Dining

As a self-confessed lover of Yum Cha I was stoked to put my critical pallet to the test at China in Auckland’s CBD.

A little fancier than the usual places I go for Yum Cha, China is a vibrant red building on Beach Road that has a very warm feeling to it. The place is always bustling so making a booking is definitely recommended!

For those of you to whom Yum Cha is a new concept, it is a Chinese dining experience where waiters bring food out to you (usually on a cart) and you get to pick and chose what you want out of many dim sum dishes. Dim sum is a varied range of slightly bigger than bite-sized morsels and include dumplings, chicken feet (surprisingly not that bad, although you don’t get a lot of meat) rice packages, pork buns, rice noodle rolls and many more.

Shortly after you sit down, and once you have poured yourself and your guests some Chinese tea, the food starts rolling around. Literally, rolling around, as at most places it is pushed on a cart up to your table. At China the food was carried around on trays but the idea is the same – your food is on the go!

For first timers Yum Cha can be a bit daunting. The places are usually so busy and loud it can be hard to hear what the dishes actually are. If you have allergies to anything be very careful and find out exactly what you’re about to eat as you don’t have the chance to read off a menu. It does pay to go with someone who knows what they’re doing, just until you get the swing of things and become hooked (like what happened to me!)

At China the food came around quickly and was hot and fresh. The waiters were reasonably friendly, although they didn’t seem to really go above and beyond in terms of customer service.

Traditionally Yum Cha is eaten for breakfast, brunch, lunch or afternoon tea however China offers night Yum Cha. This may be great in terms of convenience but in my opinion it lessens the authenticity of the experience.

Probably the third most appealing factor of Yum Cha (right behind the delicious taste and vast selection of food) is the price. A very satisfying meal at China only set me back $15. At that price you can afford to make a few mistakes when choosing dishes for the first time. Practice makes perfect in this case slynkey girls!