Shark Fin House

It’s one of those places that we’ve been patronising for years.
Great location, parking used to be horrible, now you can pre-​booked online for $ 4 and walk there, service has evolved … Grand building, split into 3 levels, always chilled in Summer and it has been renovated over the years, but keeping it clean is not their mission, dirty stained chairs, carpets, etc. even lipstick on my Champagne glass, trust a woman wearing a longer-​lasting lipstick on :-) Further more, if you are thinking of using the toilet while eating there … very ordinary toilets that you have to go up to the 1^st floor and waited a long time for the one lift to take you there.
Service, can be a hit and miss (more misses), I usually finds 2^nd floor is the best team for service. Ground Floor can be more misses, as it is the ultimate floor, natural sunlight, bigger room, aquarium, etc. it is the nicest and most pleasant out of the 3 levels.
This recent New Year Eve’s dinner we’ve met an exception waitress, she communicates well, fast service and polite, kudos to her and happy to tip her more.
For those who loves Cantonese food, you can’t go wrong with this place, albeit pricier than most. It has won lots of Awards and in 9 times out of 10 the food is always satisfying, this year their Lobster noodles and Cantonese Beef are better than last year,
Don’t forget Yumcha too.
Best place to BYO for reasonable $ 10 corkage, tell them without glasses without longer-​lasting Lipstick, or maybe we should have no-​Lipstick policy while eating :-)
So enjoy …

We booked for yum cha at 1pm and our party of 5 were guided upstairs via the lift to the second floor. It was a work Christmas lunch for our team and something of a tradition although this year was a different venue. There’s something unique and fun about dining from the trolleys that navigate between the tables.
The second floor was full although there was no queue at the lift. Our table was at the back which wasn’t a disadvantage. In fact there was plenty of room for the trolleys to get around. There’s a low ceiling which was festooned with holiday decorations and a small Christmas tree was installed by the window.
We brought some wine with us and paid $ 10 for the previlige of opening and pouring it ourselves into the glasses they brought us. Chilled water and tea were brought out quickly and the first dishes arrived on our table within moments.
The first dish we had was boiled chicken feet with an aromatic sauce and boiled peanuts. We followed this with a series of pork and prawn dumplings. A little bit of chilli sauce helped these go down. A number of conversations with wait staff ensued about the means of procuring spring rolls.
Our subsequent selections included pork and custard buns, fried pork and taro pastries, squid, sticky rice and finally the triumphant arrival of the long anticipated spring rolls.
The standard of the dishes was consistently high and the variety sufficient to satisfy all the different tastes of our group. The service kept the supply going so we always had plenty of food on the table. The teapot was filled a few times. We were happy with the bill at $ 28 per head even with the corkage included. Overall a superior lunchtime event suitable for our annual celebration.

This place is nice.
We were already waiting at the door before it opened as we heard that if we came in late we might need to wait for a long time. This is true. Shortly after we arrived, the place was quickly filled with people.
We had dim sim from the carts and ordered some from the kitchen. The food is delicious and fulfilling. The only down side is that there is not enough of a selection from each cart. We had to ordered most of what we wanted from the kitchen. And we had to wait for quite a while. But they are all so good! They are fresh and flavourful. I am not so sure about the price at the moment coz I am still eating. Lol
I recommend this to those who love yum cha!

Yum Cha Sunday at Shark Fin House.
Location: heart of Melbourne’s Chinatown.
Bottom line: spot on, deliciously classic Chinese dim sum in Melbourne.
The long story:
The place opens at 11:00am, at which point there already is a lineup outside. Once you go in, you’re greeted at the door by the hosts: men in suits and ties who have the reservation list and will show you to your table. You can be accommodated if you have not reserved, but if you’re a party and know what time you will arrive — reserve!
The place has a ground floor and a few other floors (!) There’s an actual elevator between them all, which is almost funny. It makes for clunky cart circulation in this case.
First out: sticky rice. It was yummy!
Next: Duck rolls. Yummy!
Steamed Prawn & spinach dumplings — classic.
Steamed pork dumplings — tasty.
BBQ pork buns… Sensational. Moist, warm, and full of tasty bbq stuff. Really nice.
Dessert: moist liquid custard buns: awesome!
The two last dishes were so tasty that it was the first time I ever asked to take away the leftovers.
Total for all the above: $ 39.50 AUD + tip.
All in all a good place to get that yum cha fix. I would come again. Another note to visitors in the city: Little Bourke street in Chinatown is riddled with lots of restaurants, almost all serve yum cha on weekends.

Popular yum char place in Chinatown. Not the most spectacular in terms of the taste, but for sure wasn’t cheap.
The place– good signage, you won’t miss it. Small entrance, multiple floors. Good amount of seats but can get packed very quickly. They were pretty accommodating to children.
The food– came here for lunch on a Tuesday. The have food trollies serving the typical yum char dishes. Nothing out of ordinary, the quality is similar to other Chinatowns in other cities/​countries. If you want more special dishes you will have to order separately.
I thought the turnip cake was a little soggy, the beef tripe came in really large slices, the rice noodle roll with zhaliang was a little too large and I could barely fit in my mouth.
The service– typical Chinese service. Rushed and a bit rude.
The price– spent $ 88 for lunch between 3 people.
Overall, the service and the food was very average. The price was above average.

