Deciding to eat here for lunch on our one day in Auckland, Seafood Paradise Chinese restaurant served up real tasty yum cha dining near the waterfront.
We saw signs for 'Yum Cha' (meaning 'drink tea' in Cantonese) throughout the cities in Australia and New Zealand, and quickly understood it was similar to getting 'Dim Sum' in the States. Once we were seated, we were given laminated menus and a dry erase marker...we got the message. One thing similar is the no nonsense service provided at Chinese restaurants (good and bad)...it's the food you come for. So my brother and I ended up ordering a variety of things, and everyone of them was good.
Steamed Prawn dumplings (NZ$10.90) - basically har gow, coming in fours. it was as good as I've had, using expertly seasoned whole shrimp.
Roast Pork (NZ$23) - roasted pork belly, reminding me of Filipino Pork Lechon, even coming with a similar dipping sauce. Very expertly done and delicious.
Deep Fried Large Prawns (NZ$27) - looking exactly like the menu picture, these whole head-on shrimp and been battered and deep fried. Meant to be eaten whole shell and all. It was good quality shrimp, firm and sweet.
Shrimp Fried Rice (NZ$23) - a good rendition of fried rice, with small salad shrimp.
Steamed Mixed Dumplings (NZ$21) - this could be a good sampler with one of each for the most popular eight steamed dumplings. As always, I much prefer the savory versions vs the sweet custardy ones, but have to admit the steam creamy custard buns were very cute to look at.
Steamed Shrimp and Scallop with XO sauce (NZ$13.90) - I liked the sauce on top, but couldn't really tell if there were scallops in there or not. I preferred their har gow.
As one can see, the dim sum runs on the pricier side as expected being in a tourist area. They really cater to a Chinese clientele, with big families enjoying their dim sum while enjoying the nice outdoor weather. read more