils were capable of.
We also had the J3 Pomelo & Mango with Sago, which arrived as mango, pomelo, sago and a scoop of mango ice cream lounging together in a bowl like wealthy relatives at a resort. Also 5/5. Cold enough to initiate a brain freeze, but on this particular evening brain activity had already been reduced considerably by KBBQ, so little was lost.
The ordering system is straightforward: your receipt gives you an order number and server name, and the display samples make choosing fairly idiot-resistant. Ours even identified the J3 and the watermelon dessert clearly enough that no graduate degree in tropical fruit studies was required.
There was, however, one melancholy resident inside the display case: a small bee apparently trapped behind the plastic among the immaculate fake desserts. Outside, Irvine remained warm and prosperous. Inside, mangoes glistened. The young remained young. The bee contemplated mortality.
Los Angeles throws pollution into the atmosphere at rush hour; Hui Lau Shan throws mango into essentially everything else.
A very good dessert stop after an irresponsibly large meal. Especially if you love mango, shaved ice, fruit desserts and the mild humiliation of realizing everyone around you appears young enough to be your intern.
5/5.
If you are a mango lover, you will probably leave happy.
If you are a dying bee trapped behind the dessert display, your evening is developing somewhat differently.
当然。下面是一个更简短、正式、没有幽默成分的中文版本:
许留山 Hui Lau Shan -- Irvine, CA
评分:5/5
在韩国烧烤之后,我们来到许留山吃甜品。这家店以芒果类甜品为主,店内展示了多种甜品模型,点餐方式简单直观。
我们点了西柚芒果西米和西瓜椰果甜品。西柚芒果西米包含芒果、西柚、西米和芒果冰淇淋,口感清爽,甜度适中,芒果味很突出。西瓜椰果也非常适合炎热天气,冰凉爽口,不会过甜。
店内环境现代、休闲,顾客以年轻人为主。服务和出餐流程都很直接,整体体验轻松方便。
如果喜欢芒果、西米、椰果和港式水果甜品,许留山是一个很不错的选择。
5/5,值得再来。