Grand Century — Restaurant in North Island

My family has been going to Grand Century for yum cha, most Sundays, for over 16 years. The food is divine. Every dumpling, bun, and deep-fried morsel has its own distinct, clean flavour. You can taste the fresh ingredients, with big chunks of prawn in the har gow (steamed prawn dumplings) and juicy bites of pork in the siu mai (steamed pork dumplings). The dumpling wrappers are consistently the right texture. They say that you can tell a good dim sum chef by the quality of their har gow wrappers, and Grand Century’s ones are beautifully transparent, expertly pleated, and steamed to perfection, as they hold together well rather than crumble apart in a thick mess when you pick them up from the bamboo steamer, which is what we often find with most other yum cha restaurants in Wellington. They also say you can tell a good Chinese restaurant by the number of Asians eating in it - and this couldn’t be any truer with Grand Century because we Asians know our good food! Over the years we’ve seen a really diverse range of ethnicities eating yum cha here, and it seems there’s something for everyone to enjoy. We always recommend Grand Century to anyone who asks after the best yum cha, though I have sometimes gotten a response that it’s the costliest in Wellington. I honestly think though that the pricing reflects the high quality of the food. You get good sized servings and the food is really flavourful. The atmosphere is great with the abundantly filled trays of food whisked from table to table, and the more traditional Chinese decor. We’ve also eaten here for dinners and it’s a go-to for special occasions, where we will order the Peking duck courses - so delicious. We still haven’t found a place that serves tastier food than Grand Century, in either Australia or New Zealand. When we lived overseas for 6 years, coming here whenever we were back for a visit was always a thing we did as a priority! Thanks Judy and team, for always satisfying our yum cha cravings. Our family wishes Grand Century continued success...

I got scammed. $720 for a crayfish. Let that sink in.

I don’t normally write reviews, but this experience left me speechless. I came in expecting a nice meal, maybe even a little splurge—but getting robbed wasn’t on the menu.

The crayfish was good, sure, but no seafood on earth is worth $720 unless it comes with a free yacht and a tour of the ocean it came from. There was no mention of the price beforehand—nothing on the menu, no warning from the staff. Just a surprise bill that made me question all my life choices up to that point.

To be fair, the desserts were actually great. No complaints there. But that doesn’t make up for being blindsided by a price tag that belongs in a luxury jewelry store, not a seafood platter.

To the restaurant: this kind of pricing without disclosure is shady. Be upfront with your customers. Nobody likes feeling like they got hustled.

If you're reading this and thinking of going—ask for prices first. Every single one.

Therefore, charging a customer $720 for a crayfish without prior notice or menu disclosure would likely be deemed unlawful under New Zealand's consumer protection law.

I walked into a fish market on Lambton Quay and asked how much this would cost. The seller was shocked when I told him I paid $720, and all he said was, You got scammed big time.

I’ll be following up with an email—I’ll need a clear breakdown of the price we were charged in order to move forward.

I believe there’s nothing wrong with raising your voice when you feel you’ve been unfairly charged for...

I've been to this restaurant 3 or 4 times, and the food is okay but the is decoration mediocre. I think this is my first time eating dinner here instead of yum cha; my experience was so bad that I had to leave a review. The service is horrible. After reading a few reviews, I know that I'm not the only one who found the service severely lacking. The waitresses kept forgetting that we've ordered juice, and we had to remind them 5 times, yet still no juice when we were well into almost finishing our meal.(Not my order, but some brat we were dining with wanted to drink juice). Had to remind them to bring us more water twice, too, before the water came. Food also was served very slowly and we had to wait long. When we already thought we were done, since twenty minutes have passed without anything new arriving at our table, one last order was served. What the hell is up with that lag? Moreover, the door was open and there were people smoking outside. The smoke was polluting the air inside the restaurant and ruining my meal, but nothing was done about the opened door. Noisy as hell kids goofing around near the reception table. Again, the waitresses are not friendly. They don't smile or make us feel welcomed like they are paid to do. They forget our orders, never pass by our tables to check if anything's alright or to see if we might need anything...(they only pass by to place the ordered food on our table). It's just terrible service and ruined my mood for the...