Yum Cha Restaurant — Restaurant in Maungakiekie-Tāmaki

2 Reviews in 1. My 9 year old son’s review, followed by my review.

DO NOT RECOMMEND! DO NOT EAT HERE, EAT YUM CHA SOMEWHERE ELSE!

When I walked into the store,

We asked them for a table and told us to wait. Like, who asks hungry guests to wait for so long? Anyway, as they were cleaning away, we had to stand for 10 minutes straight. As we were waiting, we checked the menu and I was looking for my usual meal, pork & chive dumplings and chicken dumplings. But as I scoured the menu looking for it, the closest they had to my preferences were western-knock-offed deep-fried prawn dumplings. I mean, I went to a Yum Cha in Wellington and their menu was so much better, only proving how bad it was compared to the other one.

We sat down and ordered char Siu bao, and with no other choice, I ordered their deep-fried dumplings. The deep-fried prawn dumplings, arrived first and they were just not enough for my 1 AU high dumpling standards(well the ones in Wellington met them). The char Siu bao was next to arrive but before it arrived, the service kept going to the table next to us, not ours. It was a case of waiters going back and forth while missing our table. It arrived about 10 wasted minutes later. The deep-fried dumplings were much worse than the ones I was used to in Wellington, where they were properly fried by real asians. That set my standards way up there but then when I ate their poorly fried dumplings, I felt disappointed and deflated.

My review: It’s feels understaffed, and so everything was sub standard. Wait times, very long wait times, messy, dirty, food wasn’t hot and staff were eager, but ultimately bad service. To set the context, I am based in Sydney, had hundreds of yumcha experiences, and last time we went at 1 pm on a Monday, to set the expectations. Key things I’ve noticed: Sauce : Not enough choices, it was primarily chilli oil (without the chilly), soy sauce and vinegar. It was a self-serve station, that was very dirty. Food quality : Most dishes have no flavour. With the exception of BBQ pork bun. Prawn dumplings looked the part, but didn’t taste the part. Lack of choices for Yumcha: Likely due to it being a chain, it only has a set menu selected based on whatever reason. It had less and worst choices than a small average yum cha in Wellington Petone. Wait times was long: For seating, to get tea (took 10 minutes after we sat down until someone came to ask what kind of tea we wanted), food. Other dishes : I’ve noticed there were more options for rice and noodles like Sweet and Sour Pork. Wish they expand the options for yumcha instead. It’s probably not a bad option to bring work colleagues over for lunch. Not a place you take to impress your family or friends if you’re after authentic quality Yum...

I personally am not a huge fan of Yum Cha and dim sum but after coming to this place I’ve definitely got a new view on it. Been going yum cha since I was really young and have basically tried most yum cha spots in Auckland and this is by far the best.

Service Personally found the service really good, the staff were really patient especially when we came across a problem with the vaccine pass. Were helpful in giving suggestions and didn’t get made when we wanted to change the order.

Food The black custard buns were by far the best, the filling was actually melting as well as had a very rich taste. The $18 box set came with 6 different items which was a good taster to try new things. In particular the fish made of our jelly (part of the set) was really detailed. The duck on the other hand was really disappointing, especially the pancake to wrap the duck in. The bbq pork bun with the crispy top was similar to the one you can get at Huami which I thought was really good.

Interior The interior was very fresh, and the china was very pretty with the light green blue. The theme for the china flowed through the entire restaurant. The furnishing was very comfortable weather it be the boot or the long rows located in the right wing. The sitting is very comfortable and is super clean which makes you feel more welcoming.

Overall enjoyed the experience, need to book in advance as it is really packed and you will find yourself lining up in very...

My husband and I ate here on 18 December, and we had a few issues. We ordered turnip cakes, which arrived cold, I told them and they apologised and brought fresh ones. The fresh ones had a crunchy thing in them like a piece of bone or something! I told a manager, he sent a waiter over who thought we meant the crispy chicken wings, so he said 'that's what they' re like', I said 'no, the turnip cakes' which confused him, so I said never mind.

Speaking of the chicken wings, we didn't order them. They arrived instead of the popcorn chicken. We told them to leave them on the table though as they looked nice and they were.

The food we had was really quite nice, but they do have teething issues around ordering and getting the food right. I've given them lower stars, however, as the customer experience wasn't bad per se, but not really great. They didn't offer any dish or consideration for free for their mistakes - we didn't expect it or ask for it, but it would have been nice though as a goodwill gesture. What shocked me however is that not only do they charge for tea, they charge $12 for tea! That's just unreal to me. A couple of bucks, sure. $12, no. We won't be back for ourselves, But I would say if you don't mind splashing your cash (at Least $40pp) go along as the...