Review Purple Sands Chinese Restaurant - Hawthorn

The $10 lunch sweet and sour pork was good - just like I expected the dish to be - 4 stars. The $15 BBQ pork/duck was so so - 3 stars? Quiet during late lunch hour.

I have ordered from purple sands many times via Menu Log. ( thusly I'm unable to speak to face-to-face customer service) Each time the food has been well presented; great care was taken in the packaging. It arrived quickly (still piping hot) The food was excellent, fresh well prepared , I would highly recommend anything with prawns. The reviews on here talking about the food, are so far removed from my experience I suspect some kind of shenanigans.

I found an ant in my rice and a piece of plastic in one of my dumplings. The special fried rice that I had nearly made me throw up after a single mouth full. Our waiter wasn't very friendly with us, but as soon as someone who even looked remotely Asian walked in he was the friendliest person in the world, speaking English with ease. It took over 45 minutes for one of our meals to arrive. When we went to pay it took them about 10 minutes to find our bill. The food was way too expensive for what it was, nearly $90 for two people. Over all, I would say it was one of my worst dining experience that I have ever had. If you have the choice do not go here.

The home delivery was extremely slow. We are 2.6km from the resturant, the delivery took 1hr20 mins. Surprised me. The receptionist said, the driver arrived late on the day, but should they have an alternative option rather than just keeping customers waiting? Plus, the receptionist lady was not very friendly. We have ordered many times, but this time disappointing.

Rude behaviour of the lady manager at the counter. Not at all customer friendly. Another thing, We had ordered veg fried rice for take away and without asking us- Egg fried rice was being given to us. When we opened the box at home, couldn't get that how can it be taken in such a for granted way. If a person has ordered vegetable fried rice means rice with veggies not with egg. Will never recommend this place to anyone. Bad experience and poor hospitality.

Upon entering, we didn't feel like we were welcomed clients. The atmosphere is more like, we're successful already, so we don't really need your business. Our waiter advised us to order quickly as it was going to become busier. She tried to make us order more, saying that what we ordered wouldn't be enough for 8. We stuck with our choice, and she looked disappointed that we didn't add more. We waited over an hour, and so I approached the desk to ask them about it. They said, yes, it's been busy with phone orders. Not at one point did they simply say 'sorry'. Instead, they justified their situation by stating that everyone in the restaurant has been waiting. The owner approached us at the end, and was unwilling to listen to my wife's perspective - talking over the top of her. I asked him to let my wife finish what she was saying before cutting her off. He reacted by yelling at me, pointing at my face and saying 'don't tell me what to do!!!!' I told him we would leave him a negative review online, and he said 'Go ahead, I am selling the business anyway!' We enjoy supporting businesses where customer service is a priority, and not an afterthought. With so many options in Melbourne to eat, we prefer supporting businesses who appreciate their customers.

Ordered through Menu Log, after an hour contacted Purple Sands. They said food had left. Half an hour passed, contacted them again. They said they'd give us a 30% discount off the next order. Another 30 mins later and still no food. Never ever order from this restaurant! The service is absolutely appalling! Menu Log take note! I'd be delisting this restaurant. Btw, this is the second incident so we had given them the benefit of the doubt after the late delivery!

Had a lunch here this afternoon. The manager/boss yelled at three different table of customers. I couldn't understand what their conversations were. But it seems that was because of their waiting time of the food - most of the customers needed to wait for over 30 mins. for the second round of food. I just wanted to relax and have a lunch before going home. I won't come back again.

Decor fairly dated - reminisce of classic 80’s Chinese restaurant but don’t let that fool you. The food is good. Pay particular attention to the lamb ribs and items on the Chinese menu. Better value as a takeaway rather than dine in. Crispy chicken was a tad dry. Hot pot dishes were done well. Service was excellent.

After all the reviews, we still decided to go and try. The staff were friendly, and dim sum is delicious. With vouchers, we go the deal of $39 for all 8 courses of dim sum. We will surely come back for weekend family meal.

Ordered takeaway via Menulog and it came 40minutes after the time it was supposed to arrive. I rang and the person on the phone was very rude and said my order had left and then hung up. When the order arrived we were missing half the order. So again I rang and again he was rude and said order should be there, so I said it was but was missing half the order. The rest of the order arrived half an hour later. Will not go back ever.