Been coming here for years. Always liked it. The service can be a bit variable, the service too at times, but mainly it’s very good. Plenty of Chinese people eat here and seem to love it. They do all the key dishes here and have a nice wine list. The décor probably needs a bit of a tart up. Even the waiter’s name tags are starting to fade a bit (such that Jacky became acky last night). Well worth a visit. I’m definitely returning.

My most recent two visits saw bad to worse service. I don’t mind a no fuss no fluff service but our orders were wrong, some didn’t come out, just poor.
Usually I don’t mind too much if the food is still good, but our favourite dish the Golden Sands Bun were over cooked twice now turning it into a plain custard bun.
I have been seeing the queue a cross the road and starting to get tempted to just go there instead for yum cha now.

An iconic Melbourne Yum Cha venue. Always a pleasure. We’ve been coming here for 30 years.
Service is great. Food is spot on.
Always good to make a booking but they are quick so the wait without a booking usually isn’t long.

Yum Cha, Yum tastic!
So the group arrived, hungry for Yum Cha. The queue outside to get in was enormous, which suggests Shark Fin must be doing something right.
We set about ordering an assortment of treats including pork and prawn, vegetable and beef dumplings, pork buns and chinese broccoli among others. Full but not wanting to miss out, we then ordered dessert of tofu jelly, soy with ginger and my favourite by far the egg custard buns.
Well I must say the sheer scale of this place, I’m blown away, what an operation. Three floors of Yum Cha under one roof. These guys are a finely oiled machine. I would actually love to take a look in the kitchen, it must be relentless food production.
Service was fast and furious, but the food was great. We ordered so much food, but when the bill came it was only $ 24 each. Bargain!

Having visited Shark Fin many times for Yum Cha I thought I would try dinner on last weeks trip to Melbourne. Friday night we decided to head down town, down China Town to be exact for a late night meal, and Shark Fin seemed liked the right choice.
Being a Friday night, the place was packed, we ended up on the second floor, tucked in the back corner. Being busy, noisy made for the atmosphere something like you would find in China, if this is what your looking for, then book early and check this place out.
The food, well it was nothing more than ok, our order of Entrée’s was duplicated, and really was average the first time, and having to eat it a second time, it was no better. Yes we where told nothing could be done about it being duplicated and they where not willing to send the second round back to the kitchen, customer service failure, big time! Impressive, no, had the food been amazing, maybe it would have been ok, but none the less, this restaurant has forgotten the customer is right, maybe it was language barrier, maybe it wasn’t but it was more than annoying.
Mains, well given we where full from eating the entrée’s twice, we still tasted the 4 dishes we ordered. The suckling pig was far too dry and far from moist, but the crackling was crisp and spot on. The vegetables where good, the scallops hit the spot and the rice was no different to most Chinese restaurants.
Overall, the place lacked service, lacked real impressive flavours, and was expensive, but the atmospheric experience made the night an ok experience. Would i go back, probably not for dinner, but Yum Cha yes!

I’ve been coming here for years with my family and it’s awesome in a no frills, crazy kinda way!
It’s literally hell on wheels, people everywhere, live fish tanks galore and men dressed in suits with ear pieces; it’s like the secret service for yum cha!
Trolleys weave their way through the crowded tables, so you really have to be prepared to yell out and grab their attention.
I say grab everything you can, because everything goes so fast and it’s all really delicious, even the ‘freaky’ items!
You can’t beat the dumplings and dim sum. ‘Shanghai Dumplings’ has nothing on these dumplings!

Our last restaurant destination was Shark Fin House, a large, established dim sum restaurant located right in the heart of Melbourne Chinatown. I was a bit hesitant about this place, as it has mixed ratings, but since it is one of the better known dim sum hubs, we decided that this was the right choice for our last brunch in Melbourne.
Me and Jo were interested in different items, which made it a bit difficult to share, as each item comes usually in twos or threes. Between the two of us, we were really full from all the food we ordered! Dim sum items are also usually quite filling, so it’s best to go in a group of more than two to sample all the items. Dim sum is essentially Cantonese tapas — so bigger groups are definitely better.
I won’t bother describing all the dishes, but the tofu skin wrap with veggies (first picture) was one of the best dishes I had. My favorite item in Dim Sum, the taro paste flake with meat filling (), was actually quite good here! A lot of times, it is either over-​fried, or the filling has a funny aftertaste, but it was not the case with this one! The dan ta was also pretty good… and it had a surprise filling! We had the large sized dan tas, which come in twos (while the small ones come in threes), and I’m assuming only the large ones have this filling. We had no idea the difference, but after taking nibbles, I finally figured out that it was durian! Jo, being Cantonese, was a bit surprised, as she had never had durian dan tas (and neither have I), but we decided that we could see the appeal. Their dan ta had a classic tart crust, as opposed to the flaky one which I tend to like more, but it was still a treat!
The service was just decent, with the food being the same. None of the dishes were super awesome (although I did like the taro paste flake), but all of them were very standard, with nothing I could complain about! I don’t know if I would recommend this place, but it’s definitely not a bad one…

Food: Way too salty
Quality: Over price for what you pay for. Average price is $ 20.00 per dish (not sure if this is normal in Australia).
Service: Shitty, slow, snobby attitude.
Tip: Don’t come here to get crappy, over price Chinese food.

