Experiments were carried out to study heat transfer and two-phase flow patterns during boiling in a Hele-Shaw cell filled with pure water vapor at atmospheric pressure and with a central inlet of a liquid jet. The Hele-Shaw cell was based on a circular copper rod surface and a polycarbonate plate permitting optical access and thus high-speed cinematography. The diameter of the heated copper rod was 10 mm, the jet diameters were 0.5 and 1 mm, and spacing was varied between 50, 100, and 200 mu m. The heat was applied through 4 cartridge heaters with a maximum heat flux of 327 W/cm(2). Results showed how high-volume flow rates for the liquid jet led to jet impingement heat transfer while low flow rates led to a Hele-Shaw flow boiling system. The relationship between the volume flow rate and the temperature difference differed significantly between these two regimes. Different flow patterns and evaporation fronts were observed using high-speed cinematography. They strongly depended on jet properties, applied heat flux, and gap spacing. The efficiency of the Hele-Shaw flow boiling system during high heat flux levels was attributed to high interface velocities, combined with viscous fingering at the interface. This combination led to high wetting rates with substantial microlayer evaporation. Good results regarding the heat transfer and the pressure drop were obtained with the final configuration of a 10-mm copper rod diameter, a jet diameter of 1 mm, and a spacing of 0.1 mm. A rather surprising observation was the existence of a stable rotation of an evaporating liquid jet in the Hele-Shaw boiling chamber. The driving mechanism for the rotation with a frequency of 105 Hz was the rapid microlayer evaporation at the rear side of the rotating liquid jet.