Foo San Restaurant 富山 — Restaurant in Christchurch

An unassuming suburban takeout eatery in Riccarton hides inside a Yum Cha restaurant of some local repute.

Its definitely an authentic no-thrills establishment with very minimal to be said for the ambience and the service. You wouldn't go there to be wooed or pampered but to fill your belly, and fill our bellies we did! The ordering is done from a sheet on your table which you give to the server, and the food then arrives as-ready.

The disadvantage in this system is that arriving very hungry, we did put down for quite a lot of dishes for the 4 of us, unsure of appetites or portion sizes. Halfway through the arrival of the food we realised there was going to be too much but we were committed!

Not that this was too much of a drama; they happily provided takeout boxes at the end and we did have a thoroughly good meal. A very large spread; first up the yummy fried things - spring rolls, calamari, chicken wings, so on. The great thing about these were how hot and crisp they were, perfectly cooked.

Highlights from the next part of the procession were the steamed pork buns, so light and fluffy, and a golden pan-fried version of the same. Sui Mai in both prawn and chicken versions were perhaps a little sub-par compared to other yum cha we've had, as were the steamed pork rolls. The congee was totally delicious however and the wonton noodle soups were HUGE.

I seemed to be the only person in our party with any room for dessert and I would definitely order the Dan Tart (egg custard tarts) again, and forcing myself to consume two further Sesame Seed Sweet Dumplings was a worthwhile pain with their sugary red bean interiors. Jealous the others got to take them home!

It was a good meal with friends and given the price point there's reason I'd return for a...

Probably the worst experience I’ve ever had in recent years. My friend and I were the last customers today. We ordered noodles. I finished them pretty fast as I always do, but my friend did not as she eats sort of slowly. When it was getting closer to 9pm (their closing time), a female staff member started staring at my friend eating. Even though I had already finished my noodles, I felt EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE. We KNOW when the restaurant is scheduled to close, okay? And actually my friend did not eat ridiculously slowly as we left at 9.02 pm (literally physically left the restaurant). If you wanted to close today on time, you probably should not take us in at 8.30pm. And we definitely were able to find somewhere else to grab something to eat. That seriously was not how you should treat your customers and you really should have some respect for customers. Will you feel comfortable when you are eating if someone is staring at you? Manners are MUCH MORE...

We went for a dinner tonight at this restaurant. Unfortunately they no longer serve dimsum. We ordered sweet and sour fish, lamb with cumin and stir fried pork with vegetables. It looks like the place is newly renovated. The place has a cozy atmosphere now with new wall decorations, and floor covering. This restaurant might have been sold to a new Owner and under new management. Most of the people working in the restaurant is no longer around, except for one lady who is still around. The service is still good and fast. The food are delicious. They serve good tea. Though the food is a bit pricey. However, we missed the dimsum, particularly the siomai, chicken feet, fried squid, the pork buns, the congee and the salted fish fried rice which we always order whenever we have diner here at this restaurant. Hopefully they will be able to serve dimsum for dinner again in the...