Yum Cha Restaurant — Restaurant in Singapore

Don’t come for the hightea dim sum buffet if you’re a solo diner.

The dim sum dishes were delicious at Yum Cha, living up to their reputation for authentic Cantonese flavors. My favourite was the crispy prawn rice flour roll and the crystal chives dumplings. The roll was crunchy and flavorful inside, wrapped in a smooth Feng Chang on the outside, making it a delicious contrast of texture. The skin of the chives dumplings was so thin that it was barely holding the tasty fillings together. But with a bill of $72, there are other places with more variety and better dinning experiences such as Tim Ho Wan or Crystal Jade. However, when I incorrectly ordered a set of crystal chives dumplings, the restaurant did not accommodate switching it out for what I had intended to order, which was the salted eggs custard buns. I had to pack the unwanted dumplings home, which was great, yet disappointing because I was dying to try their salted eggs custard buns.

Upon arrival, I was also informed that their dim sum buffet required a minimum of 2 diners per table, which felt restrictive as a solo diner. This seems to be a common policy but still felt limiting. So to my fellow solo diners, you can give this high tea buffet a miss.

The interior looks dated and tired. Despite being seated near the kitchen (which was busy with activities and noisy), there were multiple instances of extremely slow service where I had to remind the servers about my outstanding a la carte orders, even my pot of tea was getting cold. The delays and inattentiveness put a damper on the overall experience.

While Yum Cha successfully recreates the nostalgic charm of a traditional dim sum teahouse (and the ambiance noise despite my noise cancelling earbuds), my table location near the kitchen offered no particularly nice views. The ambiance was decent but not remarkable. Being situated in a Chinatown shophouse also meant no scenic vistas, although I managed to find the little doorway with a staircase that led to the restaurant on the second floor.

The pricing for the a la carte dishes was rather steep. The poor service and inability to correct the incorrect order were letdowns considering Yum Cha's reputation as an upscale establishment.

Finding parking was challenging, with some options at the multistory carpark along Smith road based on available information. As for roadside parking, it’s near impossible or that you’ve got to have really good luck to find a slot along the little road next to the eatery. Most diners are likely to rely on public transit or taxis to access this centrally-located restaurant in Chinatown.

The delectable dim sum made it a pleasant meal, but the buffet policy for solo diners, inconsistent service, lack of accommodation for the incorrect order, lack of ambiance and convenient parking were disappointments. Yum Cha's Chinatown branch has room to improve the overall dining experience beyond just the food quality. Some improvements in staff training, order handling, seating allocation, parking information and reconsideration of their buffet policies could make this a more welcoming premium dim sum destination. Until that happens, do drop in for the buffet high tea if you’re not...

Awful Experience at This Restaurant – BOSS MUST READ THIS REVIEW

I had a very unpleasant experience at this restaurant about 3 weeks ago, primarily due to the rude staff at the entrance, particularly a Chinese woman in her 40s to 50s who appeared to be in charge of table allocation.

Our family arrived at the restaurant around 12:30 PM on Sunday, October 26. We waited for 15 minutes before being seated at a table with three chairs in the middle of the room.

We requested a change to a four-chair table next to the window. The younger staff member spoke with the older woman at the small counter, who refused our request, stating that the table was reserved for four people. We explained that the other four-chair table was occupied by only two people, while our assigned table had three people seated. Although we understood the situation, we requested the change again for additional space for our belongings.

When we approached the older woman to discuss this, she abruptly shouted at me in front of other customers. I inquired again about the availability of the other table, which was occupied by only two people. She claimed they had arrived first, but I did not understand why we could not have the four-chair table when others were seated at it with fewer people.

In frustration, we decided to cancel our order of five dishes, as we lost our appetite and felt it was disrespectful to be treated this way. My son ended up having just a quick lunch before we left. During our time there, I noticed two additional groups—one of two people and another of three—sitting at four-chair tables, which the older woman refused to accommodate us to.

What exacerbated the situation was her attitude. She shouted at me in front of over 20 customers, which was highly inappropriate. Additionally, she touched my shoulder three times, which made me uncomfortable. If a male staff member were to touch a female customer in such a manner, it could lead to serious consequences.

I also spoke to Ken, the male manager, about the situation, but he appeared indifferent, likely due to being busy. This was also disappointing.

The behaviour of that woman in charge of table allocation was unacceptable, and she never apologized for her rudeness. It is surprising that such behaviour occurred at a restaurant in Singapore. A staff member shouting at a customer for requesting a table change reflects poorly on the establishment. What a disappointing experience!

The food is nice, but the price is low considering the quality of the food. We were repeating customers who visited this restaurant for the past few years. So you get the level of service which is just worth the amount of money you pay for. If you are expecting a reasonable service and respect, don't go there, if you don't care the attitude of the person serving you as long as the food is okay then you can be satisfied. But the taste of food is not good enough to overcome rude attitude of the waitress. Why would you feel insulted while you are paying...

Hi I like to give you feedback on my bad experience dinning at Yum Cha Chinatown last night. In a nutshell, aircon was not working and we sweated through dinner like we were at a hawker Centre under hot noon sun yet we paid $50 per pax.

We given a table ie no 22 where the aircon unit was not working. Midway thru dinner it became unbearably hot especially with the heat inducing lights and everyone was sweating.

That’s when we realize that the aircon above us was off and we requested the younger waitress to turn on the aircon unit above us but she replied that it was not working then we then notice the giant cooler fan was facing which was suppose to be shared was turned to face just 1 single table behind us.

When we asked for the fan to be tilted so it can be shared the same waitress told us we had to wait till the diners left before she can do that !!! I mean that doesn’t make sense at all as it’s a giant fan and was obviously meant to cool the whole area and not just 1 table and she saw me dabbing sweat from my husband. Worse off the same waitress started ignoring us when we called out for help even though we were obviously loud enough in our calls.

So my question is why should I pay restaurant price but dine like I am at a hawker Centre ? And when I shared the same feedback to the cashier he just gap at me without knowing how to respond.

I told him that either fix the aircon or don’t seat diners at those tables as you are giving diners are very bad experience and they will never return to your...