The food was surprisingly tasteless and poor quality. The seafood soup had calamari that were so tough that, despite my love for them, I couldn't chew them at all. My friends ordered the same dish, but one of theirs came out bland and without any sauce. The waiter's explanation was that they have two chefs... and so what? The service was awful. I don't mind when staff don't speak English well, but not to the point where she couldn't understand us and we could barely understand her. She was rude, pointing her finger at each person's face while speaking. And yes, at the end, she demanded a tip. When we explained why we weren't going to leave one, we had to listen to a long lecture--in very hard-to-understand English--about how "not nice" we are. Stay away from this place! I think the restaurant survives only because people like us don't check reviews before coming in. Never again. This is the first time in my life I didn't leave a tip. read more

I think still a solid 4 star for this place, after visiting here many times. Street parking can be hard to find around this area, you are better off finding a parking garage or taking public transportation. The waiters are nice and friendly, but they will give you opinions if you order too much/think you should order something else. Big menu and lots of options. Food is served pretty fast. It's one of the few Chinese food options for this area. They open at 12 pm. There are some other Chinese places that open earlier, and I sometimes go to the other ones because of the hours. read more

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This place is fun, 1st floor functions as a restraunt and 2nd floor is a karaoke bar open until 2am most days. Food does close at 11pm so beware of that. I've come in the past where you can order takeout from the restaurant and eat it upstairs at the bar. When we most recently came the kitchen had closed which was a bummer but we got a drink and enjoyed the "singing". The maitai was good. I've also gotten the scorpio bowl in the past which I liked. It's a fun vibe and right in Harvard Sq, so a mix of locals and college students. read more

Hong Kong Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

The service is quick and you'll get your order pretty fast. The food is okay-ish. Nothing special but also not terrible. The Wonton soup is pretty good. The place is in a need of renovation though. One can definitely see that the place has been here for a long time. At times the vibe can be something in between cozy and creepy. read more

I can't review the food here because I've never had it. I come here regularly for karaoke upstairs. I had my 45th birthday party here and the doorman McDaddy was substituting for the usual karaoke guy and he was fantastic. There is nothing high-end or fancy about this place, but it is so fun to sing karaoke and have scorpion bowls with your friends and strangers. People are so happy when they are singing badly lol. read more

The service we received was great, I wish I could recall the ladies name but she was friendly. It wasn't to crowded that night so we received our food fairly fast, it was fresh. The drinks were great nice and strong. My only complaint is that the rice had way to many what I assumed was frozen peas and carrots. Don't get me wrong the rice was delicious I just picked out a few of the veggies then it was fine read more

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The food was disgusting. The riced )(Shrimp fried ) was dry and had the mouth feel of what you would imagine cardboard felt like if you were chewing it. The chicken teriyaki hard a very hard exterior and was bone dry inside. The only descent thing was the bok choy. My daughter had chicken fingers they were ok and she had the house rice, which was better than the shrimp fried rice. She also had steamed vegetables it's kinda hard to mess those up. I wasted $80.00 NEVER AGAIN! I've lived in Cambridge all my life, ate at Hong Kong regularly years ago, but Never Again. I wouldn't give their food to my dogs. There isn't that much sauce in the world to help this crap! read more

Please listen to other reviews. Heard that this restaurant has been here for a long time so decided to give it a try. The establishment condition suggests so. For food wise, it doesn't live up to the expectation of the long time legacy. Fried rice is not really fully cooked, hard and salty. Chicken finger is simply plain chicken & fried in a big batter. Fried wing is the best one among all. Do not expect service but expect to bring cash. Overall it's a big disappointment given the price and taste, especially when you can cook much better food yourself at home. read more

Great food , service and ambiance . Always a stop for us in Boston . Chicken wings w lemon are a fond memory , beef chow foon and special lobster . read more

Hong Kong Restaurant - Lobster with Ginger and Scallion- amazing !! - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

