Hei La Moon

I’ve been to plenty dim sum restaurants and this was a disappointment. We didn’t get to order much food besides the basics because the waiter completely forgot about us. We asked several times for specific food items and they never came back. We had maybe 4 – 5 dim sum plates from the carts and then waited 15 minutes for nothing else. Even though a lot of the reviews said this place was good, I would’ve thought otherwise. I probably won’t come back.

They didn’t have 虾饺 when we went! :(What kind of places doesn’t have shrimp dumpings by the cartload? I’m absolutely heartbroken!
Okay, it’s actually not as devastating as I’m making the scenario sound. However, I am annoyed that when we were ordering from the cart, we specifically asked for 虾饺, and for whatever reason, the waitress plopped down a plate of 菜肉饺 instead. We didn’t realize this initially because they were wrapped identically to 虾饺, and it was only after she left that someone tried a bite and discovered the discrepancy. It was only later that another waitress told us they didn’t have any 虾饺. I mean, I guess it’s not the worst if you don’t offer a certain dim sum dish, but don’t just try to pass off something else that clearly isn’t what it is! This was the only black mark as far as I’m concerned.
Otherwise, they do have a really good selection of dim sum in which my group partook, although we sometimes had difficulty flagging down carts. About halfway through our meal, I just started walking up to carts with our stamp sheet because I got tired of waiting for them to hopefully-​maybe-​but-​possibly-​not stop at our table.
Quality and flavor are solid (I’m especially enthused by the fried 肠粉， 萝卜糕, and 流沙包). It’s not my preferred shop for dim sum, but it’ll satisfy any craving that I have.

It’s good. There’s a ton of seating (2 levels) so you shouldn’t be waiting too long for a seat unless it’s a holiday. Food is good, plan to be at this dimsum place for awhile because there are only so many carts that come around. And sometimes they run out pretty quick! Place is a madhouse sometimes, so it might be easier to order from one of the waiters and he will grab them for you.
Aside from that, this is my go-​to spot for dim sum. I always get the shrimp dumpling, shumai, and daikon radish cake. Don’t be scared to try different things, dim sum is like little tapas so if you don’t like it them… at least you tried it!

This used to be our go-​to dim sum place, but after having two pretty bad experiences, we are done.
Food was ok, but they put us in the corner where no carts come by. We had to get up and walk past several tables in order to get anything.
They used to validate parking during the week, but don’t any longer, so returning to our car with a $ 35 parking fee kind of sucks. It’s Boston, though, so not wholly unexpected.
All in all, no longer the amazing experience we had in the past.

Hei La Moon is a solid dim sum joint. The service is surly, but FAST and I appreciate the mildly Americanized flavors and some authentic options available here (based on what I ate when actually in China.) At any rate, I’ve noticed a majority Chinese dining population on each of my visits, so that can’t be a bad thing. The place is gigantic, so it’s a nice place to go with a large group of people with no reservations.
Arriving during a weekend lunch time is the best option for fresh cart dim sum. Wave down the ladies and take a peak at the offering. Unless you have reasonable Chinese communication skills (I don’t know which dialect the servers at this establishment speak) I don’t recommend going for dim sum if you have any dietary restrictions. There is a fair chance you will end up eating beef or pork. However, it IS possible to just stick to seafood options. The steamed pork buns are AMAZING here — 5 star pork buns. The basic shumai is also delicious.
They have an English menu and during off peak times do steamed dim sum only to order. We’ve had some basic American Chinese fare (fried rice with vegetables) and a chicken and broccoli dish. All was good. On one visit we saw a tourist group of 12+ getting the steamed lobsters. Looked crazy.
Sanitation is pretty lacking. The bathroom was kind of horrifying, and don’t look at the floor, trust me. If something falls down there, just leave it to crawl away in a few weeks. This doesn’t usually sway me from a good meal, and my stomach has never protested post-​eating here, so good to go!

They have Kimchee Siu Mai!!! I have eaten my fair share of dim sum over the years and have never seen this before. It was delicious. For those that are unfamiliar, Siu Mai is a noodle-​wrapped pork dumpling that is a classic dim sum dish. The Kimchee added a spicy kick to balance out the super-​meaty flavor that you usually get with Siu Mai. Both my friend and I ranked it as a top favorite.
I have noticed that Hei La Moon has some of the most unique dim sum options. I have ordered a chilled tapioca and watermelon soup in the past, which was light and refreshing. Keep an eye out for the cart with the large watermelon!

