City Hall Maxim’s Palace

City Hall Maxim's Palace occupies the second floor of the City Hall Low Block on Edinburgh Place in Central. It is a large, traditional Cantonese restaurant with space for 50 round tables, the kind of grand dining hall where families gather for weekend dim sum and couples hold wedding banquets. The dining room has a view of Victoria Harbour.

For visitors, the main draw is daytime dim sum in a classic setting. The room is busy and full of local families, and the menu covers Cantonese cooking and dim sum, so you can order a spread of small plates to share. In the evening the focus shifts to larger Cantonese dishes for the table. Tea is ordered at the start of the meal, and it is normal to keep the pot topped up through the session.

Opening hours are 11am to 3pm and 5.30pm to 10.30pm from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays and public holidays the lunch session starts earlier, at 9am. Weekend late mornings are the busiest time, with families waiting for tables, so arrive at opening or come on a weekday. Ring ahead for current arrangements on bookings, especially for larger groups. Allow about an hour and a half for a relaxed dim sum lunch.

Prices are moderate, which makes it good value for the setting and the view. It suits families, groups and first-time visitors who want to experience a traditional Hong Kong dim sum hall, and children are a normal part of the crowd. Smaller parties may be seated at shared tables at peak times, which is part of the experience rather than a sign of poor service.

Because the hall is so large, it can usually seat a big family or group together more easily than the small dim sum shops elsewhere in Central.

City Hall is a civic venue run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which publishes the restaurant's details on its website, and the building has its own general enquiry line on +852 2921 2840. Central is compact, so Hong Kong Park and the Peak Tram terminus on Garden Road are within easy reach for an afternoon of sightseeing after lunch, and the Star Ferry crosses to Tsim Sha Tsui from Central's waterfront.