Excellent Cantonese food! Didn’t expect everything to be so good, but it really was. Big portions but without skimping on quality - everything was done well except for maybe the pork belly/taro, which was a bit underwhelming.
Duck pancakes was a highlight, with homemade pancakes that were delightfully chewy. Salted duck egg shrimp balls were super egg-y and satisfying! Big fan overall 🥳
I didn't used to like this place so stopped coming here, but recently it's gotten a lot nicer. Even though the staff still get feisty, the quality of the dishes offsets this. Today we ordered chasiu pastries 叉烧酥, deep fried taro dumpling 芋头角, cow reticulum 牛肚, white sugar cake 白糖糕, steamed prawn vermicilli roll 虾肠粉, chicken feet 凤爪, and egg tart 蛋挞. The best part about these dishes were their pastry, it's fresh, crispy, light, fluffy, and not at all oily, which is hard to find in many yumcha places. Their white sugar cake and the vermicilli part of the vermicilli roll were springy and not mushy, also a hard find. The flavours, needless to say, were authentic and everything was well seasoned. The bill came to be ~$50, so pretty good pricing as well.
Love this little hidden spot locked away behind the foodcourt. Be warned, it still gets busy. To be honest, we prefer this yum cha over the the other neighbouring places in botany. We in particular enjoy their Lo Mai Gai glutinous rice - theirs is white unlike brown in the other yum cha places. Also prefer it’s xiao Mai pork dumplings over other places.
This rating is for the durian tarts only as we went there specifically to purchase them to go. Their durian tarts are so good even when they are no longer warm.
Pretty good crayfish and roste duck. Crayfish was alive and still very fresh when it cooked. Noodles were pretty flavourful too, staff more friendly than morning yumcha time.
Patronised this restaurant quite frequently.
Their stir fried lobsters with yee mee at the bottom was really very toothsome! The lobsters were very fresh, fleshy, spongy and yet chewy. The way the chef cooked this dish was just superb!
The roast duck was marvellous too. The roast duck was so flavourful, juicy, fleshy and succulent. It was just heavenly! I always miss these two dishes very much.
The rest of the foods were tasty too. Customer service was average.
Food & Beverage : 8/10 (9 for both their stir fried lobster with yee mee, and roast duck)
Service : 5/10
Price : 6/10
Ambience : 6/10
CS and Hygiene,To be honest, I did not expect any customer service or Hygiene from a Chinese restaurant.. this place is NOT too bad...
Food,
I have been living East Auckland for years, and NOW this restaurant is the best yum cha place in east Auckland. (just now, not sure about later)
I frequent here a lot around 11.00-11.30 on weekends. This ensures I get nearby parking (unlike the city n Newmarket) and a ground floor table. A sunny spot by the windows is my favorite. The food is good here and piping hot this time. Everyone has their favs when it comes to yum char so I wont harp on about what is best? I enjoy the atmosphere here as alot of elderly groups eat this time of the day along with "mom n the kids" Great yum char here. I'm gone by 12pm before the masses arrive and clog the doorway. Worth a shot here and then you wonder off to buy appliances and furniture!
My family always comes here for yum char. Their dishes are delicious and inexpensive, the servers are all very friendly for a Cantonese restaurant.
It's always busy though, be sure to come early or book a table
Ive been here a few times already and I absolutely love it. Ive recommended it to family anf friends who have only now realised that this is proper chinese food. Such an awesome range. I suppose its the best yum cha Ive been too in south auckland. Five stars my new friends. 👍🏼
My family love Star Seafood. Been regular customer for many years. Only a couple of Chinese restaurants around that we will go to, and it is the best restaurant we know.
Mostly full around weekends and people waiting outside.
Need booking in advance, otherwise you may have to wait some time until you get a table.
Went here for Yum Cha.
Food was pretty good but there wasn't much variety. It was just the same 3-4 items that kept coming around and around again.
This place is worth the visit. The food was delicious, had generous portions and good value for your money. The service is nice and fast, our food came out rather quickly but it was cooked just right.
We came for lunch a couple of weeks ago. While it was really busy we were still able to get a table straight away. The yum cha that we had was really fresh and delicious. Unfortunately our table position meant that we missed out on lots of good items as they constantly ran out before getting to us. I'll definitely return for another meal.
The food is delicious and the serving sizes are ideal.
Great value for money.
The food is full of flavour.
The staff were friendly and helpful.
My family and relatives are regulars here. Service is fine and dishes come out quickly. Serving sizes are ideal and great value for money overall. My personal favourites are the deep fried crab balls and star cafe special bean curd! See you guys next month!
I went here just this morning for yum cha. It was actually my first time here and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I went with a group of girl friends and we selected several meals and shared it amongst ourselves. the selection of food they had was amazing. The waitresses continued to come around our table presenting different meals and also explained what was in some of them, which was helpful. I liked how each meal had a different flavour and texture and it was just a great experience for me. I will definitely like to go there again, but the only thing is that they do not do reservations, so it is best that you get there early. Other than that, I had a great time ☺
Beautiful dim sum. We waited for a seat for 15 mins and the wait is worthwhile. The 猪肠粉 & 萝卜糕 are the highlight. Kids love the 虾饺. Overall service is good too. The staff are responsive and friendly unlike many other dim sum place. Recommended place to have dim sum.
We came here for a very early yumcha and everything had to be ordered so the food was quite fresh. The lady who served us was very friendly and helpful.
Had a Friday work yum cha lunch here and was a little surprised that they don't offer booking unless a head count of 8 plus. It is a bit risky if you only have a lunch time limit especially during the rush hours.
We were lucky to have a table available right away. Trays and trays of food were circulated to each table relatively quickly which was perfect for us.
