This place never disappoints.
Always greeted with a smile when you walk through the door. Staff are friendly and efficient.
The food is outstanding. Authentic flavours that transport you to Asia.
The free range chicken spring rolls (a personal favourite) are totally addictive.
Everything is fresh and organic. What more could you ask for?!
Great value for money as well.
So, a winner all round.
Yum. Honest little place with free range meats, organic ingredients and I believe everything gluten free. I don't even know where to find such amazing values in an Asian restaurant anywhere in Melbourne! Food was good. Had some dim sims and dumplings. Also had a custard bun. Everything was lovely and we filled our belly's for under $20 per person. I have read some other reviews saying it's expensive, bit I disagree. The ingredients that are used will be a lot more expensive than most Asian places and the prices seem comparable to me. It's not very cosy to eat in, but we sat outside. Unique little spot!
My score 4 stars. J & I had dinner here a while ago before seeing a concert at the fab Theatre Royal. The place we were going to try was chockers, so we came here instead. Small interior & staff were nice. Being free range (& some organic) ingredients, we felt ok to try more meaty things than we usually would (still skipped the beef though). We only had dumplings/yum cha type items as they are pretty rare up this way (but pigged out on plenty to fill up). Probably liked the Chive & tiger prawn dumplings the most. J loved their use of interesting mushrooms in the Veg ones too. Overall a very pleasant experience - not cheap, but you're paying for the quality of ingredients & the fact you're in the countryside. Castlemaine is lucky to have them!
As Taste of The Orient is a stone's throw from my place, it has become my regular eatery. I love the steamed buns, particularly the ginger chicken. And the vegie version has tasty shitake mushrooms in it! All the staff are polite and friendly, with service being efficient. In Winter the chicken and corn soup warms one up at treat. Dinner from 5 till 8:30pm is fabulous too, with my staple being the Malay Deep-Fried Chicken with peanut sauce. For desert one cannot go past a steamed custard bun and Malay coffee. Kids love it too!!!
Situated on the main St of Castlemaine, a descent menu at affordable price. Must try Prawn pockets and chicken balls yummmmmm... few seatings inside and outside the restaurant. Was established nearly 8years ago, does wide variety of yumcha!
The best dumpling restaurant for miles!!. Consistently good organic cooking from Joe. Small but cosy friendly atmosphere. PS Custard Buns to die for! It does not get much better than this.
Amazing amazing food! I was really surprised by this one. It looks like just your typical Chinese restaurant, but in fact, these are the best dumplings I've ever had (admittedly, I don't often go to dumpling restaurants, but still...). Staff were friendly, highly recommended!
Excellent dumplings. We made a booking because we had a group of six. And that's about the maximum you can get in there. Does a roaring trade for Sunday lunch.
Wish I'd taken photos to share of the food. This was my third time eating at this excellent cafe and I loved it more than my first two visits. Today we shared the deluxe combination of steamed dumplings which was so tasty. Each one had carefully combined ingredients that we could taste. The steamed pork bun was so delicious and there were no ingredients like food dyes as the chef/cook is so careful with ingredients. At the end of the meal we decided to have the red bean sesame ball and the steamed pumpkin dessert. The sesame ball was by far the best we've had and the steamed pumpkin dessert was so delicate in texture, very smooth gooey outside with yummy nuts, dried fruit and coconut inside. Highly recommend the whole menu!
Pretty simple review for this really, extremely tasty, good valued, family run. Loved it. Best pork Bun I've ever had too and I've had a lot of Pork buns!
Delicious! Great place for a quick yum cha lunch. Have always managed to get a table inside, even though the restaurant is tiny. Don't be put off by the decor or the size of the place, the good food and friendly service makes up for this. A perfect yum cha option when not in Melbourne.
Opted for the takeaway option - didnt have to wait too long, everything was pretty yum! Pork dim sims are the go to fave for us, along with prawn balls. Food is really consistent here also which is a positive
Though not your traditional trolley type yum cha, the range is divine! Went for Mothers Day last year as its our tradition - and we'll be returning again this year!
Not really an 'atmosphere' rating, more a great food and quick service rating!