A friend and I came to this restaurant after watching a movie. We ordered a prawn with vegetable dish, and a combination noodle dish. Both were very tasty and loaded with lots of prawns. Will be back for sure!

We visited this place for lunch today because Monk and Me had closed down 😢😢😢 and this place was nearby.<br/><br/>Reading zomato reviews afterwards was very interesting, I probably would have avoided it!<br/><br/>I wonder if it has new owners or managers as we didn't encounter a female manager about whom many other review mentioned.<br/><br/>We were greeted by a young man who seemed new to the business, perhaps, but keen to please.<br/>The waitress didn't seem to speak English well so had to defer to her colleague to assist us.<br/><br/>They had a good sized $10 lunch special, ($12 if you wanted fried rice) which we went for.<br/>Meals were a good size and enjoyable, though the fried rice was quite moist.<br/>Our spring rolls were good too.<br/><br/>Funnily though, my meal came out first, then our dish we had ordered to take away, then the spring rolls, then my husband's meal.<br/><br/>Service felt a little bit clunky but friendly and trying hard.<br/><br/>Note it was cash only when ordering from the lunch specials menu.

Had a delectable Chinese meal at Purple Sands recently. Ordered the special tofu, free range steamed chicken, wasabi mayo prawns and pork neck with Chinese broccoli. All the 4 dishes were delicious. The head waitress was friendly and service was good.

Come here regularly and will continue to do so <br/>The service had been excellent lately. Food great, especially the fried rice, shumai and chilli beef! <br/>Busy vibe tonight and lots of Chinese there, a good sign imo :)

I noticed that there has been some serious variation in the range of reviews over recent times. We went there with our dear friends with some trepidation because of this, but they reassured us that they have been there many times and enjoyed the food. They did say that they were aware of the dragon lady.<br/><br/>The service was excellent and very friendly. Recommendations from our friends and from the staff were also great. Crispy chicken and duck with tarot and the prawn and ginger dumplings were a standout. Recommended. May and Amy were lovely.

Great food and great service! The homemade tofu and the special pork ribs are so tasty. If you have a bigger group then you can try the smashed ginger free range chicken. Will totally go back.

One of the best and most economical Asian restaurants in Camberwell. Uses non frozen prawns is always a good start for any restaurant! Great duck of all varieties, and really friendly staff. Only draw back is they are a tad slow, but probably because they have so much business. No brainer as our regular Chinese takeaway. Never close!!!

Awful experience, and no manager or anybody in-charge to speak to, just poor young girl who had no idea what to do. Fair to say I will not be back.

After reading some of the review and taking my kids to lunch here yesterday, I'm a little surprised at how harsh some of the comments are. Purple Sands is not Flower Drum or Choi's but it does not purport to be either. <br/><br/>We went for Yum Cha and went through the customary order via the piece of paper and pencil. Nothing new here, it's been that way for as long as I have been going here. <br/><br/>The food is okay. We had dumplings, steamed pork bun - the usual. The prawn dumplings we had were a little wet (?) but outside of that quite tasty with real prawns etc. The deep fried octopus tentacles were not amazing but okay. <br/><br/>The service was attentive and generous. All in all, this place is pretty good. At $70 for one adult and 3 kids, it felt a little on the expensive side for what we got but hey, everything thing is a little expensive these days, just ask friends or contacts from the US or Europe what they think when they come out here!<br/><br/>Give Purple Sands a go but don't expect great.

Disgusting. <br/>I don't even have words. <br/>Thank god that Camberwell has other good places to eat because I was actually hungry. <br/>Disgusting revolting food.

This restaurant wins the WORSE customer service award of ALL TIME. We got this special offer - Yum Cha Buffett which we of course understand don't order too much to prevent food wastage etc. Probably half way through our meal a waitress abruptly came to our table and in a very rude manner said - You do know you will have to pay for any left over food and we will charge you!! I said to her: Excuse me have I finished my food yet? What kind of manner is this? Than she turned her back on me and walked away. The worse thing is she even started telling other waitresses about the situation? What the? I could not believe it. I will not be coming back and trust me I will be telling EVERYONE possible not to come to this restaurant.

***DO NOT EAT HERE!***<br/><br/>We had a terrible experience with this restaurant.  We came here for lunch on Anzac day and everyone was disgusted and disappointed by their food and service.  The mid-aged  female manager was very rude and bossy the whole time.  The food was not great and full of MSG.  It was a complete disappointment, waste of time and money.  We won't dine here again even if it's free.