We had a mixed nationalities and the food were suitable. However pork and prawns are usually found in most of the dishes.
Dumplings are my favourite and followed by BBQ pork pastry. The must have is the ice cream balls, each dish comes with 3 balls, be prepared to order two if you like a sweet ending :)
This is one of the earliest opening yum cha restaurant I know. The food they service are like any other yum cha, however their service is probably one of the best. They're extremely friendly, but only a few would be able to speak English, though this doesn't hinder their servicing abilities for non Chinese speakers.
Their dinner menu is also very typical, but the chicken they serve is a lot better than other places I've been. They serve their food in a timely manner, and the place never really gets fully booked unless it's a festive day for the Chinese. The prices here are also very reasonable for the portion of their food.
My family come her once a month for yum cha.
This restaurant has fast service, delicious food at reasonable prices. This is in our opinion in of the best places to go to with your Asian family on a Sunday morning. There is reasonable car parks. The restaurant is busy but not overwhelming and the staff are hygienic and polite. I like how they have young waiters because we love Chinese food but don't speak mandarin or canto and they speak English.
The food is seasoned well and offered in decent portions. We'll be coming back in a few weeks.
Star Seafood is a family favourite of ours, we used to frequent this for yum char every week or so, but this has reduced to at least once a month as everyone has been quite busy. We did stop going for a few years because they went through a period where their quality decreased dramatically, but I'm happy to say that it was short lived. Their prices have increased yes, but still very reasonable. My favourite is their spinach har gau which is massive, twice the size many other places, crammed with generous amounts of prawn and wrapped in a translucent sheet of rice flour so it's absolutely worth it.
Other family favourites include the custard tarts, custard/red bean mochi, char siu fan (bbq pork rice noodle roll), siu mai, fried squid, and eggplant. Their service is quite fast too, trolleys are constantly rotating through the tables so you never have to wait too long for food.
Sarah Reynolds #challenge
Came here for Yum cha with a group around lunch time and were seated downstairs. All the tables started to become full and the place seemed to fill with life and conversations. It is a Chinese and seafood cuisine with large round tables that can fit a big number of people so it’s nice for a large group to eat at. It has fast and adequate customer service. The staff visited our table frequently to offer us their wide variety of food options. They were also happy to talk to us when one of us enquired about something. The food was very good with nice flavour. It was crispy, crunchy, juicy and filling in the end. We also enjoyed some Chinese tea to go with the meals. Overall we had a pleasant experience and I love to come here and meet up with relatives while having a delicious meal.
A regular yum cha stop for me and my family on the weekends we spend lunching together.
Staff is friendly and caters to your needs such as getting sauces, clearing empty dishes, pouring tea.
Food is usually abundant it depends on what time of the day you go as its busiest around 12-1pm
But overall the food is good, not too long of a wait to be seated.
Will be back for more ☺️
Star Seafood Restaurant has really improved it's Yum Char menu lately, including my favourite Shark Fin Dumplings and Prawn Toast. The food has been very consistent for the last few months, and it has been getting busier each time we go back. If you are going with a group, I would recommend booking. This has now become my favourite Yum Char near Howick.
Good quality of food and service. It is one of the better yum cha options, if not the best, in the area. My family and I have become regular customers.
A great selections for Yum Char/Dim sum. Had great improvement since my last visit. "A" grade from City Council gives me peace of mind for hygiene. Bookings for Sunday will be recommended otherwise about 10-15 mins wait. Very interested in the live seafood in the tank which I may try for dinner next time.
The Chinese cuisine here is really good. All the dishes we had were top quality and 100% tasty. Service was very good with the waitresses being very attentive and polite.
Quick service. Pleasant staff. About 15 tables. Please reserve a table if you are a large party. Hot house soup was served to all customer & we had a tasty lotus soup. Prawn fishball was a lovely sight. It was freshly made and has a springy bite with natural sweetness. Sweet & sour pork was crunch coating and tender meat on its inside. A surprisingly crispy tofu coating with soft melting centre. The tofu is a must have recommendation. Fried French beans with salty marinated pork mince was slightly over salted. Rice was served in a refillable pot. Complementary coconut milk cooked with sago & bits of pumpkin was delicious. A good place to dine
Good yum cha. Very busy - therefore the lack of atmosphere. Food is good. Enjoyed a good feed for the price I paid.
Rizzaej Nelson-SinghVirdi
+5
went there, for a new taste, wow we order three different dishes from three shops that was open all perfect and so delicious we love it, from the Asian Great Chef, and Thailand and the Malaysian was so perfect. we definitely come back.
Good customer service and food. I always came here ... good environment. Always full house. I will recommend to my friends and relatives.
For me shu mai is the best ever. So fresh and no pork smells. All dumpling I had I can feel fresh and texture great great great. Will visit more.
Best yamcha place in East Auckland! Been there 5 times already :)
Amazing food have gone here for awhile now and the food is always top teir I highly recommend this place! It's consistent and fresh!
Cam here with friends the other night by accident. We enjoyed our evening food was good and made quite quickly so we didn't have to wait long for our meal to arrive. They are huge platters so we each grabbed one dish each to share amongst 4 of us.
Went here with the Mrs ,had the chicken feet ,pork buns ,prawn & corriender ,pork plus vegetable siu mai ..nice big servings & flavours ,came out pretty quick too ..decor needs a freshner but overall pretty decent
Service very frendly, food fabulous
Leonard Lee (DoubleHell)
+5
Great food and tea. Can get busy as it isn't the largest restaurant.
First re-visit in years, since Covid. Prices are up, but the quality seems better, and the portion size of each dim sum item is very generous.
A good place for Cantonese dim sum and food, so relax and eat.
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