This place is like an old friend, who has let themselves go, and you hate to see it. You want them to do better for themselves so badly but it's like they just don't care anymore. The food is just inedible. I would be totally ok, even glad, if this was basic greasy Chinese-American food, like a throwback to the 1990s style of chinese takout places. But this isn't even that. I ordered basic chicken broccoli, and the chicken was rubbery, and stiff, to the point of inedible. Like my stomach wouldn't even let me swallow when I bit into the chicken. I really really hope that they will recognize the situation, and get someone in the kitchen who can fix the situation. Even give the main dining room a face lift. I guess they own the building and maybe make most of their money from the bar upstairs on weekends or somethings, otherwise I can't really figure out why they just don't care and have let it go so down hill. I was in there on what should have been an extremely busy lunch rush time, but it was dead empty. I really hope if they see this, they will take it to heart, shut down for a month, reset, and fix the problem. There are so many very good chinese options now in central square, that there's no reason for this place to even exist as is. read more

So if I could 3.5 I would vs 4 as certain food items were better than others making it a solid 3.5 vs 4. Salt and Pepper Shrimp was a dish I'd recommend (4), Lo Mein 3.5, General Tso's (3.5), Fried Rice served with combination meals needed more egg and lacked peas and carrots (might be different if ordered as a dish). (3.5) The spring roll was crispy and the duck sauce served was great (4), wonton soup pictured had great dumplings but broth could have used more seasoning, was bland. The service was great and the restaurant itself was a typical college town basic booths and tables. read more

Hong Kong Restaurant - Wonton Soup - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

This is my go to spot in Harvard Square. I highly recommend the food is delicious. You will not regret it. The service is amazing and the environment inside is just as amazing. The staff are wonderful. You will not regret it. read more

Pretty good for a late night meal or possibly the start of a night out. The food is your standard american Chinese food, but it's pretty good for what it is. I think the availability of better versions of the same thing in Cambridge dulls the appeal a little, but if you're constrained to Harvard square it's a great choice. The drinks are mostly meh but the scorpion bowls are a blast (and a kick in the kidney) if you are with a group. I think the main appeal of this place is as part of a night out, either to their internal karaoke or as a pre game (heavy drinks) or post game (greasy food). Service is nice and location is great for Harvard. Prices are reasonable, maybe a bit higher than you'd expect for the food quality alone. read more

Hong Kong Restaurant - Menu - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Don't get this, I was expecting some brown normal wings. Tell me if I'm bugging. Everything else is straight I guess. Once you f*** chicken up I'm all set lol read more

Hong Kong Restaurant - Idk why the wings are white but it threw me off - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Hong Kong does somethings better than others. Their appetizers were good. i got the wings were good, the egg roll was also good and boneless spareribs were okay. I ordered extra duck sauce and their duck sauce is great . I got the pork lomein okay not outstanding and i got the sesame shrimp which is was good over fried and i did not finish it. in the future i th ink this restaurant excells in the basic standard American Chinese food . The next time i have people over to watch a game i will order the appetizes from them read more

Food was good and service was completely acceptable. But when we got our check back, the server automatically added a 20% tip to our bill and did not provide a pen to change anything. And even more, later they bring another check suggesting further tips using the past 20% tip total as the base price of the meal. Someone could easily be tricked into tipping twice and although the experience was great, no restaurant should ever scan their customers like this. read more

Hong Kong Restaurant - a credit card and receipt on a table - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Great food! Just wish that their online menu on Yelp would be more specific on what comes with each meal. I just assumed that orange chicken for the price of $13 would come with rice, but it didn't. So I had to order a small pint of rice for an additional ~$3. But honestly, for the price of the orange chicken, it was well justified because the portion is humongous, and I ate it for lunch and dinner for the next three days. read more

