One Monday morning my craving for dim sum became so intense that we decided to drive to Epsom and pay a lunch visit to Star Cafe, a Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant. Located on Manukau Road, parking directly outside the restaurant is limited, but plenty of free 120 minute and no-restriction parking can be found on the nearby side streets (we parked on Inverary Avenue).
Unlike the typical yum cha, the vast assortment of small dim sum dishes are not picked and chosen from trolleys roaming from table to table. Instead, yum cha at Star Cafe is a la carte: you are given an order form (in English and Chinese) and you fill out what and how many of each you would like. The absence of the roaming carts definitely takes away from the traditional yum cha experience, but it seems reassuring to know that each dish will be prepared fresh to order.
As is customary in yum cha restaurants, we were first asked to choose our tea. Popular varieties of tea such as jasmine and pu-erh are offered, though we like to begin our dim sum feast with a freshly brewed pot of chrysanthemum tea. During our lunch trip to Star Cafe, we ordered an array of steamed offerings, deep fried dishes and sweet treats which, despite being made-to-order, were brought out in a timely manner. The standout for me was their Liu Sha Bao (golden lava bun); basically a piping hot, pillowy bun that encloses a creamy and rich molten lava-esque mixture of custard and salted duck egg yolk. The salted duck egg filling might sound wacky in a sweet bun but trust me, it works! When we tore them apart, the golden filling oozed out, generating "oohs" and "ahhs" from us all. Seriously, if high cholesterol and diabetes weren't such serious health issues, I would happily eat my body weight in their golden lava buns. No dim sum fare would be complete without a basket of Pork Siu Mai. Plump, juicy, and downright delicious, Star Cafe's siu mai certainly did not disappoint - so good that we ordered another round! However, the same can't be said for their Char Siu Bao (barbecue pork buns). I hate when you're presented with big, fluffy buns, and you're like "WOOHOO, BUNS!"... only to find a whole lot of bun and not so much of filling. It wasn't too flash in the taste department either, but I guess you dim sum, you lose some (ba dum tss).
Instead of classifying their dim sum into the 'small', 'medium' and 'large' categories, Star Cafe has a fixed price of $3.80 for all dishes on the order menu. Coupled with the fact that there is no hidden tea charge, this truly is a cheap eat! However, we did find the selection on this menu to be quite limited - I mean, no egg tarts?! Quality over quantity, perhaps.
Like many Chinese restaurants in Auckland, the service at Star Cafe is never going to be out-of-this-world. Even so, it's not exactly bad either: their staff speak limited English, but our tea was promptly refilled and our finished dishes cleared.
Definitely check Star Cafe out because it's a star (sorry, I had to)! If you like yum cha for the quality food rather than its authentic dining experience, you will not be disappointed. read more