The most hideous experience in all of Christendom. <br/><br/>For Christ's sake dont go near these purveyors of rubbish and vomiting.<br/><br/>You will be guaranteed two things. Excessive wait time in receiving your food, violent illness from consuming it. <br/><br/>It is worse if you order a take-away. They think it's ok to be 40 minutes in the car with your food.<br/><br/>You are a good person and deserve decency you will not get it here.<br/><br/>You will get theft of your money and pooh problems.<br/><br/>Please dont buy from Purple Sands.

Ordered a dinner box which was BBQ pork with vegetables and fried rice. When I got home I found plain rice which was fried, with a little bit of egg. Not the usual vegetables and other ingredients you get in a fried rice. There was a small piece of bok choy on one side which I assume was the vegetables, and some fatty pork on top. Most of it is still sitting in the container as it was inedible. <br/><br/>I found the menu on zomato and this dish was $12. When I went to pick up the lady at the desk told me $14, I didn't question it as I don't know how old the menu is on zomato and paid the extra and grabbed a current takeaway menu on my way out. This dish in the current menu is still $12. Judging by all the other reviews, the lady at the desk is the grumpy owner and I wouldn't have had any luck arguing the price or lack of quality with her anyway. <br/><br/>The only bonus was the food was ready on time, but I'm not surprised because the place was pretty much empty at 7.30pm on a Saturday night.

Came here for lunch on a Sunday with the family and everyone was quite disappointed.<br/><br/>Overwhelming price for underwhelming food. <br/><br/>They do yum cha, however no trollies (due to low turnovers possibly?) We were given a list of yum cha dishes to pick from similar to ordering from a la carte.<br/><br/>I don't mind paying for good food, but for what this place charges, the food overall were very disappointing. We found the prawns in the dumplings were not fresh, the flavors were not authentic, and the texture for some things were just wrong. <br/><br/>Rice noodle wrapped Chinese donut (炸兩) was the worst. Two roles of my usually favorite yum cha dish chopped into 6 giant pieces. The rice noodle was gluggy, the Chinese donut was over fried and rock hard on the outside, and stale in the middle. Over cooked bok choy was used instead of the usual Chinese broccoli. <br/><br/>The services from the two waitresses were very friendly. However the lady boss (assumption) came across rather abrupt and rude.<br/><br/>Wouldn't come back any time soon.

TERRIBLE, BLAND, DON'T BOTHER<br/>The best thing about the meal was the prawn crackers. We bought 5 dishes and they all had the same bland taste. The chicken and corn soup had dry refrigerated chicken thrown in at the end, again very bland.

** DO NOT EAT HERE **<br/>Dined here last night on a Scoopon voucher - deal was for $200 credit towards food & drink. The owner/manager named Daelyn is a nasty woman - she will lie to you and scam you and cheat you. I had the horrible experience of having to argue with her that drinks were included with our credit. I had a printout of the full deal that clearly stated you can buy any food and drinks with this deal yet first she said no drinks included then after I showed her the printed deal she decided only beer and wine was included and not anything else. Drinks are drinks - I've never heard of a place that charges you for not drinking alcohol and it wasn't stated anywhere in the deal that this was the case, this lady Daelyn just made up what she wanted at her leisure. Also beware you get a different (crappier) level of service by dining here on a Scoopon voucher. All other tables received hand towels when they first sat down and also fruit when they finished their meal. We received none of that. We were handed the menu and also another chef's specials menu which was very quickly ripped away from our hands when Daelyn yelled to the staff we were on a scoopon deal. Some advice for you Purple Sands - don't offer a deal where you don't stick by the terms of the deal - don't try and entice new customers to come in and experience your dishonesty. The waitress we had - a young lady named May (I believe she is the daughter of Daelyn) was very nice and surprisingly the food was actually tasty but the mannerism and deceitfulness of Daelyn will never make us return. BEWARE you have been warned and anyone yet to still redeem their scoopon voucher - Do not let this woman scam/cheat/lie you out of what is rightfully yours - do not pay for drinks as they are included in the deal. It was interesting also that at the end when we got our bill that some prices for meals were more then what the price was stated on the menu! Show me the honesty!!

