Add to your del.icio.us
131 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Ph +61 3 9663 1555.
On Saturday we went to Shark Fin House with two friends, Jin and Kian.
I rang up at 10am, expecting them to be booked out, but they had some room available for their late (1.30) session.
The only trouble with having yum-cha on a Saturday is finding a parking spot. Most parks are 1 hour limit, and you normally need at least 1 1/2 hours to have a nice relaxed yum-cha. We were lucky and found a 2 hour park at the top end of Exhibition St, and filled the $3.50-per-hour meter with coins.
We got to Shark Fin on time, and joined the queue in the (cramped) foyer. Then, once the lift arrived back at ground, we were told to go to L2. So we crammed in the lift with everyone else.
Shark Fin House is a fairly narrow building, with a single lift ferrying people between its 3 levels. This is the main reason I prefer to frequent Shark Fin Inn - it’s more spacious, and only requires walking up the stairs from the entrance to the main dining floor.
Our lift reached L2, and then we were shown to our seats - unfortunately in a far corner of the room.
Looking across the L2 Level
We were pleasantly surprised that despite being at a corner table, the waitresses didn’t bypass us, which seems to happen at the majority of yumcha restaurants.
Also of note was that the demeanour of the staff has improved - the last time I visited (over a year ago) it was an effort for them to serve you, let alone any special requests.
The total bill for the four of us came to $88.00, which works out to a reasonable $22 per head.
Here’s what we ordered:
Ham Shui Kok - 鹽水角 (Pork mince balls)
Beef Buns
Chicken Pies
Jar Leung - 炸兩 (Chinese cruller wrapped in rice paper sheets)
Prawn Dumplings
Prawn Salads
Roast Duck
Scallop Dumplings
Shark Fin Dumplings
Siu Mai
Stuffed Beancurd
Radish Cake
Yam Balls
Mango Pudding
Our food was nice, wasn’t overly salty, and was reasonably priced. But, as you can probably see from the pictures, it did take some time to get from the kitchen to our plates - it’s most noticeable on the steamed dumplings, they’ve got a glossy look that they wouldn’t have if they’d been served quicker.
The bases of the Chicken Pies hadn’t cooked properly - the pastry was barely half-cooked. Also, the roast duck was almost cold. So much for the waitress ‘warming it up’ for us.
As always, the chinese tea is free and free flowing.
I think i’ll start going to suburban yum-cha (Doncaster, Box Hill, etc) even though it’s a bit further to drive. Or if i’m feeling lazy, we’ll just come back. 
There are some very good dishes that you can’t miss if you go there, like their siu mai and pastries. The pastries are often the right mix of buttery and savoury, setting you up nicely for the main dishes.
I didn’t think much of their duck though- the skin and meat were a tad dry and tasteless. Try not to order stuff that looks as though they have been on the tray for too long. If you really want to get serious about yum cha, seat yourself as close to the kitchen as possible!
In terms of pricing, this is as affordable as you can get in a city restaurant. For sure, you can get cheaper stuff at some city restaurants but you trade quality for price. One last tip: you get more value for money if you go in a large group and sample a bit of everything!
Note: There are two main Shark Fin restaurants in the city and a few more elsewhere, so while the service and crowd might vary a bit, you can expect the food to be of a certain standard.
I love yumcha! The pics just make me wanna go Shark Fin House right away =D I agree that shark fin house’s dimsums are quite good.For the service, its quite inconsistent I find, depending on the waiters/waitress that serve you on that particular day.Sometimes if you get a friendly and helpful waiter/waitress, it just make your yum cha session a lot more delightful!
Left by IronEaters on July 9th, 2007