Café de Lulu

Amazing restaurant. One of my favorite, a go to place for authentic and healthy Chinese. I really hope they find a new location, the business reported on their Facebook page that they will be closed as of NOV 30^th…

Café de Lulu is tucked away in the basement below Avana Sushi, and despite the unassuming furnishings, serves up a couple of knockout dishes.
They offer an all day dinner special which features 120 dishes. You choose three dishes (+ white rice and daily house soup) for $ 24.95. (Any dishes with stars cost +$ 2). Even though it’s called an all day dinner special, I believe if you go on a weekday before 4 pm, the special costs $ 22.95.
The knockout dishes are:
+ Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet (#64):
Tangy, sweet and sour fish fillets that are tender, boneless. This goes so well on rice (and with the green beans). YUM.
+ Sauteed String Beans (#119):
These string beans are a tad bit spicy but packed with so much flavor. They’re sauteed until their nice and wrinkly (this is a good thing!) with a great texture that’s not too firm and not mushy at all. My friends were skeptical when I ordered it but concluded that these were the best string beans they’d ever had. Even my friend who doesn’t like string beans had to agree that these were AMAZING.
Stay away from the:
— Double Cooked Pork (#37):
It should be called «Find the Pork.» Thin slices of dry pork buried under heaps of cabbage. So sad.
Others: Mapo Tofu was well received but unfortunately, I don’t eat tofu. Baked Chicken with Portuguese Sauce was okay, nothing exceptional and it cost $ 2 extra. Water Spinach with Chopped Garlic (aka Chinese watercress) was a little tough and cost $ 2 extra.
I’ve still yet to find a 3^rd dish to round out my all day dinner special set but will update when I do. The knockout dishes are 5 stars but the overall experience is not quite there yet.

This restaurant will try to charge more than you should by applying an 18% gratuity charge without giving a receipt that notifies the person was charged for it. This is usually only applicable for parties of 5−6+ at most restaurants, but there is always a clear indicator that this charge is included.
I came here with my sister for lunch. We ordered 2 BBQ Pork & wonton noodle and 1 order of Clam with black bean sauce and our bill was $ 44 (after I gave them 20% tip on top of the 18% that they already charged me).
The food wasn’t good for the price, services was horrible since we weren’t even given tap water to drink and the restaurant is very dirty. They use plastic dishware and they ain’t clean either.
They have 3 big screen TVs there so they don’t care much about customers’ needs other than paying attention to the Chinese TV shows. PLUS, there is a sign that is poorly glued on the wall saying something about the price of each dish that we pay for might be a few dollars different than it is on the menu and that they are trying to update their menu. @_@ What kind of business is it???
I left for 10 mins then came back to ask for the copy of the receipt that I just paid and found out about the Gratuity was AUTOMATICALLY charged and asked the server if they do this all the times. She replied «YES, sometimes…» I guess they would charge depend on race and the way you look.
This is definitely NOT a TRUSTWORTHY place to eat or spend money. .. and in this day and age, a restaurant’s food like this is just as common as any other place in Chinatown. Will not go back and urge others to avoid this place as well…
If they are dishonest about how they charge their customers, then what else are they hiding???

Authentic Chinese flavor, especially the beef with tomato or chili pepper, which is as good as that in China

I’ve been here 5 minutes and it reminds me of HK. The HK milk tea is super good, very relaxed vibe. Thumbs up

Food was okay, service was alright. speaking canto helps a lot too.
Wonton noodles with BBQ pork wasn’t bad along with some other random rice dish my buddy grabbed just looking at the photos.
Like everyone else said, gratuity automatically added confused the hell out of me and they even give you the option to add more. Seems forced… how is this legal?
Also prices for popular items seems to go up on busier days and times… which I feel is just a way to get others to order food/​items that probably just sit around