Second time here...Lovely food (but pricey $27-30 average for a dish) as attached pics but i do agree with others that the service was really bad especially from the female or manager that she can literally get upset and angry at her staff and always wanted to be in control. If you come w a Scoopon voucher, u will be treated differently, u can only allow to order 1 drink, can't order crabs or lobsters, no scallop, can't takeaway left over food and can't even offer cut chillies. I will give better rating if the service truly improve. Poor waitresses and waiters to endure such management style. Attention to all Scoopon voucher holder that the restaurant no longer accepts booking, and u need to contact Scoopon for refund. Very bad management!

I have never had a problem with my order being taken so not sure about the other comments and the lady at front of house is always welcoming and the staff efficient.<br/>Tried one of their new dishes on the menu which was chicken with fried breadcrumbs...very tasty dish maybe a tad less salt for my taste but was very good. Their ginger and meat prawns are always good, always reliable and friendly service.

Ate there tonight with the family. Good food and we found the staff to be very friendly, even got the recipe for the pork belly. My youngest said it's one of the best dinners she's ever had. Not cheap but quality food, everything we ordered was delicious.

Went to this little purple place on Thursday and the welcome was memorable - the lady certainly knows what she wants and also lets you know the rules.<br/><br/>Had spring rolls (a little peppery but ok), dumplings (good), prawn and Singapore noodle (quite good) and honey chicken.<br/><br/>This place reminds me of the Chinese restaurant in the country town which was the one of choice.  Decor is also reminiscent of the restaurant in the country town as well...<br/><br/>Overall, expensive, does lots of take away, the food is not dismal, and the service leaves no assumptions for the imagination.   <br/><br/>Will fill the spot but does come at a price, with others potentially better placed in Richmond.

A quintessential "Chinese" restaurant  with the yum cha offerings. The food quality is good, the ambiance is above average and the service is hit-and-miss. Not a fan of not checking the boxes on a piece of paper instead of the food trolley's  on yum-cha weekdays.  The prices are directly proportional to the Camberwell location.

We loved the food and service!  We used to dine here but hadn't been in the last 4 years.  Last Saturday we came back for a casual family dinner.  We didn't make a reservation but manage to get a table.  Although we haven't been back for a few years the food and service are still as good as ever. Highly recommended.

Delectable dim sum. The decor looks a little dated but the service was fantastic and the prices reasonable. Bonus for being right next to the Rivoli cinema so a great choice for movie night.

Old dated look with a very average and uninspiring menu. Not good value for money. $26 for 5 prawns and some vegetables. $80 later for the food for two and I'm still hungry. Wouldn't come back.

Nice dumplings and good service. The prawn and choice ones are especially delicious as is the mandarin beef and the fried rice. Very rice Chinese restaurant and nice and close to the cinema<br/> <br/>

food was above average and arrived quickly ... only gripe was when we arrived it was busy but we were told it's going to be a 5-minute wait ... we waited out in the cold for almost 20 minutes until we went in and were told our table was ready ... they either forgot to come out to get us or they couldn't be bothered ... no apologies were made ... typical Chinese restaurant without the friendly service unless you dine there every other night or every week

Ive been coming here for a year or two the dishes never disappoint! The quality of food is very good compared to other neighborhood Chinese restaurants. Saying so, I'm not sure if they changed the chefs but when I went there on Thursday night I felt that the taste was not how it usually tastes. Some dishes were more salty than usual too which was the downside. <br/>I will come back here again and hopefully it can taste the same as before. Overall a great place to eat.

Good quality suburban Chinese restaurant. Friendly and efficient service so it's perfect for a quick bite before or after the movies next door. The menu has all the expected favourites and a good selection of Dim sum.

After spending a month away from Melbourne I was looking forward to diving back into our rich food scene. (Forgetting how spoilt for choice we are) went back to a local favourite that my family has been visiting since I was 4 years old (all the way back when they were in Templestowe). This place is still run by the same owners and still serving delicious authentic food. Whether you are dropping by for a quick meal before you go to the movies at rhe Rovoli next door; a romantic dinner for two or even a group this place never fails to deliver. I particularly enjoy the bean in XO sauce dish aswell as the whole fried flounder topped with chilli and garlic. If you haven't been before make sure you go and definitely book as this place will fill up!