So who knew that Harvard students liked to get down at a Hong Kong restaurant - turned nightclub at night? I can only vouch for the night life at this restaurant, but it was a pretty cool place! I came here with friends on a Friday night visiting Boston from California. I never saw the restaurant since right when we entered, we walked up the stairs to the second floor bar area. Maybe that was the restaurant, but there were too many bodies and the bar really stood out to me. After hanging out there for a bit, we walked up the stairs to the third floor where there was a $5 cover to get to the dance floor. My friend's boyfriend was really nice and covered me (since I never carry cash, millennial women mindset) and got in after waiting at the staircase. The third floor was pretty dark with just the lasers shooting around the dance floor. Immediately, the 90s/early 2000's top hits were playing and it was a good time all around! There was also a little bar in the corner back to get reasonably priced drinks, but it's nothing like your typical bar/club drinks so low expectations. The DJ that night really knew how to hype up the crowd and even gave a shout out to my friend for her birthday (it wasn't her birthday). So if you're in the area on a Friday night with nothing to do at Harvard Square, see what's happening here! Maybe you'll get the DJ playing the top hits from '00s! read more

Hong Kong Restaurant - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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I had went during a Tuesday afternoon while it was slow and the waitress was very rude. She tried to make it seem like I was crazy when i told her my order was wrong. It was just one thing but she made it bigger than it was. On top of that, she pushed us into tipping her more (as if we HAD to). The whole vibe of the restaurant was very weird .. and there was only one bathroom that people were in and out of so there was a wait for that .. definitely not worth the money! never coming here again. read more

A solid 4 star option, perfect for classic Chinese fast food. Note pre-COVID they used to be open until 2AM, but recently they are only open until 8PM (Sun-Wed), 10 PM (Thurs), and 11PM (Fri-Sat). Food I've tried: (* = my favorite) - Purely flavor wise, the food is very standard and always consistent. For the price, there are very generous portions. - SCALLION PANCAKES* ($7.25): very standard scallion pancakes which are perfectly delicious. Paired with the sweet soy sauce, it is a crowd favorite. - MA PO TOFU ($11.25): note rice is not included and must be ordered separately. Good balance of sweetness with the spicy of the chili oil. Generous particles of beef. - PAD THAI ($10.50): standard pad thai - it is sweet, but not overly so. - DRUNKEN NOODLES ($10.50): standard drunken noodles, the sweetness is nicely balanced by a mild spiciness. - SINGAPORE THIN RICE NOODLES ($10.50): thin rice noodles sauteed in curry sauce with a generous portion of meats. - LO MEIN NOODLES ($9.25): again, very standard lo mein noodles with overall good balance of flavors. - SCORPION BOWL (~$17): how can you come here and not get the scorpion bowl? It is a large bowl full of alcohol and other sugary concoctions, meant to be shared at the table using long straws. Due to the sugar, it is difficult to taste the alcohol content - but it is stronger than you may think. Flavor wise, it tastes mostly like pineapple. Atmosphere: - PreCOVID this restaurant used to be a popular joint for the local Harvard students, and would be very busy especially weekend evenings. This time, I noticed that the restaurant was very empty. - There is a club/dance floor on the upper floors, but I have personally not visited. Service: - Pretty standard service, food comes out relatively fast. Overall: - A classic staple of Harvard Square especially for late night eats. Great portion for price. read more

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We ordered shrimp and Lobster sauce. When It arrived it was a dark brown sauce with pork in it. My fiancé is allergic to pork so we asked if we could order something else. The waitress was insistent we order shrimp and lobster sauce and eventually told us we should keep the egg roll and she brought us two chicken wings and charged $11.95 for two wings and an egg roll. Never had given anybody such a poor review but this is not what we expected. Only after complaining and a redo of the bill the final still came to $21.17 for two. Be careful! read more