DIM SUM REVIEW ONLY:
Stopped by on a busy Saturday noon to have some oldie but goodie dim sum dishes. The good news is there was absolutely no wait. We were instantly scooted into the downstairs seating area and seated within minutes.
We opted for the usual items — har gow, fried rice noodles, shumai, fish balls, pork buns, sticky rice with chicken and taro shrimp. All tasted as good as to be expected with the exception of the taro shrimp. Way too much crispy taro exterior, not enough shrimp filling and it was served a bit cold.
They could’ve also offered a few more options but they still had all the dim sum staples so it did the trick.
TIP: They do validate for parking but you have to prepay inside and take the ticket back to your car to get out.

Oof. I so much wanted to give this place the benefit of the doubt because there was so much promise as we walked in. Large room with great ambiance and the feel of a hustling and bustling dim sum restaurant, but alas, it crashed on so many levels.
Service… yeah I know, Asian places are pretty terrible but this place was bad it stuck out like a sore thumb. We had to flag down waiters and waitresses every time we wanted anything… like literally walk up to them and get their attention. The man I presume to be the owner ignored us when we walked up to him and asked a question and just glared at us as we left. We didn’t do anything obnoxious. The carts wouldn’t come to our table unless we waived at them.
Food… was nothing to talk about. They don’t have fish slice congee. Their shrimp dumplings (ha gao) had some huge chunks of ginger and are usually the measure of whether a place is decent. They flat out stunk. The fish dumplings seemed slightly under cooked. The only palatable dish was the long rice stuffed shrimp rolls.
The restaurant, however, caters well to large parties and would be a good place to have a family gathering. Just don’t expect any decent food.

This is by far the best Dim Sum restaurant that I have tried. The overall service is slow, the restaurant is always crowded, to the point I have to get up and go to the food carts, while these carts are supposed to go to me. No one speaks English (of course in Chinatown!), but it’s okay because pointing finger at the food is a form of communication. I still give this place a 5 stars because their food quality and collection is seriously addictive and although the service is slow, the waitresses are not rude like other Chinese restaurants that I have been to.

Seems to be our family’s place to meet in Boston now.
We all meet here for dim sum, chat, and relax.
Not bad dim sum and the women pushing the carts come & go in a timely manner.
There’s all the normal favorites, but I’m not sure the cart women know much English to explain the foods. Luckily, my other relatives are fluent in Cantonese, so they order most of it.
Could be a wait for a table, but my family rarely waited long… even for a table with 15 or more.
Not sure about the prices since we’re Chinese, we fight about who pays the bill. My aunts & uncles take the bill, fight over who pays, and we all offer knowing the kids won’t pay.

Came here for a group dinner with friends the other night. This place is located near China town and is totally legit. Authentic Chinese food by real Chinese people. Everything was very good but we ordered too much food. Live seafood in tanks by the window if you want to choose your own to cook for the evening.
Really too many dishes to try and describe but if you are looking for some real Chinese food, this place has some for you.

Coming from the West Coast and seeing as this was my first time trying East Coast dim sum fare, I try to stay as objective as possible.
That being said, HLM is a decent spot. If there was a first place for mediocrity, then they’re the playoff treadmill champs. I’d give them a slow clap, or maybe a light pat on the back for trying.
(+) A lot of real estate as expected for a traditional dim sum joint
(+) Relatively painless when trying to accommodate large® parties
(-) Nothing really stands out, with the exception of the sesame balls. The XLB were dismal — lukewarm and devoid of any soup filling. While I understand this isn’t a dedicated dumpling house, I expected a bit more.
(+/​-​) Service was just LOL; however, I won’t hold that against an authentic Asian establishment.

The 糯米雞 is pretty decent, and you get two of them per basket. The other stuff however looks very so so.
The tea comes automatic, by the way, and you have to pay $ 2.75 for it.
A note about this place is that though the doors might open around 8:30 AM, nothing is really cooked by then, and as a result, you’ll have to wait around until things get ready, maybe by 9:00 AM
$ 10 credit card minimum.

I hate this dim sum place. The service is terrible. All they do is to stand around and talk to each other. Don’t bother going on weekdays for dim sum because there is no food to eat at all. When you order from the regular menu the waitress loves to argue to you and then when she places an order she would go to talk s*}*%* about you to another worker. Then they saw dirty dishes will not take it away from your table. So no service at all.
Waited forever for the stir fried dish to arrive. I only ate one dumpling and then had to order tofu pudding dessert because there wasn’t any good food to eat.
Don’t even bother coming here on weekends because they will raise the price. The bathrooms are dirty and I’m not happy when I’m eating which is bad.
The boss is rude as well that’s why a lot of people quit and they always have to rehire staffs.
Sitting here for an hour and only 3 dishes. Every worker is very rude just like the Korean restaurant I went to last night called Kaju tofu or whatever it’s called at the corner.
I am extremely unhappy at this place. This is why I would never in my life get marry at Chinese restaurants. It’s disgusting!!!

