Quality and price didn't make sense to us. Perhaps should've gone for breakfast or lunch and not dinner. However, we expected consistency to be the same throughout the day. Albeit the spacing and environment was great. Food was exorbitantly overpriced. What you see in the photos came to $90. Does not get my recommendation.

I can’t say whether this is the best yum cha in Melbourne but I think as far as CBD options go it’s pretty good. The trolleys come quickly and frequently with a wide array of dishes. Vegetarian items are limited but can be ordered upon request. Standouts on that front include the steamed rice rolls and the veg dumplings, while my favourite of the non-veg dishes was the fried squid tentacles. The stir fried radish cake with XO is also a must (although it was a little mushy for my taste, as were some of the dumplings). It’s probably better going for items with a thicker or less fragile skin like the beancurd rolls or the custard buns, which were perfectly cooked and so adorable (they look like pigs). Pretty much all the sweet options were solid, from the mango pudding to the tofu pudding to the mango cream wrapped with super soft, thin mochi. Also as an FYI, the dining session is limited to a little over an hour and flies by, so make sure you get what you want early before you run out of time.

First time experience at Secret Kitchen and I couldn't fault it. There was a line out the door for yum cha lunch, and staff were very efficient getting people through the door and into a table. No one asked us to check in or check vaccination status however which was disappointing from a health perspective, busy or not. A waiting escorted us to our table upstairs, he was very friendly and a comedian in the making. The food trolleys were flowing fast and we were offered dishes the moment we sat down. The food was of a high standard and was all delicious, no shortages at all. The service was exceptional and it wasn't difficult to order drinks or additional dishes directly. Overall a great experience and I'd highly recommend you try it.

Excellent service overall, the waiters knowledgeable and were able to answer all our questions. They even gifted my cousin some jasmine tea after she had complimented it. Exceptional food, great timing between each dish, no rush or pressure to order or to bring out other dishes. I recommend you try the King prawn dumplings, minced chicken boa and sauted king prawn Would definitely be going back again

This restaurant was recommended by a stranger from the street and was at the very end of the China town. As it was after peak lunch, there were no lines or wait time, straight to the table. The staff were attentive and provided everything we needed. We requested the yum Cha and were told they will just come around. The servers were friendly but pushy with their foods and a few times we had to insist that we didn’t want more. The pricing wasn’t very clear with what we were selecting as they were circling what we chose on this paper. Overall, the variety foods were good and tasty. They ranged from a mild spice to high spice, and were great for sharing and trying many different things. A few times it was unclear what was inside but they were good anyways. From its presentation and uniforms, the restaurant was high class and we expected the pricing to be the same. However, when it came to paying the bill, they had told us that it wasn’t enough as we had to pay $30 each. We had 4 people and already had eaten until we were all full. I requested that we get egg tarts take away and then we would pay the total cost so it would be a win win, however they accepted that there were two children with us and only charged us $90 for what we ate and 6 egg tarts as well. Overall, it was a good experience and different change. In a normal restaurant, the price would have been a lot cheaper for the items we got, however it was a fancier restaurant so keep that in mind.

The attitude is very, very bad, zero service! Whether it's a manager or an ordinary waiter, all the service attitude is very bad! The food is generally okay, but if it is this attitude, you don't want to go there second time at all. There are many other good restaurants at the same price to choose from!

Was our first time going to the restaurant. I can say it is a story of two extremes Food vs Service. Positives: The chef did their job and the food was great and appealing. Negatives: Manager was very rude and service was disorganised. She asked us to scan the QR code for check in, but then did not bother to look at our phones and ignored us even after holding it in front of them for half a minute. Many of the menu items advertised was also not available. Could do way better going to competitors for the price they ask.

Had lunch with 6 people recently. The food was good. I think there could be a larger selection of options though. The prawn and chive dumplings are always my fave. But did not see any fried calamari or eggplant come around to our table. We only saw a very limited selection and it was a Sunday and it was full house. Will return and hopefully get to try a few more options. Service was excellent and friendly

The place can be a bit busy during peak meal service but place is huge and there is ample space between tables. Staff are prompt to take and deliver orders. Food was great—we ordered most of the entrees and some soup. Wish there is yum cha for dinner as well!

The most delicious servings of yum cha I've shared with friends. Everything from the batter on the fried calamari tentacles, Portuguese tarts, prawn and scallop dim sum, cripsy pork belly, Chinese brocolli with oyster sauce and more, were all perfection. A bustling, casual atmosphere on a Sunday lunch session, as expected, so be sure to make a booking. Beautiful decor with red carpets and dark wooden furniture. The waitstaff carting the yum cha were friendly and helpful and service was quick for side orders. Prices seemed reasonable but we split the bill amongst 5 people. However take note of the 10% extra surcharge on weekends and 15% extra on public holidays.

