Grand Park

As far as Yum Cha goes in Auckland, it simply doesn’t get better than Alexandra Park’s very own Grand Park restaurant, as the hoards of families who faithfully gather around every weekend at lunch time can attest too. Although its definitely a mission to get a table, and a reservation is absolutely no guarantee in terms of timing (akin to any visit to your local GP), the wait is always well worth it. Stepping inside the restaurant is almost like stepping straight into the Orient, with the hustle and bustle of yum cha trolleys trundling past the absolutely packed and noisy dining room full of the most exotic smelling Chinese delicacies. Pictured below are a few of our favourites from the extremely diverse menu, Scallop Dumplings, Honey Prawns, Fried Soft Shell Scampi and Black Bean Fried Beans with Beef. The honey prawns and dumplings in particular were an absolute knock out, so flavourful and well balanced. The same can be said about all the food really. In terms of variety, we were absolutely spoiled for choice, with offerings from your kiwi faves such as sweet and sour pork to more traditional Chinese delicacies such as tripe. No matter whether you’re adventurous or conventional there is most definitely something for you in this menu. Warning though, quality doesn’t come cheap and Grand Park is definitely quality! Highly recommend to lovers of Chinese food everywhere.

Wow… This is one of the busiest Chinese restaurant I’ve ever been too. First time we attempted was on a Sunday butter wait was too long. We tried again on Wednesday but still had to wait a little.
The place– located in next to the race course. If you sit by the window, you can see some green. Huge restaurant, lots of seating but also lots of people. Generally clean. Ample parking, can park in the named spots but just not the disabled spots.
Food– dim sum are a little larger than the standard size elsewhere. Flavor is generally good. Good selection of dishes. Has more traditional dim sum dishes as well as the newer school dishes. Would recommend rice noodle roll with mushroom.
Service– nothing to praise but no complaint either
Price– not the cheapest. Spent $ 77 between 3 people. Mostly reasonable but I find over charge for their vegetable.
Tips– they take reservation, probably a god idea.

Best yam char place in Auckland
You have to try their century egg congee, long spring rolls and chicken feet.
There’s a 10 – 20 minute wait for lunch during the weekends but it’s worth it. You can call ahead to reserve as well.

Wow. This place is popular, particularly with the local Chinese community — always a good sign! We waited so long for a table on the weekend with people who arrived waaaay after us getting a table before we did. We were pretty hungover and found it kind of funny until we hit the 1 hour mark and turned hangry… thankfully we got a table shortly after.
The thing about Yum Cha that gets me is that you wait so long for a table and then it’s all over so quickly. Trolley after trolley of delicious food rolls past and before you know it your table is choccas and everybody is hoeing in before it gets cold. That’s not to say the food at Grand Park isn’t great. We particularly loved the spring rolls, the lemon prawns and of course the bok choy!
Overall, i’d put Grand Park on par with Grand Harbour and just a little below Sun World…

Arrived on a Sunday night to try out the dinner fare. The Hapuka with black bean sauce was my favourite dish of the evening but my kids picked the sweet and sour chicken as theirs. Although rambunctious at times, the environment was generally cordial, and the room temperature was rather pleasant.
The staff were efficient yet courteous in their manner and the dishes were delivered promptly.

Just went to this place tonight. The locale was good, the restaurant looks decent. The waiters and waitress are not very professional. Talking loudly by the tables, laughing out loud and digging their ears while they serve me. The food was below subpar and after all of that, the worst of the night was topped off with charging us a dish that wasn’t what we ate. First off, we ordered sea cucumber with mushrooms, thats the dish that came, which was 70 bucks. But when the bill came it was sea cucumber with abalone, which was 160 bucks. We told them the mistake and he explained saying they replaced more sea cucumber for the missing abalone. That’s a whole lot of bull because we were never told about any of that. After a long and painful debate, they finally returned us the missing 90 bucks that we didn’t eat. Lying and cheating Chinese working man that waits tables. Beware or stay clear from this establishment.

One of the best places in Auckland for yum char. It’s very popular so best to arrive early — say mid morning rather than midday to avoid the rush and the food should be fresher too. If it’s busy you might feel like your table is getting moved on.

One of my favorite places for Yum Cha. Actually it is better than many places I have ever tried in Beijing;) Fresh ingredients is the key issue, also food varieties. Grand park does a good job. You can’t resist any little cuties that pass by you: P Mostly all of them won’t let you down. Easy for a couple, a family and a big friends’ party to share the tasty experience. But always arrive early before you queue long time to lose ur patience!

