What to Know about Hui Lau Shan, Houston’s New Mango Dessert Shop

ByDaniel RenfrowAugust 2, 2023

We might have gone a little crazy during our visit to Hui Lau Shan in Houston's Asiatown—money well spent.

Image: Daniel Renfrow

While Bellaire Boulevard’s Dun Huang Plaza has long been home to some of Asiatown’s most trendy restaurants, tea houses, and ice cream spots—from Tiger Den to Ninja Matcha to Aqua S—a new mango-centric dessert shop in the plaza is generating an unprecedented level of buzz. Since opening its doors in early June, Texas’s first outpost of celebrated Hong Kong dessert shop Hui Lau Shan has maintained steadier lines on weekday mornings than Tiger Den can muster on a Friday evening, which, as longtime line lurkers of the notoriously long-lined ramen hot spot, we can say is no small feat.

Founded in Hong Kong in the 1960s as an herbal tea shop, Hui Lau Shan has since evolved into a chain with more than 300 locations worldwide specializing in snacks and desserts, particularly ones featuring mangoes—think mango mochi, mango drinks, mango puddings, and mango pastries—that have become the hallmark of the brand. According to John Yang, co-owner of the new Houston location, the shop has been going through an astonishing 500 cases of the tropical fruit a week, far more than the 100 cases he was anticipating ahead of the shop’s opening.

Since we’re dedicated mango aficionados, we made a visit to Hui Lau Shan to see if it lives up to the hype. After spending 30 minutes filling our stomachs with enough mangoes to keep a refresquería in business for an entire year, we can most definitely say that Hui Lau Shan is worth the drive—and the line. Unfortunately, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, and we are now experiencing something we never thought we would: mango fatigue. We hope it’s fleeting, since we’re already planning a return visit.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of your visit to Hui Lau Shan.

Mango-centric Hui Lau Shan lives up to the hype.

Image: Courtesy Hui Lau Shan

One of the most popular drinks at Hui Lau Shan is the pomelo and mango with sago, a delectable chilled drink featuring pureed mango, fresh mango, coconut milk, pomelo (a citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia), and tapioca-like sago pearls. We highly recommend it.

Also of note are the shop’s extra-gooey mango mochi, which feature a thick slice of fresh mango on the inside and are sprinkled with finely shredded coconut. Like all of Hui Lau Shan’s products, the mango mochi is made fresh daily.

The shop’s mango pancake is also worth trying. The cube-shaped pancakes contain a thick slice of mango surrounded by a fluffy cloud of cream cheese filling, all wrapped within a thin and almost crepe-like “pancake” skin crafted from flour and natural mango flavors.

Don’t leave without trying the uber-popular mango chewy ball, featuring pureed mango, a scoop of mango ice cream, and some very large and chewy tapioca balls. It’s a textural delight.

Hui Lau Shan sources its mangoes from different countries and continents throughout the year as it chases growing seasons, with the majority coming from Mexico, plus various countries in South America. Since mangoes get delivered to the shop in a variety of ripeness stages, there’s a lot of sorting going on behind the scenes. Co-owner Yang says only the sweetest mangoes get cut and made into desserts, meaning you’ll never have to worry about biting into a sour mango at Hui Lau Shan.

There are other options on Hui Lau Shan’s menu that might strike your fancy, including desserts containing fresh coconut, strawberry, passion fruit, watermelon, and durian. We loved the funky-flavored durian black glutinous rice, and we’re curious to go back for the watermelon juice drink with aloe jelly as well as the red bean soup with mochi.

Hui Lau Shan appears to always be busy, but when we stopped by at 12:30 p.m. on a Sunday, just 30 minutes after it opened, there wasn’t much of a line. We recommend going earlier in the day to make sure you have a full menu to choose from. We’ve heard the mango mochi runs out fast.

Yang says he and the other co-owners of the shop are already looking for additional locations in the Houston area, particularly in Katy Asian Town.