Definitely one of my go to dim sum places, heck I even drive out to the country to go here (it's almost in Far Kew!). A lot of ordering of dishes is done with a pencil and a tick-box menu, which in my opinion beats sitting at the table just before the re-entry to the kitchen and having your choice of cold tentacles or jellyfish with ducktongue as everything you want is long gone to the preceding tables!<br/><br/>Service is not particularly friendly, and the price isn't cheap. That being said the dumplings are very good, and there is a wide selection. Other dim sum staples are also done very well.<br/><br/>Both the exterior and interior are looking increasingly tired. On the upside its located right next to a dry cleaners, so you can get those fresh stains freshly pressed out of your nice new shirt while you catch a flick at the Rivoli next door. Parking on the side streets is not too bad.<br/><br/>A great dim sum experience, but points off for unfriendliness/tired decor/price.

Very typical Melbourne Chinese restaurant. All the usual dishes on the menu, friendly service and reasonably priced. Interior is getting quite tired - as with most traditional Chinese restaurants in the area. Okay for a quick meal, but I think these 'typical' Chinese restaurants are on the way out, in favour of more modern, fresh and innovative takes on other Asian cuisines. Nevertheless, a nice meal.

Food was great but the service was probably one of the worst we've noticed in Melbourne for a long time.. Staff was rude when asking for a larger table on a Monday night when the restaurant was half empty

Ok yum cha. Reasonable food but CRAMPED restaurant and quite rude staff (telling customers to move out of the way!)

Many Asian-east-side-Melbournians will remember the first Purple Sands in its original location in Doncaster. Though it has come and gone at a number of locations in various interpretations, its reputation for Cantonese cuisine remains an institution in itself. At its current location in close proximity to the Rivoli Cinemas, the décor of this small cosy restaurant is one of muted purple and simple oriental elegance. Manned personally by the owner (also seasoned c

My number one go to :). Having eaten at many Chinese restaurants over the years, Purple Sands is my number one go to. Beautifully fresh cooked food every time - my number one favourite: BBQ Pork w/seasonal vegetables and cashew. Second favourite: diced eye fillet (love the sauce too) w/vegetables and cashew. Love their sweet chicken and corn soup, fried rice, and spring rolls. Ahhh!!! Love this place so much!!!

Too slope. Worst yum Cha in melbourne. Waiting way to long in between dishes. Had to cancel order half way through the course.<br/>Give it a miss.

Very average food and ridiculously slow. My hair grew 2mm whilst waiting for the food! Very disappointing.

"Disgusted and ripped off". Tonight caught up with friends to enjoy a nice chinese meal in Camberwell. We decided Purple Sands would be a good place to meet. What a disaster, staff were rude, food was disgusting...The size of the Cantonese Beef would have been no more than 100grams to serve 5 people with three pieces of broccoli and possibly 6 snow peas, the chicken dish was disgusting. We will never return, the ACCC should investigate, the price you pay for the food and what you get is a big rip off, big time misrepresentation!........

Worst Take away Ever!. Categorically the worst Chinese take away food we've had in a while. Dry dumplings, the most revolting chicken satay I've ever tasted... Basically dried chicken stuck to a skewer w what tasted like keen curry powder mixed with water smeared over the top. This is NOT satay! Dried chilli chicken was like eating cubes of dried up jerky, overly seasoned, raw onions.. Too much capsicum. Everything tasted over salted, full of MSG. $76 on absolute rubbish. I will never order from here again and will ensure I spread the word to avoid others from enduring the experience we had.

Best Yum Cha and Dry Chilli Chicken. The Yum Cha at Purple Sands is really, really good and tasty. We also had the Singapore noodle, just perfectly done without the grease. I understand that it takes time to have the yum cha dishes served as it's prepared ala-carte and not mass produced. The previous time I was there for dinner, the dry chilli chicken was the best I have ever eaten, and remember to ask for the spicy XO sauce too. It's really yummy and good quality food. Will definitely be back.

Ordinary. We have been to this restaurant several times, although not recently until last night. It seems to have gone upmarket, with prices to match. The food was below par, chicken dry with few vegetables, although my husband's Mongolian Beef looked good, despite his comment that it lack flavour. The serving sizes were just adequate, fairly small in fact. Service was ok, a little slow but pleasant enough. I did note that a couple of large parties were served before us, despite the fact that they arrived well after us, however it is possible that they ordered prior to coming to the restaurant. We won't be returning.