Shark Fin House is a standout restaurant for Yum Cha in Melbourne. They have a large selection and a la carte choices but it’s the Yum Cha that is highly recommended. Shark Fin House is a great Chinese restaurant in Chinatown.
Walk in to a fairly nondescript entrance and discover Shark Fin House is upmarket. Waiters in nicely pressed suits guide you to your table. You might need to take the lift as Shark Fin House occupies a couple of floors as well as the ground floor. The décor is traditional with carpeted floors and tasteful walls and lighting. And of course the aquariums.
I ordered the steamed pork dumplings which were gratifying with generous fillings of pork. This was a great dish and some of the best dumplings I’ve enjoyed in Melbourne. I was also keen to try the prawn dumplings but settled for just the pork (my favourite).
The chicken feet were also excellent with a tasty sauce in which the chicken feet were marinated. I’m not sure if you’re meant to pick up chicken feet and suck on them — but I always do. I pick them up with chopsticks but have to pull the little bones out of my mouth. Is there a discreet way of eating chicken feet?
The sticky rice was incredibly filling with two large portions wrapped in leaves. The chicken was great with the sticky rice. This is a great filler in a Yum Cha combination.
The spring rolls were also excellent being crispy on the outside with quality ingredients on the inside.
After this set of Yum Cha options I was pretty much done. My immediate thought was to return to Shark Fin House at the next opportunity. I need to get acquainted with the dim sum.
Service was excellent but really consists of staff moving around with the Yum Cha trolleys and explaining what the options are. The staff then fill out a form and record your choices. The trolleys came around relatively often. I wasn’t sure where to pay after and went to take my bill downstairs but it was made clear I needed to pay on the second floor where I dined.
If you work in the city and are after a quality meal served in quick time then Yum Cha is a great option. There are always several business groups that meet here. My workplace has come here for the odd farewell.

Shark Fin House is one of the best places in the CBD for yum cha. You need to make sure that you get here early as there is always a line out front during the week by about 11:15. The place is divided up between 3 levels so while you think there are plenty of seats, it’s always packed by the time the dishes start rolling out.
The décor is fine but to be honest, you never go to a Chinese restaurant to look at the décor, you go for the food. One way to tell if a Chinese restaurant is good is if the place is frequented by the local Chinese community. One look at the surrounding tables and it appears as though they approve. There’s really no point in ordering anything other than yum cha. Like it should be, there is a constant stream of steamers coming from the kitchens with a wide assortment of dishes. Servers are quick but the language barrier is still somewhat present with a few of the servers.
Haven’t had a chance to try this place for dinner yet but I imagine that it would be just as good as lunch. It pays to have a reservation just to be sure you get a table but I’ve walked in a couple of times as a 3 or a 4 and haven’t had to wait longer than about 5 – 10 minutes. The only downsides to this restaurant are the slow elevator and the noise level. With the noise, it can be overwhelming if you’re not accustomed to dim sum or yum cha restaurants. Plan on bringing your appetite.

Shark Fin House (not to be confused with nearby Shark Fin Inn) is my favourite place for yum cha in the city. Despite being spread over three levels, this place gets queues on Saturday mornings as families and groups of friends flock here to participate in mini eating marathons.
They do two sittings for yum cha — 11am and 1pm, and on weekends booking is essential. As I’ve come to expect from most Yum Cha joints, service is brisk but professional — if they don’t have the particular dumpling you’re after on the trolly, the staff will take special orders and bring it out quickly.
Although I usually head here for yum cha, I’ve also been to Shark Fin House for dinner on a number of occasions. Service is usually a little warmer and more relaxed in the evenings, and they’re good at catering for big groups. The dinner menu offers standard Chinese dishes, and while the quality is better than a lot of its neighbours, I do think the prices are a little steep.

This popular and prominent Chinese restaurant has been in China Town for as long as I can remember.
Every time I go here it is filled with groups of Asians eating and chatting away happily.
When you enter you are greeted by a staff member behind a small booth who will direct you to your seat. This restaurant is a few stories high and has an elevator directly in front of the entrance.
There is also a small seawater aquarium displaying a fine selection of exotic fish and coral on the ground level.
The food here is very authentic and tasty, you can always expect generous serving sizes of good quality produce. I enjoy coming here as I know I will have an enjoyable meal. They offer most generic dishes as well as a few specialties such as abalone, raw lobster, steamed soup and raw drunken crab.
I would recommend this place if you are looking for a hearty, satisfying Chinese meal. The atmosphere can be crowded and noisy at times, it does not have a very intimate setting if that’s what you’re looking for.