Average dim sum @ Yum Cha Cuisine [Westfield Carindale], Brisbane (Australia)

We find it quite amusing that though we have lived in yum cha city for a few years already, whenever we visit our families in Australia, very often it is Chinese food or we go have dim sum. For my side of the family, Chinese is the easiest option because we can order a variety of food to share banquet-style while pleasing the parents who have a clear preference for Chinese cuisine. For hubby's side of family, it is a novelty for them to eat Chinese food and dim sum, and perhaps they think that I would much prefer to eat Chinese food, though I probably am far more open-minded than they are about trying all kinds of food. It is just as well because we hardly eat Chinese food here in Hong Kong - our family is too small to enjoy banquet-style eating - and let's face it, yum cha is much better with a bigger group. Last year we were in Brisbane to visit hubby's dad and family, and the first thing they did after picking us up at the airport was to bring us to Yum Cha Cuisine at Westfield Carindale for some dim sum lunch. The decor was simple, and service could do with some improvement. Some dishes were slow in coming out, which we found pretty inexcusable given that we were the only customers at the time of the day (around 2pm, after the peak lunch time). The dirty dishes were not cleared even when there was no more space for new dishes served, and one waiter looked like he would rather be somewhere else. The food itself was quite average, but the sweets were pretty good. If I recall correctly, the bill came to about AU$120 for four adults, which is quite pricey for dim sum. I am not too familiar with the foodie scene in Brisbane, so I cannot give an opinion of how Yum Cha Cuisine fares against other such restaurants in the same city, but there are much better dim sum for cheaper in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. There are a few branches of Yum Cha Cuisine all around Brisbane, so perhaps some are better than others, and I'm hoping the one in Westfield Carindale is not the best one.

The entrance to Yum Cha Cuisine from the mall:

Yau Yu Sou (crispy fried squid) - this wasn't crispy enough:

Har Cheong (rice noodle roll with prawns) - the noodle roll was a bit too thick:

Lo Bak Gou (turnip cake) - this was tasty:

The roast goose was ok, a bit dry in parts:

Char Siu Bao (barbecue pork bun) - these were good, and the kids finished these off in good time:

Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) - the skin was too thick, but the filling was tasty enough:

Har Gao (prawn dumpling) - again the skin was too thick, but the taste was good:

Mango Pudding:

Egg Tart:

A version of Ma Lai Gao ("Malay Cake", steamed sponge cake), with taro jam in between the layers. We loved this and wanted to order more, but the first one took ages to arrive and we didn't want to wait any more:

Yum Cha Cuisine [Westfield Carindale]
Ground Level
Westfield Carindale Shopping Centre
1201/1151 Creek Rd
Carindale QLD 4152
Tel. +61 7 3398 8882