Yum Cha is a food revelation. Where else can you be seated at a table, assaulted by 10 waiters within 60 seconds and be faced with an intellectual challenge of what to select whilst contemplating the dumpling odds of eating something that you have no idea if its animal or vegetable. Is this a sport, quiz game or a dining experience?

Further problems include that you don’t know what the next trolley holds (fomo), your hunger ‘Shrek’ takes hold and just when we have no more tummy room – your favourite appears. Then there is the Russian roulette of of getting the soggy spring roll which has done a few laps of the tables.

Yum Cha is fun but it can be better, and Gardens by Lotus have come up with a winner solution to address our loves (and fears!).

Let’s chat location first. Its going to be a while till we can go to Asia, but stepping into the Chinese Gardens (saving yourself $10 entry!) is a teleportation both visually and gastronomically. If you’re lucky like us, the sun will be shining, the willow tress will be billowing in the breeze over the lake, koi carp will be happily breaching like its whale season and the cascade of waterfalls just begs you to order a glass of Tumbarumba sparkling Lock & Key and soak it all in. Tick!

Things really get going with the ordering – in that you dont have to. With all items on the menu being served at your table you can pace yourself to perfection. Each dish is individually cooked and portioned into a 22 course degustation. You get one of everything, kicking off with steamed pork and prawn siu mai, progressing to crystal prawn dumplings then pretty green & white pea and prawn dumpings. Next up, things get a little more naughty as golden nuggets of puff pastry filled with juicy pork arrive followed by their signature spring rolls with king brown mushrooms (we ordered seconds), soy wok fry noodle, roasted meats and dishes of salt & pepper calamari and chicken with basil. What a feast. You can order more at any time but our top tip is to go through it all, then re order your favourites. This is a fomo free zone.

So say goodbye to siege by trolleys, simply relax in the gardens be served over a relaxing few hours, knowing you can work off your yum cha coma with a stroll around the gardens.

So its Yum Cha, but not as we know it – its just got a whole lot better.

Gardens by Lotus
Bottomless Yum Cha – Seating Time – Every Saturday & Sunday,
Seating time: 90 Mins (11:00am – 11:30) and (1:00pm – 1:30pm), menu here
Price: $69pp
Also check out:
Never Ending Rose Lunch – at Madame Shanghai, Fri, Sat & Sun
Seating Time | 12:00pm – 2:00pm, Price | $69 pp for 90 minute seating*