The worst Chinese restaurant in the area! I came in this Saturday for lunch with my boyfriend. No one greeted us upon entrance, and we had to find a table and grabbed the menu ourselves. The first sight on the menu was that there is a 18% gratuity required, even for lunch. I should have known that any good restaurant would not have such enforcement on tips because people will naturally pay for good service and good food. What happened next proves me right.
We ordered the three dishes combo: fish fillet with luffa, bean curd with beef brisket, and pork shank with Portuguese sauce. The luffa was so bitter that we did not eat a second piece. The beef brisket was so hard to chew on, and with too much soy sauce. The pork shank was nothing close to what I had in Hong Kong and Canton: Blank, blank, blank!
When the bill came, the three dishes cost us $ 28.95 before tax and tips rather than $ 22.95 with extra $ 2 on the pork shank. I asked the waitress, she said on weekend there is extra $ 2, and the brisket there is another $ 2, because obviously in their computer they secretly put a star near the dish to signal the extra $ 2 but not on the menu! The whole meal is $ 37!!! Remember, with the extra 18% tips forced upon people, the price on the menu is greatly inflated! And there is some hidden charges that you will never know until the bill comes. Worst of all is the food! The food is nowhere near authentic!
BTW, my boyfriend got a mild food poison later today!

Don’t bother eating from here because it is very dirty. The boss lady brings the take out containers to her mom at the Quincy nursing home to feed her mom. After her mom is done eating she will reuse the plastic take out containers in the restaurant.
That’s disgusting!

Food was decent… nothing to shout about. There are some better ones in the same vicinity (Chinatown).
However, they charge gratuity in the receipt (18%!) even though there are only 2 of us… it’s not like we came in a group of 8 or anything like that.
The worst thing is that… they have the guts to still leave a line the credit card receipt for tips!!! Whoa… Some would definitely double-​tip them if they don’t notice what was already charged on the receipt. The service is ok, but does not deserve double tipping or 18% for that matter.

Delicious food. So many items to choose from. Many Hong Kong café dishes. My must stop when I come to Boston from NYC.

The food here is pretty good and at great value. You get 3 dishes with soup and rice for $ 22.95 (before 4pm, then $ 24.95 after). The dishes came out piping hot which I love. All the plates were flavorful too!
Couple things I didn’t like… We had a party of 3 and they automatically charge 18% tip on our bill without letting us know. Additionally, the prices on the menu are not accurate either. It’s not a deal breaker for me though… I would still come back for the food.

Came in and ordered spicy beef noodle soup + pork and potato on rice. Both tasted awful. They also automatically add 18% gratuity to the bill when they provide horrible service.
Stay away from this place, you’ve been warned.

I was first introduced to this restaurant by a friend who has a high standard for foods. And I was so glad that I tried!
It is a traditional Hongkong style restaurant that located down in the basement. The dishes there were great and tasted exactly the same as the food I had in Hongkong. Also the decoration in this small restaurant is also modeled after the shops in Hongkong. The pictrures of the dishes on the wall soon attracted my attention once I entered the door and made me want to try everything!
But the environment is not pleasant enough: small area, oily tables, dark lightnings and etc. You really have to only focus on the food.
Also, I just don’t think there was much service there every time I went. It was just like a fast-​food place where the waitress takes your order, serves your dish and gives your check. But they automatically charged me 18% tip! How absurd! They even serve the food in tin foil paper box instead of normal plates. That made me feel like they just microwave the frozen food.
Anyway, to those who want to try this restaurant and original Hongkong cuisine at a cheap price, take-​out may be a better choice.

When I miss my home, but don’t miss the nagging that comes with my parent’s cooking, I come here. My parents are both great cooks, so my standard is pretty high for Cantonese food. I’ll bring a friend here when they ask me what kind of food «real Chinese people» eat.
The place is loud, just like home.
The food isn’t the most pretty, but tastes OK, almost like home.
3 stars because the only reason I come here is to get that HK vibe that I miss so much.

Such a delightful little restaurant! I go there whenever I am missing Hong Kong. The boss is so sweet, she’s kind of sassy and makes sure everyone is enjoying their meal.
We had a three meal entrée combo and it came with soup and rice. Everything was well made and the portion was just right. There’s so much to say about the food cooked but I will let my pictures speak for the meal.