Astonishing restaurant with amazing interior design. I love the staffs here as they are super friendly. Well no doubt the food here are delicious as well. If u’re big fan of durian, try their durian dessert it is really delicious😋😋 but don’t forget about the drink as well. There are a few cocktail and mocktail I absolutely love it which are called cute cute ginny, blue Long Island and purple dream highly recommend to give it a try. The overall experience is really great, one of the best dimsum place I been so far.

We came at 1.30pm & a lot of items were not available. Some of the food was not great; the youtiao in the zhaliang were too hard, the filling in the lava buns was very liquidy (overcooked?), the tofu hua was grainy & not sweet. They did not provide spoons until we asked, the first staff member forgot about our request & we had to ask someone else. The best item was probably the footballs which I love. Overall the experience was below average.

Excellent yum cha. The must haves include: Red rice noodle (Cheung fun) with like prawn and Choy on the inside Har gao (light gelatin wrapped prawn dumpling) both normal and truffle Siu mai (egg flour wrapped prawn/pork dumpling) both scallop and truffle Harm sui gok (I dunno the English for this but it’s good) Fong jau (gai geuk) (chickens feet) Truffle scallop rice noodle Cheung fun

Great Yum Cha today, very happy. Thank you guys, I will be back

Felt like duck, googled best duck in Chinatown and decided on Secret Kitchen. Did not disappoint. Service was lovely and warm and that alone would set this place apart in Chinatown but the interesting menu & warm (and romantic) vibe really elevates. The BBQ plater was delicious and well priced. Will be back for the lobster soon.

Fantastic service that was very attentive; trolleys and food come past very quickly. Staff were very onto it and kept our tea topped up and made sure everything was all good. Yum cha was pretty good, the squid tentacles were quite disappointing, tasted like plain flour or something. Also very pricy, twice as much as what I normally pay for the same amount of dishes

Overall for their Chinese dimsum it's considered one of the better choices to go to but not all are delectable as I was rather disappointed with their "siew mai"pork shrimp steamed dumplings and their own creation of duo pink rice vegetable rolls and deep fried shrimp rolls with dipping sauce as it was rather bland.The interiors are typical Chinese resto with wooden cosy interiors feel to it so it's not a secret kitchen!

Take you to taste of the famous and largest dim sum restaurant in Melbourne CBD Secret Kitchen's is one of the largest restaurants with seating for more than 200 people. The shop has 2 floors, beautifully decorated. Who’s Big fans of Cantonese style Chinese food should not miss it. There are many dim sum carts served hot for you to choose from. Steamed buns decorated in pork shape, the taste is extraordinary.

Nice Place to eat Hong Kong style and Chinese style food. Waiters are professor. But the light is not that enough, will make people easy to sleep. And I recommend don't heated tea that much long time, I know its good to keep warm But the tea will be easy to bitter

We were lucky to get a table for 2 at 1130am Sunday morning on the18th of June. We had 30 mins to eat before Yum Cha was over. Friendly staff and managers; very accommodating and helpful. They made sure I knew what was vegetarian. Checked up on us multiple times to make sure we were happy and out orders were correct. Very rare in a Yum Cha/Asian restaurant so appreciate it very much. Food served fresh and mouth watering. Rice noodles and egg tarts were melt in the mouth. Every thing was delicious. Not cheap but worth it for delicious food and great service. Only advice to customers is pay with cash. There is a ridiculous 10% surcharge using a credit card! We paid almost $10 extra on our bill!

The food here was exceptional! The dumpling taste plate was unbelievably tasty with so many flavours running through your mouth. We had seafood soup, Wild mushroom in pumpkin sauce & bbq pork ribs in Hawthorne fruit sauce & all were amazing! Mains are a good size & the staff are extremely accommodating. I will be back to taste more dishes from here soon.

Lots of hype about this place so went to check it out with a group of 10. We had to make a booking for available session. There was a long line to get in but once the session opened everyone got in quickly. Place was nice, modern, well decorated and great atmosphere. Well that was downstairs. We were given a table upstairs which was not so nice but ok. Yam cha food was good but nothing to rave about. Service was a bit rushed with so many people to service it was quite hard to get the attention of the waiters to even order drinks. Min spend for the table was $300 even if didn’t order that much. Our bill was just over $300. Any way it’s a good experience.

