Secret Kitchen, CBD MELB

Capping 2018 off with a visit to a much anticipated yum cha restaurant and one that costs an arm and a leg. Booking is quintessential and without one, be prepared to be turned away during peak hours.

Service is evidently prompt as plates on our table is cleared quickly whenever the last piece of dim sum is picked off it. Aside from that, service was disappointing as not only did the waiter/waitress send wrong orders to our table (which we turned away for obvious reasons) but we were told off by a grumpy waitress when we asked for a plate of dim sum that was on her trolley.

She was very vocal in accusing us for being fickle minded with our previous orders when in fact we did not order it in the first place. Language barrier aside, we doubted she would understand if we had explained the situation to her which led us to channelling our concerns to the manager who mostly shrug it off.

Food wise - nothing to rave about as it fared no better than the ones I can get from other establishments and from a price perspective, it was not justifiable. Seafood bits used in the seafood dim sum was slightly more generous in terms of portions but as for the pork dim sums, I would think twice prior to re-ordering.

Fried squid was very dry and had a very chewy texture, akin to being deep fried twice.

Verdict: Albeit having a better dining experience at their branch in Westfield, I was very disappointed with this visit, both in terms of food and service. Dim sum plates can range from $7 to $13.50 which worked out to be at least $2 to $3 more and well, let's just say I would really need to think twice about spending this much here again.