Poor service. We were excited about a yum cha experience in Camberwell.<br/>Called to make a booking. When we went to the restaurant, we were one of the first few. We placed our order. Pretty soon, restaurant starts filling up and they are taking walk-ins. We wait 20 mins, then discover they've lost our order. No apology we place our order again. 30 mins later we note everyone else has been served ahead of our group of 4, at which point we get up to leave and ask the manager what's going on. The manager tells us to leave if we aren't happy which we decide is the best thing to do. Very disappointing. We wasted an afternoon on the worst dining experience I've had, ever. Dreadful customer service.<br/>Worth driving to Doncaster and Templestowe to visit Plumes or Golden Dragon Palace. Infinitely better than this backwater.

Will not go back again! I had previously been to this restaurant a few time and find them to be good. Had book a table to celebrate mum's birthday and also for her two important guests from US and Uk. It was only seven O'clock and not many customers in the restaurant and already felt like we being Rushed from ordering to leaving. 7 courses we ordered and dinner ended in less than 30 Minutes. Not that we are fast eaters, mind you most of us are ladies and only 2 gentlemen on the same table. from ordering to finished everything was rushed. Asked for 3 set of fresh Chillies as the guests love their food with chillies and only got 1. Asked again for another 2 and again only get 1 more. Fine, ordered steam fish and only get 1 small fillet of fish cut into half, placed in a giant plate for 7 Person to share. Mind you that portion is only just right for 1 person. When asked the waiter said due to the size of wild Barramundi being very big they cannot serve whole fish. I reckon that part we got must be the very end of the tail!!! Ordered Scallops just to find that they use supermarket frozen scallops because it taste rubbery and had a distinctive fridge frozen taste. I would had make a big fuss in the restaurant if not because of mum and her guests!! They had not only disappointed me and my family but had also embarrassed me and my family in front of our guests!!

Very nice food. But very slow service. Should be better than this. Tired of the secondary service places like this offer. For the price we should get a better experience.

The lunch box of Dry chilli chicken and fried rice is mind blowing. I actually carried a lunch box to India for my dad cos it's his favorite. The food and service is world class

Tasty takeaway. Having been warned by another reviewer that their lunch/dinner boxes were more rice than meat/vegetables/sauce, I wasn't surprised at the rice/meal ratio when I opened my box. However, the amount of rice for the main dish was double the amount I'd ever eat and the main component was more than sufficient a serving so I looked at is them being overly generous with rice rather than stingy on the main ingredients.<br/><br/>The quality was top notch, gorgeous meat, beautiful flavours, the only uneaten thing left on my plate (apart from a stack of rice) was the celery because I can't stand eating it cooked. The dinner box option where you get a smaller serving of main dish plus rice is a welcome one for a single take away diner, if I ever buy Chinese takeaway I take home enough for two and begrudgingly eat it reheated the following day tasting somewhat mediocre. <br/><br/>I can't wait to return and try more dishes.

Fantastic yum cha!!!. Incredibly delicious yum cha, high quality dumplings, friendly and prompt service. best dishes were ginger dumplings and fried eggplant! clean non greasy Chinese food! highly recommend

Yum cha lovers, look no further!. The best in Melbourne, for sure and when compared to the big names who serve very mediocre food at extremely high prices and ridiculous corkages, Purple Sands is a real winner. Food, service, ambience are all excellent for a Chinese restaurant.

Definitely good. I seldom find a Chinese restaurant that can be one of my favorites, but Purple Sands certainly is: excellent food, very good service, elegant enough without being imposing. The yum cha is possibly the best in Melbourne. The added bonus of BYO wine, together with full license, makes it very popular with discerning people.

I finally found a really good yum cha restaurant!. YES, IT IS! Purple Sands is offering a really good yum cha at a reasonable price, with nice variety and excellent service. Licensed and BYOB as well.The ambience is elegant enough and the place is very relaxing. Having travelled al over the world for a considerable part of my life, I have tried many oriental restaurants and having lived in Melbourne (on and off) for 35 years, I often used to go to Chinatown for yum cha. What that area has become now is appalling: the food is ugly and the service worse. The various suburban yum cha restaurants (see Eastern suburbs and Docklands) are not up to scratch either, even if some of them charge $10 for corkage (!!!!) and unreal prices for dozinal food. <br/>I can definitely recommend Purple Sands. I will certainly go back there. Those that wrote negative reviews about it may not have taste buds.

Food was great. Perhaps a little pricey for Chinese for the portion size.

Delicious and clean Chinese food. And it's pretty cheap for the location as well.