The amount of gluten free dumpling options blew me away!
Had a great late lunch here after a big ride. Delicious sticky rice special. Also had some rice rolls and prawn dumplings. Highly recommend
Yum Yum Yum. I had the need for a mid-afternoon light snack on my way home to Melbourne and after visiting the wonderful Falkner Gallery, ventured around the corner to this little shop of surprises!
Oh my! I love to give credit when and where it's due and hence this review. My travel buddy and I shared 3 plates; Crystal Vegetarian Steamed Dumplings and Crystal Tiger Prawn Dumplings x2. How scrumptious and reasonable!
Hand made and steamed on the spot, you're told approximately how long it will take (about 10 minutes) and then sip tea and wait for these parcels of fabulousness to arrive.
Just fantastic and as I've said before, I like to give credit when it's due and hope that this review helps someone else make a great decision when in Castlemaine and when feeling a bit peckish.
Don't know if you can classify this food as intelligent but the concept of it is! I'll be back sometime after April and will be going there for dinner...the menu looks brilliant!
Melbourne Epicurean Juror
+5
A Castlemaine Little Gem of a Restaurant serving the best Siu Mai Dim Sum I've ever tasted. Seriously, I pegged out having a double serving of 6 Siu Mai Dim Sum and they were large, served hot & full of flavour using beautiful fresh seafood. I left with a full tummy (enough for a light lunch which was my intention) & very satisfied. The young waitress "Jodie" was great, providing excellent service as well as being very friendly. This little restaurant is a winner in my opinion, I will definitely be returning soon, well worth a visit.
Phill Jury (food critic & writer)
Yum Cha. Excellent yum cha, highly recommend the pork bun
Incredible! Local, free range ingredients and every item is delicious. Catch them at the Farmers or Wesley Hill markets as well.
Ummmm .... yep :). So good to see someone having a crack at yum cha style food outside of Melbourne!! It should be noted that it is not a trolley-service style yum cha.... more of a dumpling house where you just order what you want off a menu.
The food is really nice, although I must say I find a lot of it to be over-cooked and kinda soggy by the time you get it. That and it does sometimes take a long time to get to the table after you've ordered.
That said, it's about time we had some REAL chinese food in the country, and I think it's a big PLUS for everyone. Definitely give it a go (the char siu pau are really really nice, especially if you visit their stall at the Bendigo Farmers Market and get one for breakfast!)
They really are YUM!!. So good!!! most definitely going back!!! can not compare!!
Tasty!. Great vegetarian options and friendly staff. We ordered take away and had a fantastic feast. Looking forward to coming back to Castlemaine truly a foodie delight, great for vegetarians, wheat allergens and kids!!!
Yum cha!. Love this little place, the people who run this also have a little market stall at the farmers market, try the pork buns and sesame balls and the mixed boxes are well worth it
Pure Awesome. Went there twice in one weekend it was so good. Don't expect fine dining just good food.
The Mixed basket is an awesome place to start along with the Pork Buns.
Afterwards head up the road to Apple Annie's for some awesome pastries.
Yeah the food here is delicious. And we enjoyed the flavour station (featuring chilli bean sauce).
More like homemade goods mum used to make rather than restaurant quality. I guess that’s what is special about the place.
This little spot is a hidden gen in plain sight. Having eaten here for more than 5 years, I can honestly say it's great food done by great people and punches well above its weight in a town with a well established food culture with high standards and cosmopolitan tastes.
Great, fast and delicious food. Many gluten free and vegan options, and organic ingredients make amazing meals here!
The foods are tasty! We had Singaporean Fried Noodle with Fried Calamari. We finished it up with this tiny pumpkin thingy, you gotta try this!
Nice dumplings!!!
A very good experience to eat here. The owner is very nice too!
We really enjoyed this place. It was quite busy considering current restrictions but the food was brought to our table quickly it was all nice for what was a fairly basic menu. I'd go back again in a heartbeat.
Fantastic food! Delicious dessert! Lots of gluten free options!
Staff was friendly and efficient.
Would definitely recommend if you're in the Castlemaine area!
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