In the city again (Jul 23) and come for Dim Sums. It was not as good as before. 😕 beef steamed rice roll - tasted fishy smell (not sure the meat mixed with fish?), others are average. Second time visit and she specially come here to try Assorted Seafood Dumpling Soup. Very nice and of course it's a bit pricey. Overall I like the dim sum here. You will never disappointed.

The food at Secret Kitchen Chinatown was outstanding! I overate and I dont really do that 😳 There is a dinner menu for evenings and Yum Cha during the day. As a party of seven we had; One Minced Chicken San Choi Bao each, three lots of Assorted Steamed Dim Sim, one vegetarian Steamed Dim Sim, Eggplant with Minced Chicken & Salted Fish Hotpot, two lots of Stir-Fried Chinese Brocolli with Black Garlic & Duck Sauce, Beef Fillet with Mixed Fungus in Teriyaki Sauce, Szechuan Spicy Fish Fillet, Steamed rice and Sautéed King Prawn with Spicy Seafood X.O Sauce. Dessert was a shared Banana & Red Bean Pancake. We were well and truly stuffed by then. We had Jasmine tea and sparkling water with the meal as well as Asahi, wine and cocktails for those who drank. Defs recommend for top notch Chinese cuisine. The place was moderately busy. Excluding drinks the food was around $60-$70 pp and we all shared the dishes. Totally worth the cost. Really good food. Best two for me were the Salt n Pepper Beancurd and Eggplant with Minced Chicken & Salted Fish Hotpot.

secret kitchen was my fav spot for eating dimsum. the employees are nice except the manager/supervisor (the woman). ordered vegetarian fried rice, it was bland, no taste at all.

Booked for dinner with a group of friends. Most of us enjoyed the experience. Secret Kitchen seems to be following the trend I have started seeing at many new Asian restaurants. Compared to older classic Chinese restaurants, the decor and service here is much better, the food is decent but the prices are exorbitant. The real trade off is paying $12 for 3 pan fried dumplings, something that would cost $4 elsewhere, they weren’t anything special either. If you care more for the decor and service over value then this might be for you.

Thank you so much. It was such delicious Chinese food. My friends & I enjoyed them a lot. Ppl (waitress) were so kind with us and happy to see place disability person. 1st experience in China 🇨🇳 restaurant and will make it again.

Highly rated for yum cha and this place didn't disappoint. Big line to enter but once seat they rain the delicacies down on you. A big range served via trolleys, but you can order menu items if needed. Dumplings are really good. The radish cake is perfect. Prawn rolls were very tasty. Price is reasonable and service was excellent. It's a go to for yum cha in the CBD.

First yumcha out of lockdown and it didn’t disappoint. They run about 3 yumcha sitting sessions on the weekends which it’s recommended to book. The food overall was up to standard but the prices were definitely more expensive than nearby yumcha places. The service could be improved, especially for those of us sitting near the front of the restaurant, that didn’t get offered popular items until the end of our session. I would definitely try secret kitchen atleast once.

The food and service were good. The waiters and waitresses were friendly, but the manager (? - I supposed she was the manager) was a bit rude. She would talk to you in a dismissive way and I did not appreciate that. As per the food, it was very tasty and delicious, but they should tell you the price of the dishes they serve. We assumed they were all around the same price as there was no price on the poster displayed on the table (the one with the most popular dishes). However, the roast pork that came from the trolley was 30 dollars (against the $10ish of the other dishes). If we had known it, we'd have ordered something else.

Indeed what expected from best yum cha place in Melbourne! Not that I had tried any other but tried this once and been there twice ✌🏻

The food was mediocre - not much choice to choose from unless you order from the menu I guess. The waiter served us with a stern face the entire time...yikes! I can definitely get better food & service elsewhere 😬

A busy, modern, classy chinese restaurant suitable for Yum cha/ Dim sum. Location: Located at the 'top' of little bourke st on the corner of exhibition st. Ambience: Modern, warm lighting with many tables to cater to all group sizes, and I believe at least 2 floors. Service: Staff are attentive but service can be slow during the peak hours. If you are seated at the side tables of the main room, the push carts don't come by as often with the 'dim sum' as we'd call it or the bigger tables will wipe out the carts before they reach you. So i'd advise that if you really want particular dishes, its probably faster to just gently grab a waiter/ waitress and place the order of dishes you wish to have. They are always obliging. Food: Against most of the other places in China town i would venture to say that the quality and taste is one of the top most. Price: $$$-$$$$ on the higher end as can be expected, especially when compared against the other chinese restaurants offering yum cha along the stretch of little bourke/ china town.

Really yummy yumcha in the CBD, decent pricing. The place has an upstairs too. We had the custard bao with a piggy on the bao, it was such cute presentation. One recommendation book in advance to avoid disappointment!!

