LONGTIME DINING — Restaurant in Brisbane City

We really wanted to love this place, but sadly my dining experience was a let down for the price point $$$$.

$99pp Forbidden Duck Banquet ☺️ 7/10 Surprise walnuts and seaweed. Pleasant and not too sweet. 🙂 6/10 Sweet corn soup. Nothing too special, but a good balance of flavours. 🥲 3/10 Gai Lan. Far too salty. No wok hei / depth of flavour. Large portion. 😐4.5/10 fried rice. Again, too salty. No depth of flavour, but some nice textures. ☺️7/10 Wok Fried Wagyu. Tender meat; bigger portion size with decent chunks. Didn’t taste the “wasabi” flavour listed, very capsicum heavy.

🦆THE DUCK 🤨3/10 Show. It took the staff member 3 rounds of alcohol to light the duck on fire. Staff member was apologetic (all g, they were trying their best, however…). The triple dose of alcohol changed the flavour balance greatly. Far too alcoholic. Off balance. Then, after slicing the thinnest duck pieces off, they WHEELED THE REST OF THE DUCK AWAY 😭 we didn’t get the whole duck. For $400, and “duck” in the title, I expected more duck. 😤2/10 Pancake Wraps - far too thick and undercooked. More wraps than duck pieces. Left with spare wraps at the end. The duck pieces were so thin and not crispy enough for proper Peking. 🫤3.5/10 San Choi Bow duck (lettuce wraps). Not enough lettuce for four people / the ratio of meat. Duck was far too salty and wasn’t the star of the dish.

Super disappointed in the duck portion of this set menu, especially considering it was meant to be the star.

🍨DESSERT 😌7/10 Mango Mochi. Refreshing. Natural flavours. Good bouncy texture. ☺️7/10 Egg Tarts - complimentary for special occasion. Appreciated that! Creamy centre. Crispy pastry that was a bit too thick.

🧐The Service: adequate at best. All the dishes came out at once. I know, this sounds like a weird complaint; it would have been nice to enjoy the duck first, then the other mains afterwards, rather than juggling everything and all the dishes going cold. We ran out of table space for a table of four. We mostly had to pour our own water (sometimes the staff would, but it was inconsistent; this sounds like a petty complaint, but at this price point I was hoping for more consistent service). Cleansing wipes came out too late. All little things, but it adds up… again, wouldn’t be as picky if the prices were milder.

✨Atmosphere. Adequate at best. Uneven rocky table. Expected better presentation and lighting. Really dark in a gloomy way. The restaurant is located on the 2nd story of Queen St Mall, with an open patio, the street traffic is quite loud.

💸Overall, a very high price for a lack lustre experience. Maybe the dim...

great dining experience with iced results on food. We dined here (our first dining experience in Brisbane) on a wet Thursday night before a show and were able to get a booking online and review the menu on the website which was super helpful. We were treated and seated promptly but unfortunately despite not being full we were given a table in the middle of the walking space presenting no privacy/intimacy but also with the second seat being on the right angle from the other rather than across which meant you were in each others space the entire time. This restaurant has the best outdoor dining experience possible and a dining room around the corner to the entrance so sitting in the front with a view of David jones and all the foot traffic is suboptimal, especially when there was abundant seating! (if this sounds like a lot of complaint for the seating keep in mind this is a pricey restaurant so you are coming here for a great experience not just an ok one). I also noted we were not given the opportunity to pick indoor or outdoor dining which again is unfortunate given they have a great outdoor area. We had a person requiring physical assistance and were not asked/offered any seating accommodation which would have been appreciated. We ordered 7 dishes, 3 yum cha's and 4 'kitchen snacks'. They were all priced higher than average but not exceptionally individually I would rate the dishes as follows; king prawn dumplings - great would definitely order again duck & prawn dumplings - very good however one contained a large bone fragment that could have choked/broken a tooth prawn & scallop dumplings - ok but wouldn't order again duck pancakes - amazing! definitely the highlight and would come back for honey chicken - awful, unfortunately the chicken used was clearly reclaimed as sections of it were dried out and stringy which could not be swallowed noodles - just ok, I wouldn't order again but it wasn't bad chicken & Mushroom lettuce cups - very good would definitely order this again if we come back however we only got 2 lettuce cups and should have been 3-4 the staff were very pleasant and regularly checked in on us, one of our dishes were served in a cage (clearly for the gram!) which was cute and fun, and the server checked if we wanted to keep it on the table and hoped out of the way without being asked when we said we would like to take a photo first. The whole thin was just over $180 without drinks which is on the pricey end especially considering the food quality. I would revisit but diners should keep...

Situated in Queens Plaza Level 1, location is absolutely right in the heart of Brisbane City. Parking is available in Myer Centre or directly park in Queens Plaza where the lift takes you straight to level 1.

For a first Yum Cha visit, pretty much ordered majority of the Chef’s recommendation Dim Sum dishes. Can definitely tell that the chefs have put an effort into the plating as each dish was well plated. Cannot fault the taste in any of the dishes as the flavours are very well balanced. Not too salty like many Yum Cha restaurants around Brisbane. Liked the lighter taste because with Yum Cha, you’re always provided with soy and chili sauce should you want to add more taste to any dishes. All the fried dishes came with their specialty sauce well partnered with the food. Kids absolutely loved the pig buns so ended up reordering for more. A few must try dishes (not in any particular order): Crispy Bean Curd Prawn Rolls, Signature Dim Sum Platter, Dough Fritters Rice Noodle Roll (white dough), Egg, Tarts, BBQ Pork Buns and Crispy Duck with Pancakes.

Service was outstanding, wait staff attended to the table in a very timely manner and does not make you feel disturb enjoying your meal. Overall service was very impressive from most diners. Surrounding: Longtime has being very well renovated and is surrounded by top-end luxury brands in Queens Plaza. Lots of details have gone into designing the restaurant and many corners would give you the background for an Instagram worthy photo. Even with the restaurant fully seated, it does not feel very crowded with plenty of space to navigate around. Different seating areas provides a different atmosphere while you dine.

Probably the only downside to the restaurant from this visit is that the pricing is obviously much higher than usual Yum Cha restaurants. However, with the consistency of the quality of the food and the service provided coupled with prime location, it all made sense. So, if you leave the price behind and want to enjoy a meal, Longtime ticked all the boxes.

If you want to go in a large group, there is a private room available which seats around 20 people. Otherwise, public seating will give you a nice Chinese restaurant vibe meanwhile adding a pinch of the fine dining element to the whole experience. Would definitely return to try some of the other dishes to see if there are more elements of surprise to...