We made a yumcha booking for 6 adults and a toddler at 12.30pm for Sunday (today). And we made this booking on Friday. We got there on time but they still made us wait a hour or even more. The thing is, I can tell there were other customers that were in the same situation! So bookings have no priority at all. This happened to us last time too.
The food is ok and comes straight away when you sit down (the new technique for yumcha restaurants so you tend to over order in the first go so don’t go too crazy). I have had better yumcha in Panmure and Three Kings that are half the price and better service.
We weren’t even finished and they started clearing our tables to make us leave so the other waiting customers could quickly take out seat… which I found quite rude (Actually this is the yumcha way. Usually in china the next customers just wait at your table until you are finished so they can claim it straight away… But this is Auckland… So majority will find this rude and creepy)
However the good thing is, some waiters/​waitresses can speak English. If not just point and nod!
General yumcha note:
Don’t be scared to try new things. Chinese do not like to waste parts of an animal that can be eaten (and sometimes nutritional too, maybe…) like chicken feet, beef tripe and stomach are all one of my favourites. Actually, if you were blindfolded and ate these dishes, I’m sure you will find them delicious too! Don’t think, just eat hahaha

At dinner Grand Park dinner is a la carte: order from the menu. And one of the cleanest and most professional in Auckland.
Having their pancake and roast duck is perhaps the best dish, followed by duck with lettuce cups. We order many dishes for variety and they are all well seasoned.
They have very refreshing freshly squeezed watermelon juice at about $ 30 for a jug.
We would normally have good fast service here but tonight we had to ask for some dishes a second time.

Have eaten here a few times now, may not be the cheapest Yum Char, but is is one of the best around. Always busy, lots of staff willing to topping your table up.

I wandered in here one day when I worked in Greenlane hospital across the road. I didn’t even know there was a Chinese restaurant here let alone one as authentic as this. The clientele were mostly Asian and they were all sitting around circular tables with a lazy susan in the middle. Having never been to China or not being too familiar with it’s cuisine, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do so I just nervously sat down at one of the tables. Everybody at the table turned to look at me so I smiled. They smiled back at me which made me feel a little better. The waitresses were coming around with the food on trolleys and I didn’t really know what most of it was. I ended up eating pork dumplings and fried rice which I know is not very adventurous but what can you do. The sight of chicken feet repelled me a bit — I would eat most parts of a chicken but the feet don’t really appeal to me. I ate the food with my fingers as I simply can’t use chopsticks — that got a few looks at the table. Perhaps they thought it was bad manners, I don’t know. I think it would have helped if I went with someone I know (preferably an Asian) as I felt a bit lost and bewildered by the whole experience.

Yum Cha, Yum Yum, if you love Yum Cha or want to try it out, then this place is a great one to try.
The food comes around quickly and its very fresh and very yummy if you love Yum Cha food, don’t come here if you are not into little steamed and fried dumplings or all sorts of little buns or roasted duck or rice rolls or or or list goes on.
Its also really easy to park here and is in a handy location if you work near Greenlane or in the weekend you can go for a walk at Cornwall Park to burn off some calories after you fill your stomach with yummy Yum Char. Do you think I like Yum Cha? Yes I do actually. Just thinking about it is making my tummy rumble and I have had dinner !
Great place !

I decided Yum Cha would be perfect for an extended family (Fathers Day) brunch. Of course I’d heard everyone rave about it and what a choice idea to see food go past and decide whether or not you want it.
But I’d also heard about the Chicken Feet and other mysterious delicacies that frankly, scared me into avoidance of Yum Cha for a long time. Anyway I put my big girls’ pants on and decided at least we had the numbers with the whole family there for it to be a worthwhile exercise for at least 90% of us. And I was right. Sort of.
I did find a couple of waitresses whose English was good enough to understand my desire not to partake of the dead animals present (sorry but sugarcoating it or shrinkwrapping it doesn’t change the fact). One of whom kindly steered me towards, or rather steered herself towards me holding it, the Seaweed Salad. I’ve had seaweed salads before and this was definitely the best ever. Fresh, crispy and not all slimy — the unfortunate big risk you take with any kelp salad.
Apart from that we also got some Deep Fried Fish which came in little pieces and was delicious and again, not all soggy, but did feature bones. This of course is normal in Chinese restaurants but not for me.
The kids really enjoyed the fun and frantic aspect of it and everyone (partially including me) enjoyed their meal.

I LOVE YUM CHA and Grand Park is my favourite one! Coming here is a reason to have a feeding frenzy. There is food galore! From pork sui mai to coriander dumplings, coconut buns to ice cream balls, even spring rolls and fried rice for those who are not so adventurous. There has to be something here to satisfy everyone’s taste buds.
This is the perfect place to come to with a large group of people. They have massive circular tables with a lazy susan in the middle to make it easier to access all the delicious meals. They also offer complementary green tea and refills.

This Yum Cha is worth popping into. It’s one of the nicer ones I have been too, and the staff are very accommodating making sure you receive meals you’re specifically after.
Yum Cha runs from 10am-​3pm Monday to Friday and 9:30am — 3pm Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.
Their Dinner menu starts from 5:30−10pm.