Nice place to eat Chinese food in the Chinatown area of Melbourne. The food is nicer than many others, but the prices for fish are a bit higher. However, it's still worth it because it's nice. If you don't choose fish, there are still many other food options that are nice.

Authentic Chinese experience, bringing out trolley after trolley of food to make selections from. There was just so much good food I left two belt notches higher. Bookings essential, and this seems to cater for large groups, but there are couples tables. Dumplings, crispy pork and duck were the highlights. Was a bit difficult to get the attention of staff at times due to us going on Chinese New Years. Still 5 Star, and a must visit for Chinese food in Melbourne. Yum!

Very nice yum cha restaurant, it was buzzing and full of authentic asian yum cha vibe. Good selection of dim sims and special dishes. Looks and taste great. Will be back for sure.

Used to be good. The host was pretty rude last time I went 😵‍💫

We arrived, not knowing that we had to have a booking. Went to the lady at the front desk and asked if we could do a walk-in. She said not a problem and took her straight to a seat. Staff was very friendly and welcoming.

Xiao Long bao was good but the dough was very thick. Suimai was good and there was interesting flavours. Cheong fan and hamsui gok was small but I think the quality was high end, it was stretchy and filling was flavourful. Ofc the staff a bit rude and don't look pleased. No smiles, one waitresses gave us a zhaliang we didn't order and we said we didn't order it but grumpily insisted we did. We politely asked to speak to the table waiter and he had to confirm with us but at least he was nice. In the end it belong to the table next to us.

Had a family catch up. Food was tasty. Not amazing, but still worth a return visit. Staff are super friendly and helpful.

Secret Kitchen is a hive of activity, but the wonderful Christine and her team are at all times attentive, efficient and super friendly despite being so busy, making us feel very welcome. We ordered a broad range of yum cha items (alas, didn’t photograph most of them) and everything was excellent, from the savouries through to desserts. As a group of 8, the bill was actually excellent value for the quality of what we got; we look forward to returning!

Made a reservation not knowing what to expect but the overall food quality is excellent. To be fair it’s not a cheap place but we really enjoyed the meal. In particular the marwong was amazingly succulent.

I loved how there was food coming around the tables immediately once seated but as we were seated near the front of the restaurant, food options were limited by the time each trolley arrived to us. Everything was lovely to eat however it is quite pricey for each dish. We also had 10% surcharge on sunday + fee charge for hot tea (which we were not warned of). This place is very popular and fills up so quickly so BOOKING IN ADVANCE IS REQUIRED.

This place is undoubtedly great as the food is gorgeous, come in a decent portion, and its location is perfect. This place has plenty of seats which could accommodates large group or family, and the staff were knowledgable, helpful, and work efficiently. I don't need to comment about the food in terms of taste, as it has been shown from its reputation. One thing is, this place has lots of food selection and they are popular in Asian culture. I had slice fish in pickle soup and BBQ goose. Both were such an enjoyment.

Went for dinner there. The entree of abalone was very tender and well cooked. We also had the goose which I totally recommend. The one disappointment was the pork knuckle which both arrived after we had most of the meal plus it was not as tender as expected. Overall a good meal.

Favorite place to go for yumcha and their crispy prawn rolls is to die for 😋💯👌❤

Fantastic yum cha. We liked everything we ordered and would have loved to try more. Their dumpling fillings are decent which is a bonus. Disappointed that they didn't have the roasted duck black truffle but overall was great esp the black truffle dumplings.

First time yumcha experience and it was amazingg! Delicious dishes, fast and frequent service from the most polite and hospitable staff. Cosy atmosphere. Resonably priced

Large variety of food but pretty standard taste, would recommend any prawn dishes (e.g. fried prawn roll, ginger prawn dumplings), bbq pork buns, and salted egg buns. Service was a bit lacking, and I didn't like the fact that prices of the dishes wasn't clear before choosing dishes from the trolley.

Yumcha is ok. But food order take too long to come out and 1.5hrs section is too quick when we had to wait 20mins for food ordered to delivery. Recommend booking.

Great Dim Sum ; service was a bit rushed as it was a very busy Saturday lunchtime. Food was great especially the roast crispy pork!! A MUST have😋

One of the many chains of the same restaurant scattered all around australia. We came to try their dim sum and quite pleased with the overall experience. They have not only the traditional dishes but also more modern dishes like truffle. The dishes can be a hit and miss but mostly are pretty good. Porridge was a big no no, Shiumai and chicken feet are excellent. Food - 8 Service - 9 Vibe - 9 Price - $$$$

My favourite yum cha place in town. The food absolutely delicious and great costumer service.