Cuisine: 7
Service: 7
Decor: 8
Value: 6
Overall: 7
The original KST has been around for a long time in Chinatown, and it's synonymous with Hong Kong cafe style dining. This location in Flushing has also served the neighborhood for a while now. I have been here a handful of times and enjoyed most of my meals.
First of all, I love the decor. It has a light pastel colored theme that feels very serene and looks extremely clean. The waitstaff is generally helpful, albeit sometimes a bit lackadaisical.
For the food, here are some of the items I have had.
Satay Beef in Noodle Soup (7/10) - Pretty tasty beef and noodles. I just wish the broth was also satay flavored. They simply add a scoop of satay beef on top of a bowl of soup noodles. After mixing it into the broth, there isn't a strong satay essence.
Spam & Egg Sandwich (7/10) - Can't really go wrong, but I do appreciate them cutting off the crust.
Chicken Wings in Grapefruit Honey Sauce (7/10) - Sounds interesting, but honestly you can't taste the grapefruit one bit. The wings were fried very well, but the sauce was just too sweet for this savory dish.
Fried Dumplings (8/10) - Crispy and crunchy, these pork and shrimp dumplings are quite yummy.
Fried Shrimp & Squid w/ Salted Duck Egg (8.5/10) - Not too greasy and beautifully golden brown, this is my favorite dish in the restaurant. Crispy, tender, savory, and full of umami.
Borscht Soup (8/10) - One of the better ones from all the HK cafes I have tried. Rich flavor with umami.
Pineapple Bun w. Butter (6.5/10) - Crust is tasty. However, the bun itself is too dense and needs to be more airy.
Golden Lava French Toast (8/10) - This is the dish many people come here for. It's a crowd pleaser because it's fun to watch the salted egg yolk slowly ooze out of toast.
Dumpling Noodle Soup (7/10) - Decent but there are better options around Flushing.
Beef Chow Fun in Brown Sauce (7/10) - I had this dish a few times and it seems to be inconsistent. Star of the meal one visit and the flop on another.
Curry Beef Brisket Over Rice (8/10) - Good curry flavor and super tender beef brisket.
XO Sauce Fried Rice w. Seafood (7/10) - Simple but good. Dry and crispy, how a fried rice should be. The XO flavor adds a nice touch to the flavor.
Salted Duck Egg w. jumbo Shrimp Fried Rice (7.5/10) - It's really just regular fried rice with some jumbo shrimp on top. Both are done well, so still delicious even though not necessarily cohesive.
Baked Spaghetti w. Pork Chop (5/10) - Not a big fan of the baked items as a whole. The pork chop is a somewhat dry, and the spaghetti is way too soft.
Hong Kong Style Coffee & Tea (6.5/10) - Solid drink. There is a dry aftertaste from the tea that some people enjoy, but not so much for me.
Lemon Ribena (5/10) - Not my thing, but not bad.
Horlick (5/10) - Childhood memories are sometimes best left in the past. This drink felt watered down and I can make it at home better for less.
Red Bean Ice w. Coconut Milk (8.5/10) - Nearly perfect if they could limit some of the large chunks of ice. Red bean flavor is spot on.
Passionfruit Smoothie (3/10) - Too sweet for me.
Bottom line, most of the menu is very consistently good to very good. A few misses, just simply avoid them and you should have a fantastic meal. read more