Hong Kong is 3 stories tall in total. The first floor is the restaurant, the second floor is the karaoke bar, and the third floor is the club. This review will only be for the karaoke bar since that's the only area we checked out. I came here with a group of friends for a chill night to celebrate my friend's birthday. The bar area is pretty cool and it's a very casual environment. They have pretty of tables and bar seating and the roof is decorated with multiple colored Christmas lights. They are well known here for their cheap and big scorpion balls which are very tasty! I asked the bartender what'sin it and apparently it's a family recipe so so even the employees don't know what exactly inside. One scorpion bowl is roughly the size of 4-5 mixed drinks and it took 5 people to finish one so it's worth the $17! The karaoke bar is awesome! You can request a song and then sing along by yourself or with friends. By the end of the night, the crowd was really getting into it and we were just singing along to everything. Top songs of the night included Don't Stop Believing, Ice Ice Baby, Gangsta's paradise, and YMCA. Their microphone and speaker system is excellent. This place is awesome if you're just looking for a chill night with a large group of friends! read more

I've never been here during the day, and probably for the best. This is a late night place, the type that you go to after a night out. And for this purpose, it's perfect. I always have a good time at Kong. Come here after 11pm on a weekend and it's a vibe. I can't speak to the upper floors, but the ground floor is typically packed with students having a good time. If you're trying to have a good time as well, do this: order some Scallion Pancakes, maybe a couple entrees or two (I like the combination plates. If you want a good entree, get the fisherman's fury). Note: the food is greasy Americanized Chinese food, but for the right purpose, it's perfect. On top of this, make sure you get a scorpion bowl or two. Those can hit you pretty hard -- it's a good deal. Do all the above, and you'll have yourself the perfect end to a night at Kong. read more

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Soso spicy food for Kong Bao Chicken Force people to tips with average service Unless you are absolutely hungry for Asian foods read more

This place is even better than it was 10 years ago and that's hard to believe because it was already solidly positioned amongst college students! What makes this place awesome are: 1/ Food is EXTREMELY cheap and in huge portions - their dinner menu items are literally $10 and come in heaping portions with a side and rice. I really couldn't believe how affordable the food is. The menu is also ginormous so there's a little something for everyone. 2/ The drinks are really good, strong, and cheap just like the food! Their scorpion bowls (now made covid friendly) and spiked lemonade drink are excellent. 3/ The service is also great and personalized. I showed up to the dinner in a really bad mood but my server cheered me up and recommended some great drinks that made me feel a ton better! read more

Based on the food quality, I'll give 2 stars. I put 3 stars here because I was actually in a rush (I did not tell them) and I got my order really fast, really really fast. Now let's talk about the food. The restaurant name is "Hong Kong" but they don't serve Cantonese food... I was really disappointed when I saw the menu, but I feel bad leaving the restaurant without ordering anything. They don't even have Hong Kong style milk tea... I ordered the pork lo mein. On their Chinese menu, they used the word "char siu" rather than "pork", so I was expect to get some Cantonese style char siu. When I get my order, I didn't not find the actual char siu, but instead, there's pork with artificial red color on the skin. The lo mein itself is also a bit salty. The service is fast but the service quality is bad. Anyway I would never come back. read more

Hong Kong is definitely the place to go to when you are drunk and feel like you want fake Chinese food that is just loaded with sauce. It's the typical Americanized Chinese restaurant. Nothing too special. The prices are reasonable for the amount they give you. It's a good thing they close late at night because that is when I crave fake Chinese food. If you stop by, crab rangoons, scallion pancakes, and the noodles are safe. read more

Decent but expensive drinks, usually overcrowded, don't bother with Karaoke unless you want to pay $30+ to even have a shot of singing that night... talk about extortion read more

The best Chinese cuisine in the Boston area, period. I've been a loyal customer for almost 25 years. Hundreds of meals later, I've never had a bad experience at the Hong Kong. The wait staff, especially Sandy, are never less than wonderful, and the family, for whom the restaurant has been their pride for almost seventy years, are a joy to talk with and support. Harvard Square has changed plenty over the years. It truly wouldn't be the same without the Hong Kong. read more

Very cozy, clean and authentic restaurant. The food is very fresh and so delicious. It seems like everything is prepared fresh, like homemade. I loved hot and sour soup. Dumplings are amazing and the portion is good for 2 (if taken as an appetizer). Moo Shi is huge and sooooo good!!! Personal is nice. Prices are very reasonable. You can't leave this place hungry read more

