Beijing House

Really good food in a nice, quiet and clean restaurant. I’m a big fan of this place for lunch.
I just read the other reviews for this place and can only say that they don’t reflect my experience. Maybe I was there on a good day? Either way, I really enjoyed it and will be returning.

I probably won’t come here again unless I am really desperate for dim sum in the city. The food was quite average, maybe even just slightly better than ‘bad’. Most of the dim sum served was lukewarm, which didn’t do much for the flavours of the food e.g. The bun portion BBQ pork bun was clunky and sweet (not fluffy like it should be) and the skin for the shrimp dumpling was a bit too dry. There wasn’t too much variety either and for the amount and quality of food we ate I thought the price was a bit too much ($ 20). Convenient for groups though when we went at lunch there was plenty of tables.

Craving some yum cha, I gathered a group and headed out to Beijing House. The options for yum cha are limited in the CBD, so my expectations were tailored. Not the best I’ve had, but not bad either if you need to satisfy a craving.
I enjoyed the wide variety of different types of dumplings!

I have never craved Dim Sum so much in my life but am I glad that I did!
Just a little tidbit of info… in Australia they call Dim Sum, Yum Cha, so if you ever see these 2 words, you’re in a for a treat!
I came here with some friends in which 2 of them were new to a dim sum house where they push the carts around and you just order. I have to say, it was quite fascinating to watch them eat and watch me order everything for them. We came on a Saturday for lunch, and I was expecting long queues, but the restaurant wasn’t that packed — it did get busier as it get closer to 2pm.
The selection of dim sum is excellent as they have everything from shu-​mai to egg tarts. Speaking of which are both amazing! I definitely loved eating here as the service was absolutely spot on. The waiters constantly kept refilling our green tea as well as continually offered more dim sum.
The big thing that’s setting me back from giving it 5 stars is the price. Although this place isn’t overly expensive, it is definitely more expensive than what I would ever pay in Los Angeles. In total, we ordered 13 items + 4 cups green tea = $ 80. I was shocked with the total, as I have never paid that much for dim sum. We were definitely full at the end of the meal, but it would be great if they reduce each item by at least $ 1

The last time I ate at Beijing House was early 2012 and what I recall was pretty reasonable/​average food (I’d say for yum cha, it was edible) with a quite nice «Chinese» interior feel.
1 year later, I’m back, and I can’t say anything much has improved. If anything, I’d say the yum cha I had today was definitely a step backwards. The lobak koh (pan fried white radish cake) was slightly chewy (probably more due to the fact it had been out for a while) and still had chunks of lobak in it (was cut pretty coarsely without care). The steamed dumplings all had a pretty thick chewy skin and the fillings weren’t that appealing in terms of taste. We ended up trying some fish cakes which turned out to be pretty chewy and edging towards being too hard. Something I always look forward to at yum cha is custard tarts, so at least here the custard tarts were actually pretty reasonable here both in terms of pastry and the custard flavour.
Service wise is pretty ordinary and typical of Chinese restaurants (efficiency over politeness). I found that all staff were eager to offer food from their carts, so much so that they were asking us whether we wanted more food every 2 to 3 seconds (perhaps the frequency was bordering on harassment, which is funny since we’d probably still complain if they don’t ask us whether we wanted more food. ah the joys of being human) but being unable to properly say what they’re offering.
I can’t say this is the best yum cha I’ve ever been to and I’m not sure if I’d recommend it to anyone. Perhaps I’ll visit again next year and reassess…
However, if u do find yourself in the City and are desperate for yum cha, do still have a go… perhaps they were having an off day when I went. if that’s the case, keep me posted…

Beijing House should hit the spot if you need a lunchtime dim sum fix in the city and you miss the old school Hong Kong push carts.
Despite being right smack in the city on Queen Street mall, prices are pretty fair given how large the portions are. Expect the usual dim sum fare — hao gao, siew mai, lor mai gai, chasiew bao, etc. to the slightly more exotic, such as deep fried calamari and chicken feet.
Don’t expect stellar service, so be prepared to hunt down the pushcart girls when your table is running low on food. Or you can order from the kitchen and they will make it for you.

Duck duck duck DIMSIM!!!
On the weekend, I had the amazing pleasure to visit this amazing restaurant that I had walked past a bazillion times, but never took notice of.
We were at home on a Saturday morning, felt like a change and came across this restaurant that had mixed reviews. «Oh well» we though and decided to give it a try. And thanks the lords we did.
First things first, it was a celebration, so we decided to go all out and order the Peking (Beijing) duck when we sat down. While waiting for out duck, yum cha after yum cha trolley came rolling past. Holy dooly, the food was amazing. Our family usually judges a Chinese restaurant by the quality of their Dimsims. Beijing house did not disappoint. AMAZING!!!
Shortly after a couple of courses of the yum cha favourites, our duck came and the pancakes were AWESOME!!! Then the second course of such sang choi bow. That was awesome too. So much flavour.
In some of he reviews we read, service was a bit of an issue. By our guess, there were about 2 waiters per table (mind you, there were only about 6 tables seated) so service was great. It was interesting to see that there was someone pushing a trolley with someone following them to convey what was on said trolley. GREAT SERVICE!!!
Another review said that the portions were massive — I definately agree with that. However, prices of plates reflected that. But flavour we found was not compromised. Everything was beautiful and had the right amount of flavour.
Lunch was great, and I’m sure that i will be back there VERY soon with a group of friends to try out their dinner selection.

We’ve only ever had yum cha here, many times but it would give most places a good run for their money — namely the one across the mall directly from Beijing House. Up these steep stairs of marble my husband and I ventured (thank goodness we didn’t bring the pram) and the restaurant is quite ‘grand’ inside.
The owner has taken great care to decorate this restaurant with antique looking rosewood chinese high back chairs, lanterns and other posters and wall hangings as such on the walls of this split level restaurant.
The waitstaff are very courteous here and attentive, there is always one looking out for you if you need anything, or even turn your head as it seems to do a shoulder stretch. The yum cha comes out in steaming hot trolleys and is served quite efficiently, you always have food coming to your table. If they don’t have what you want, you can order it from the kitchen and they will make it for you… always good.
One thing about the yum cha here, the servings are massive. You could get 3 beef balls on a small yum cha plate, here you get 3 massive beef balls… you could easily make them 6. So you don’t order as many plates and you get full very quickly. It’s also reasonably priced… plus, if you’re lucky they will have a $ 3 all plates yum cha deal on… and it’s even cheaper. For the quality it’s okay… quite authentic if I must say myself… but having such massive servings does make the flavour more diluted.
You definetely get value for money here, and it’s in a great location… you just have to brave those first few steps and you’re almost there.