Jan Berger. Had dinner before the movie again....the steak with mustard is still excellent...the vegetables as well...great service...

Authentic Cantonese cuisine. Managers always go out of their way to accommodate special cooking requests to cater to tastes/allergies. The fried rice paper beancurd on the Chinese characters menu and the chicken fillet in honey and black pepper sauce are big winners. Regulars also get treated to free jelly for dessert. Will definitely be returning in future.

Could be better. Bought a lunch box special which consisted of meat, veggies, rice and a drink. It was basically a massive container of rice with a little bit of carrot and cabbage (these are the veggies apparently) and a tiny bit of chicken on top. Not sure if I would visit again

I've been going to Purple Sands for a few years now, I'm in love with this place. The staff are so friendly and attentive, the food is delicious fresh and quick plus reasonably priced which is a bonus. I normally go here before or after seeing a movie next door it's the perfect night or afternoon out! Definitely recommend purple sands!!!

My favourite Chinese in Eastern Melbourne. Dim Sum superb, terrific service, I held my father's post wake celebration here we loved it so much!

Really good authentic cantonese food! Great bbq pork buns and if you are there, ask for the salted egg chicken ribs!

Very good solid performer. Before we booked for dinner I read some on line reviews. As usual there was a wide range of opinions, mostly good. We were a party of seven and as such were able to get a good selection to try. as always the food was quite good but not brilliant. what I really like about this place is a sense of old world service. I would now regard purple sands as a very nice place to eat where you will be assured of good service.

Just read reviews!!!!. My husband, friends, family , business associates, have been regular customers of Purple Sands after opening its doors years ago, we have never had a complaint, always received excellent food & service, I just looked it up to check if open Mondays as not a normal visiting day, could not believe the comments, please oh please advise the restaurants serving ("better food") in the immediate area??.<br/>As for blonde (fake designer clothes BMW) I can assure you most residents in Camberwell do not have to prove a point , would treat dining at Purple Sands as a nice meal out!! you would be referring to weekend visitors from other locations who consider this upmarket.

Wines. Im a keen wine drinker who often eats at Purple Sands - love their food!<br/>Also really enjoyed the Wynnton Ridge 2007 Chardonnay great wine.<br/>Also believe Purple Sands stocks their Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.<br/><br/>Good dining experience.

Ok nothing out of the ordinary. I visited this place recently and found the staff were very good attentative let down by the food on offer- nothing any different from other chinese establishments - price ok for quantity and quality- good wine though

Don't come here if you are not prepared to east a lot. We were looking on late Monday evening 9pm (queens Birthday weekend) for a quick and small meal. We decided on Purple Sand. The place was already fairly quiet and only 3 or 4 tables had customers. <br/>We were a small group of 3. Once seated we were asked if we want some Chinese Tea. We said no and asked just for some water. From that moment onwards it seemed that there did not loike us because we were not spending enough money. It continued when we ordered straight away main course and there were even more disappointed to find out we only ordered 2 serves of main to share with one vegetable dish. To end we did not take dessert.<br/>Money was not our problem, but we had a late big lunch and we did not want a large dinner at 9PM!!!<br/>So to top it al off when I come to pay i asked were to sign on the credit printout because I did not have my glases on and the answer was:" does not matter were , its only a small bill".<br/><br/>Well thansk Sir. Small fish also make a sea. And if you not happy with small dinners, when your restaurant is empty (only 4 tables had customers) than have a sign up minimum spend $$$.<br/>I definitly want be back when I'm very hungry and want a big meal. I like to support the friendly restaurant that appreciate every customer. And BTW i would understand your attitute if the place is full and we take a table away that can make more money. But not when you are empty.

Love it!. Have been coming here regularly for about 6 years for their excellent selection of dumplings. Admittedly, I haven't tried that much of their other offerings, but what I have tried has been pretty darn tasty. But those steamed seafood dumplings, they just keep us coming back for more! Staff are attentive and friendly. Highly recommend.

Pricey. My boyfriend loves this place because of their chicken and sweet corn soup. I actually think the food is rather good, however, having been there lately, the prices aren't justified considering the amount of other chinese places out there serving the same quality (and more quantity), for much less the price.<br/><br/>I feel like their selection of food isn't that vast, with most of their stir fries having a similar flavour. San Choi Bao is nice but at $9, they're really pushing it (considering it's a smaller serve than most other places).<br/><br/>The food and service are both good but save your money and go elsewhere. Won't be returning on my own accord (my partner just insists we always go because of that damn soup!)