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My review is about the BAR only. The drinks (scorpion bowl, vodka soda) taste amazing but are surprisingly STRONG!!! More alcohol than you may expect, but amazing taste. Drink slowly and you will have a great night! read more

The food sucked! I walked In and I was hungry and it smelled delicious. That sure fooled me because when our food came it tasted bad! It tasted like it was days old food. I only ate a few spoons and told them to take it away. Me and my friend joked that they will probably re-plate this food.The staff were friendly though so that's a plus. I'm going to guess that people only come here for the drinks and the bar on the second and third floor. It was "okay". The DJ needs to stick with music in today's age there is so much to choose from and to work into a smooth music transition so that you don't lose your momentum. read more

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I only get one thing here, and that's an order of their pan-fried pork dumplings ($6.95). I've tried a couple of other different dishes on their menu and they are pretty much your standard run-of-the-mill greasy salty American-Chinese food. Their pork dumplings, on the other hand, are something else entirely. The plate comes with six massive, heavily fried dumplings with thick, chewy, skin and stuffed with a ball of meat in the middle. Trust me, these dumplings are delicious and humongous. I can easily split an order between two people. The dipping sauce is key - a complex mixture of soy sauce with some spice and sweetness that I can't quite place, but perfectly complements the juicy meat of the dumplings. This is perfect late night drunk food, and luckily the Kong is open until late most nights. Pan fried pork dumplings: 4.5/5 All other food: 2.5/5 Some of my friends like to come here for their scorpion bowls, which look impressive with the big bowl and the long straws. Sometimes they even come with little plastic monkeys on the side. However, I would recommend against getting a scorpion bowl since I don't think it's worth the price ($8 per person). It is mostly just juice and ice. Service is decent, and the waiters are pretty nice. The Kong also has a club upstairs (which I have never been to) but I heard it is kind of sketchy. I've stayed away from it. read more

Hong Kong Restaurant - The biggest, most delicious pan fried pork dumplings ($6.95) - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

It was my first time going to this restuarant because I've heard good things about it from friends that live nearby and they were not entirely wrong but something happened that makes me never want to come back. I literally created a yelp just for this. I never write reviews but this one takes the cake. TO SUM IT ALL UP, mediocre food, sh*tty service AND they want you to tip more than 30% or they will cause a scene and MAYBE not want you to leave. More details below. The food was great and the price was a bit much but still reasonable for the quantity that they give you. Everything seemed okay but the staff members were a bit rude but I thought maybe they are simply tired and had quite a day so I ignored it. Unfortunately, the one thing that shocked me the most, and is the reason why I will never visit this restuarant again, is that I decided to give a tip that was fairly generous. But little did I know that it was not enough for the waitress. The waitress DEMANDED that I give her more money than I generously offered as a tip and would not let me leave unless I gave up more. She caused a scene so I gave her whatever satisfied her and left because I was short on time and did not deal want to deal with it. read more

I have lived in China so my standards are high .... But to those who complain: This is SIMPLE no-frills American Chinese food and pretty cheap. And that's what you get when you order, just for expectations management. This is not the overhyped type like at the Dumpling place with its loooong lines. Food is fresh, I recommend their bok choi (huge portion of veggies, to be shared!), spicy wontons and fried chow foon. Waitresses are very friendly to us (because we are friendly to them - some people are just arrogant jerks and the waitresses are middle aged Chinese ladies who bring out the food quickly) and I also like their patio seats on nice summer evenings which is fun because you hear the (often pretty bad) karaoke - we find it very entertaining. Could use a little more veggie in the dishes though but that's why I order the bok Choi. They accommodate requests - like my no salt requests. Portions are quite big - I recommend getting a main course plus a starter plus one big veggie as side for 2 if you are not super hungry. read more

Generous portions. Fresh dishes. Recommend. On a take out mistake -easy fix from staff.