Solid dim sum. Nothing particularly noteworthy in either the good or bad direction.
We stopped by at noon on a Saturday as a party of four, and we were seated within 20 minutes; it’s a surprisingly large space once you’re inside. The carts come by relatively frequently and have a decent selection, and the quality of food is not bad although maybe just a touch oily (although no worse than most dim sum). Pricing is pretty average and overall the experience isn’t bad; it doesn’t feel too cramped in spite of there being so many people. Good, standard, run-​of-​the-​mill dim sum.

The best place for dim sum in Boston — according to every grandma walking around Chinatown that I asked.
If you want good dim sum in Chinatown Boston — just come here. I’ve been to this restaurant each time I’ve been in Boston — and its consistently good. Pricing is cheap compared to what I’m used to in Chicago as the small’s are less than $ 3.
They still do the carts for the dim sum — so you get that «experience» factor into it. Though I myself prefer ordering directly from the menu and being served the dishes a little at a time — though the opportunity to over order will be the same for both experiences — as the eyes are greater than the stomach could handle.
A rule of thumb — for dim sum novices– if you see a dozen people crowd around a particular cart — bring your ticket over there and fight your way in for your dish. Its an active competition here — so send your most athletic team to box out and distract others to get your freshly baked char siu bao (bbq pork buns) — it was absolutely awesome. The entire pan of freshly baked baos went away in literally two minutes on a semi –busy monday morning!
each dish was well-​seasoned and consistent.
Beware on the weekends — as it was completely packed (both the normal dining room and the basement dining room) on the Sunday that I checked it out a couple weeks ago. It is loud, it is chaotic –it is dim sum.
Enjoy!

Lots of available seating and pretty good dim sum… I’ve definitely had better, but I’ve been spoiled by San Francisco/​Bay Area dim sum.
Definitely bring friends so you can try more dishes! Also, someone who can speak Cantonese would be helpful =P

I’ve been going to Hei La Moon for 5 years. And I loved it, I enjoyed the custard buns the most.
But I really have to be honest and report my experience today, August 7^th 2015– I found a COCKROACH in my pork spare ribs.
I had taken my twin cousins out on a day in Boston and they had only gone to Chau Chow but I wanted to show them something «better.» We had eaten two steamers of shu Mai and ordered the pork spare ribs and the chicken feet. I grabbed a spare rib and flicked what I thought was a black bean that they steam it with. But my cousin said, «Wait!» He moved the bamboo steamer and there was the dead cockroach that I had flicked from the rib.
The waitress took the bug and ribs away before I could take a picture but he only comped the ribs and chicken feet since we had finished everything else we ordered.

I’ve been to this place twice, the first one alone to have dinner and the last one with some friends to lunch. When you enter staff will receive you and they will take you to your table. You will soon realize that this place is really huge, and if that’s not enough there’s another area of the size size downstairs, wow!
The first time I want there were almost no people, maybe because it was too late. The first thing they do is serve you some tea and some water. In my first time I got the menu, no carries overt there, so as they had a comprehensive Dim Sum menu.
I ordered some DimSum and they took some minutes to got them, but they were really good, they didn’t look frozen or precooked, they were fresh and very tasty.
Last time I went to have lunch it was really packed, the first floor was almost at full capacity, but we made a reservation, so we didn’t have to worry.
This time there were some ladies with the carries and offering some dishes to the customers (I like it, I prefer to see instead knowing of the ingredients). We had some DimSum (yummy!), vegetables like pepper, tofu and eggplant (I love this Chinese dish).
The service is not 5-​star, but it’s enough to have a good meal. A must if you like DimSum and Chinese food.

I’m not a huge fan of dim sum, but I do crave it from time to time. And when I do, I always go to Hei La Moon located in Chinatown. I’m not an expert when it comes to dim sum, but from my own personal experience, this place offers some of the most delicious dishes you can find around here. Some of my favorite dishes are their chicken feet (sounds gross but trust me they are delicious), pork with flat rice noodles, leaf rice, and their shrimp dumplings. I don’t speak Chinese so it is hard to order at times but they go around often enough where you can kind of just point at whatever dish you want and they will give it to you.
I noticed that people can also order main dishes but I have no idea how they do that since they don’t have a menu or anything… I think you have to ask them in Chinese so it would be of a great advantage to you if you go here with someone who can actually speak Chinese.
Overall, this place offers everything I look for in a dim sum place and I highly recommend this place to anyone who is a fan of dim sum. My only caution would be it is really hard to find street parking so try to take the T instead of driving… They do validate parking tickets if you absolutely need to drive in!