You heard it here… Café de Lulu is home to the best chow foon in Boston, and the Portuguese Chicken is also to die for. GO GET YOU SOME!!!
*Beantowns Finest*

Some of my friends from Hong Kong recommended café de lulu, so I decided to give it a try.
Although it is only a $ on Unilocal,we still ended up spending $ 15 per person. I guess it will be cheaper if you go in groups of 3 or more as you can order the set meals.
We ordered 2 dishes: beef brisket and turnip and pot rice with beef and egg. The taste of food is pretty subtle which I like but I would consider the milk tea the highlight of my meal!

Still the place I will go without thinking when I am in Boston Chinatown! True taste of Hong Kong!

Nothing really special about the food.
They taste decent and price is right.
Came here at night craving for pot rice and beef tendon. The pot rice series is a good start I guess and they actually use ‘egg noodles’ as noodles.
Compared to other Hong Kong– style café/​restaurants in Chinatown, it is a good choice. But having eaten dim sum and all those Cantonese food growing up, the place was just okay.
Not a big fan but may return to try other dishes.

If you want a good, simple, and worth every dollar meal… this is the place. They have a very extensive menu with a variety of foods to choose from. The best bang for your buck is probably the dinner special where you get to choose 3 dinner entrees for a total of $ 21.95 (comes with soup and a bowl of rice). Some of the dinner specials have a star next to it, which means it’s an additional $ 2 on top.
I always get the usual Baked Chicken w/​Portuguese sauce (this is a +$ 2 entrée). This is a MUST get. I could eat the sauce by itself. They don’t skimp out on the chicken either.
Also got the scallop with broccoli. The flavoring was perfect, but there was small scallop to broccoli ratio. This dish is also a +$ 2 entrée. Lastly, I got the shredded beef with eggplant. This is just like how my momma makes it — yum! A bit on the oily side but the eggplant was made very well (not too mushy).
I think this place has free wifi. If I was in high school or college and was trying to save money while satisfying my stomach… This would be my hangout spot.

Two weeks straight of this place and my honey still can’t get enough of it.
«But…I miss hotpot,» I remarked.
«You have no idea how much I’m salivating for LuLu though…» he says with a puppy dog face.
(-w-​”) okay. Within the span of 2 months, we’ve already been here 4 times, always from my honey’s beckoning aiiiiyyyy what will I do with him.
This place is great. The taste, atmosphere, and TVB news channel/​dramas playing in the background is really reminiscent of the cafes of Hong Kong. The menu is there to spoil you with the abundance in choices. Their drinks menu is also large in variety with Hong Kong favorites.
Major kudos to their cha siu, my god, the best place for them. Their empress chicken also do not disappoint. If there’s meat to your dish, they’re not skimpy. No piece has ever been dry and their cuts are excellent.
Recs:
+Yok Jurn Yee Fan– a cantonese style pasta. Not your Italian tomato base, but meat based.
+BBQ Pork and Chicken rice (their empress chicken is the bomb!)
Overall, this place is straight up a hole in the wall. It only took me 5 years to try this out given the dated building it’s located in and the fact that it’s located in the basement. It is THE hidden gem of Chinatown and a great place to get the biggest bang for your buck.

Honestly, the food here is not that great, the portion is small, the food is not very tasty either. I have given this place many tries to decide whether I should give this ultimate review. The first time when I went I was expecting a 4 star experience. But honestly, the food was not that great, the service was not that good either, and they add gratuity to everyone’s bill no matter how small the party is. I think that is just ridiculous. They expect people to pay a lot of tips when they don’t even provide the good service to people.
Once I ordered this fried fish filet. I forgot what it is called, but it was under the menu of 3 dishes for $ 21. First of all, there were only like 6 or 7 pieces of fish filets, and second, it was so salty that I couldn’t even take more than 2 bites of it. Another time, I ordered a rice with chicken and pork for $ 7.25, but I ended up paying more for the dish. The portion is so small too and I was not even full after that. I understand the menu has a discretion that says «Prices subject to change.» But really, I think that they are just a bunch of dishonest people that are just trying to get your money and not care about the quality of the food.
This place is definitely not 4 stars, and I agree with other Unilocalers on not understanding why they have such high ratings. This place is in between a 1 ½ to 2 star but since I want to try to bring down the rating to match the actual rating of this restaurant, I rounded down. Honestly, there are better restaurants in Chinatown than this place.