Good restaurant and nice food. However the service isn't very good. They also try to force you to put a tip amount of their choosing. Tipping is optional and you give it when you believe service was good. So when I left 15% they were saying I had to give at least 18% and the women got upset and angry. I ended up leaving 0% because it's up to the costumer to choose what percent of tip they give. Not the employee. read more

Passable but lower end run of the mill American-Chinese food. Staff a wide-ranging mix from polite to entirely unprofessional and rude to customers. An older gentleman who seems to be the owner is quite professional and pleasant but a younger middle aged guy is very rude, unhelpful, and acts as if he does not want your business. Treats regular customers badly, not even bothering to look at them when interacting, speaking nastily, and is more concerned with playing on his phone. As a regular customer over 3 years I've now had multiple bad experiences with the latter guy and other staff, particularly over the past year. Having worked for over a decade in a customer service business I gave them the benefit of the doubt but eventually multiple very poor experiences with a business is enough. The second manager should not be in a position to interact with customers because he is completely incapable of doing so professionally or even with the bare minimum of normal mutual courtesy. The restaurant more recently has declined. It even has started to gouge even for extra soy or dipping sauces, which they do not give much of to begin with, trying to gauge the majority of their clientele, Harvard undergraduates. There are far better Chinese places with much better quality food who deserve the business. read more

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The restaurant service and food was fantastic. However, we decided to check out the upstairs bar for karaoke night. The bouncer, NED, was a nightmare. To put it in perspective, we are Harvard parents who had friends in town. We were obviously not there to cause any problems. To start, NED would not allow my 22 year old son in law in the small bar, because he is British, and would not accept his ID card. He demanded a hard copy of his passport. He does not typically carry his passport around so he had to go home. NED then proceeded to harass our group for no reason at all. We tried to take a picture with the Fireball bar mat, because a close friend of ours died unexpectedly last week, and we were toasting her favorite drink. NED abandoned his post and took the sign from us. He had an attitude as if we had vandalized the property. There were 6 of us. He stared us down for all 3 hours we were there. One of our friends was standing up on the foot rest of her chair, to have a better view of the dance floor, and NED randomly came over, grabbed her arm, and said, "we don't pay medical bills here." It was bizarre, but she sat down, dumbfounded by the strange comment. A few minutes later my wife proceeded to the dance floor and stood on a stool, that was placed in the middle of the dance floor, and NED grabbed her arm and said, "if you get on there again, I will escort you out." She firmly informed him that she was not at all worried about him and advised him to stop putting his hands on 50 something year old women. After that, he made his way back over to our table and started to clear our full drinks! He picked up my beer and started to walk away with it. I told him that I was not done with it and to put it down and leave us alone. He set it down, made a crazy, angry face and started clearing more of our drinks. I told him to get away from our table. Also, at one point, he was drinking liquor in a rocks glass and was asleep in the doorway. I have no idea what this guy's problem was or why he was targeting us. Maybe he was drunk on the job. I am a former bartender, and bar manager, and by no means a complainer, unless it is warranted, but this was absolutely over the top, rude, scary, unprofessional, uncomfortable, unnecessary and weird. We informed the manager, Jeffery, and the bartender, who informed us that there have been many complaints about NED. He tried very hard to ruin the night and acted like a very dangerous person. We would love to return to the bar, but we certainly will not until they can get the insane bouncer under control or, better yet, get rid of him. He is not the type of person that should be in a position to feel a sense of power. Someone will get hurt. We will forbid our daughter, and her Harvard friends, to go there as he clearly is abusive, especially, women. The food and service at the Hong Kong restaurant, downstairs, was perfect. I wish the review was not associated with them, but that is how it is set up. NED is lucky that we did not retaliate or file a police report. All bar patrons should avoid this monster. read more

Hong Kong Restaurant - Drinking on job and asleep between episodes of harrassing us. - Chinese Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Its not Chinese food, I'm Chinese and hated it Everything is so sweet, I ordered Dun Dun noodles and it is so sweet and spicy which is not supposed to be. At last the waitress demanded me to tip the highest tip percent which feels like a scam to me. read more