Great food!. Despite what has been previously suggested, Purple Sands is not under new management. However, last night the staff were excellent, the hot and sour soup brilliant and the duck sensational. What more can I say!!

Slow service.... Slow reception, slow menu presentation, slow table service (no napkins, everyone but us has one). Food was oily. A big reason why the food was tasteless... It's because it was all soaked in oil. Don't bother...it's pricey Chinese food for food masked with oil.

Nightmare!!!. I used to love purple sands, great food, awesome dumplings but since the new management took over, it has gone downhill. We went for yumcha on Saturday, it was reasonably busy but a one and a half hour wait for lunch is pretty unacceptable, especially with no explanation. When we finally got our order it was wrong! And they are notorious for overcharging on the bill so be careful! I won't ever go back.

Purple sands. My favorite Yum Cha<br/><br/>Not a great atmosphere but the food makes up for it

Good chinese. At the last minute decided to go here for dinner last night, we both ordered the $40 banquet and added san choy bow as an additional starter. The waiter said that they had run out of the curry puffs (included in the banquet as one of the starters) and said they would be happy to include the san choy bow in the banquet as a replacement. The staff were lovely and the food delicious, more expensive than your standard chinese, but this is to be expected in Camberwell! Would recommend for others and will be back again soon!

Drycleaning and Duck. Who would have thought. A reasonable and often forgotten Chinese hidden between the Rivoli Cinema and a Dry Cleaner can be found decent chinese where first generation chinese generally out number the typical camberwell (blond, black dress and BMW) set 3 to 1, which is usually a good metric. Duck pancakes will not disappoint.

A bit pricey but Yum. Been here for quite a few times and always love the food! a bit pricey but we still go back because of the food, not to forget the complimentary dessert, love the pudding!<br/>like the ambience too, it does not portray the usual chinese reatuarant, bright and loud - it is dimmed and comfortable.

Mrs. The food and service was terrible, would not go back. Steamed scallop dumplings, couldn't find the scallops and tasted the same as the deep fried prawns,. The peeking duck was glazed skin and fat hidden in an already prepared pancake parcel, where was the actual meat? From there it just got worse. Over priced for chinese cuisine.

Purple Sands. Poor service, food was nice and we were'nt over charged.<br/>Would go back again. I still can't find a chinese restaurant that is better than Formosa House.

Very pleased that we read reviews before going to Purple Sands. We checked the bill and found we were overcharged $45. Staff seemed unconcerned and rectified as soon as we pointed out the items. <br/><br/>We would not go there again.

Came here for yum cha on a Sunday. Food came out fast and service was good however I quickly became put off my food when I found a piece of hair in my tea cup. There was also strange stringy hairs in the prawn dumplings to which my friend advised me was due to the prawns not being washed properly. But to top it off I found a piece of hair inside the mango pudding. Suffice to say I will not be coming back again.

Yum. Food was great. I highly recommend the pig trotter and mustard steak. Will definately go again! Price is not bad

The best in the area!. From the deliciously juicy san choi bao to our cripsy Peking duck and extravagant abalone dish. The dinner at purple sands was to die for. We opted for ala carte over the banquet, and with the recommendations from the helpful owner we were treated with quality dish after dish. Service was prompt and efficient. The dining area is quieter then other Chinese restaurants we've been too, that can either be a good or bad thing depending on what you are use to.<br/><br/>Have yet to try the Yum Cha lunch but will def make the trip back to try it one day.

I think is alright for me. Well, been there more than ten times. The renovations were classy, but service was a bit slow. Food quality was slightly above average but I think the price was reasonable.

Brian. I was overcharged on the food bill by $65.<br/>Scant apology when they rectified this.<br/>Then when they gave me the revised bill I realized they had brought a more expensive bottle of wine than I ordered. Once again they rectified the bill with apology.<br/>Do not go there-rip off.

MASSIVELY OVERCHARGED and barely an apology. It makes me wonder how many times I've been overcharged before and not noticed!<br/><br/><br/>-----25 Jun, 2010-----<br/><br/>It may be on the pricey side (you are in Camberwell!), but the quality of food at yum cha is excellent! Not a traditional yum cha atmosphere, but quiet enough to actually catch up with whoever you're dining with!

Yum cha to order in a small room doesn't seem very authentic. Lacks atmosphere.