Golden Sands — Restaurant in Sydney

Riding the Times Plaza escalators up to level two, you’ll find the rather grand entrance to Golden Sands Restaurant. Locals explain that, since the demise of Sunny’s (Sunny Harbour Seafood Restaurant), it’s the preferred yum cha venue for Hurstville’s large Cantonese-speaking population. Despite plentiful round tables surrounded by padded, high-backed tan chairs, there’s a queue of people waiting when we arrive at 11am, and even more people when we depart an hour and a bit later.

Perhaps playing to the 90-minute table limit, trolleys descend the second you take your seat. In an avalanche of steamed dumplings we take in sticky-soft har gow, glistening combination dumplings, spinach dumplings and siu mai. Their translucent skins, jammed full of good quality fillings, avoid tearing in the sometimes tricky transfer from steamer basket to sauce and mouth.

The ladies pushing the yum cha trolleys are a little more assertive here, and we sometimes get more than we bargained for. The “very nice” custard pastry rolls were packing surprise durian, that pleased some and repulsed others at our table; while the deep fried whitebait warranted the hard sell. Dragged through their house-made fermented chilli sauce, these little fishes impress more than deep fried squid. My other deep fried indulgence is ham sui gok. These football-shaped dumplings have a crisp sticky rice exterior and a tasty hand-cut pork mince interior that is a standout at Golden Sands. Bean curd rolls with pork wrapped in soft, pliable tofu skin are another winner, as are the well-stuffed char siu bao (steamed).

While my dining companions are all about the mango pancakes, desserts here include egg tarts and little custard buns served in muffin wrappers. The buns were the restaurant’s only misstep; heated in a microwave they arrived blisteringly hot with their texture and custard filling both destroyed by the heating method. Our party of eight paid just under forty dollars each, making this yum cha venue slightly pricier than other suburban venues my Yum Cha Club has...

[Strictly Business.]

Parking forest rd in front of yumcha if lucky 41 treacy st parking. This is nearby the station westfields parking. A little walk but the safest option

Customer service: 1 star My wife called them to make a booking and spoke in English. They said “Speak Chinese. Speak Chinese!”.

They served us raw prawn the last time we went and today it happened as well. Last time they gave a complimentary serving. This time, they were going to replace the dish but this time they came way too slow, no extras and no discount. Not to mention my wife is pregnant, imagine the consequences of her eating raw seafood. Only a “Sorry, sorry” from one of the owners when we complained to them.

Atmosphere: Exactly how a yumcha should be until you converse with the staff and get served raw seafood

Toilets: Outside the restaurant on the same floor. Not outside building

Menu & Food review: The food quality is amazing. They outclass the other yumchas in most dishes. They are a bit on the pricier side but still worth to eat. Please check your food before eating in case of raw prawns (happened twice in a row now).

I highly recommend the scallop prawn dumpling rather than the ha kao (prawn dumpling) because it’s cheaper, and gives more prawn.

Discussion & recommendations: I have really mixed feelings now because on one hand their food is great but on the other, you can tell that the business doesn’t care about it’s customers. From the staff to the owners, they don’t have a good attitude. They just want you to get in and get out, quickly if able.

Yum cha (trans. Drink tea) is a social and culinary tradition; an affair of socialising with family and friends whilst enjoying good food. Generally, people spend hours at a yum cha but I promise this place will kick you out if you go past an hour there.

Try this place. The food is good. But I also value the eating experience. Dealing with staff who can’t control their temper, rush you and serve raw food leaves a bitter aftertaste that...

This was my favourite restaurant for Yum Cha on the weekend but not anymore. The price is way too expensive and I didn’t mind paying it for receiving quality food, but the quality has taken a huge slide downhill over the past year. Order food and it never comes but they charge you for it at the end Many times all your fried food is cold as they don't have a hot trolley, its just pushed around in the open air on a small flat trolley. One time I asked if they had vegetarian spring rolls (for vegetarian diner), tall boss man said he did. Waited an eternity and eventually they come, bite taken only to discover they were a pork spring roll. How can you give meat yo a vegetarian and just say sorry, remove food and walk away? Not even a discount apology offered. Same boss man on last visit charged us extra for chilli oil for our Yum Cha as we had many dishes selected for our large table with one small dish initially given for all of us to share. Money hungry boss man I hope your happy, I swore never to return after that day, that was the final straw for me. Ramsgate RSL, Mounties Cabramatta, Silver Century Burwood, Golden Century Campsie, Noble House Eastwood are a much better option than here for Yum Cha. We always said we would try the restaurant for normal menu dining so we went in one night, what a horror show that was. Obscenely priced food and the portions were so tiny. No taste whatsoever, you would think a child had cooked it as a first attempt in a cooking lesson. Prawn dish stuffed and bulked up with a ratio of 20% prawn to 80% onion. I am Aussie, partner Chinese and she was disgusted by all the meals we received that night, she is much more forgiving than me when passing comments on quality, service and price. Give this place a big miss, you will get a better meal from the foodcourt...