Sun World Chinese Restaurant

This place is bustling, you must book on the weekends, elbow your way to the snappy lady at the front and point to your name. She will avoid your gaze so just be bold as brass – like everyone else. Once seated the staff were lovely, explaining what they had in their carts. All the dishes were delicious, hot and fresh – there was such a high turn over it couldn’t have not been! Would highly recommend this place.

My parents have tried pretty much all the yum cha restaurants around Auckland, plus my dad used to run a Chinese restaurant himself, so it's saying something that we all go back to Sun World every weekend for yum cha - and the secret must be getting out, because there are more and more non-Chinese regulars, which is great for the restaurant. The whole business is run like an efficient, well-oiled machine, and you'll be amazed at how quickly a shortly vacated, sauce-splattered table can be cleaned up and ready for the next customers within minutes. For those new to yum cha, make sure you order the 'siu mai' pork dumplings and 'har gow' prawn dumplings. If you're feeling adventurous it's not all about the chicken feet, the beef tripe (in orange sauce, not the pale yellow one) is a great one to start with even if you don't normally go for offal. And a personal favourite is the 'chinese donut' rice roll, served with sweet sauce, sesame sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. You might have to order it especially but it's worth the wait! And if you have room for dessert, some egg tarts hot out of the oven will go down a treat. Their a la carte dinner menu is also a good choice if you're looking for a traditional Cantonese style banquet dinner. Tip: If you become a regular, you can get the duty manager to initial your card and waive the tea fee! Very handy. Also, make sure you book if arriving any later than 11am on a weekend, otherwise you might be facing a long wait with the fish and lobster tanks in the foyer...