Review Shark Fin Inn - Melbourne

Solid. The staff was very attentive and we felt they were genuinely happy we were there. Every dish we ordered was good, with the special scallop fried rice being the standout. We were happy with our experience overall (and I’m very thankful that the staff put up with my poor Chinese). :,)

Sweet memories from forty years ago when I was a kid. Used to go here every second weekend as a kid, with the food being nothing short of superb. Fast forward to 2022 and Shark Fin Inn still stands and still serves up outstanding fare. I was with my 10 year old daughter this time and took her out to dinner here, having told her about the beautiful memories I had of the restaurant. Can honestly say things hadn’t changed. The service was just outstanding and the food just mouthwatering. Between us we had the entree of chicken skewers, for mains the Mongolian lamp (oh yeah baby), lemon chicken (so so good) and steamed rice. To see a 10 year old kid fall in love with the smells and taste was so satisfying. The owner of the restaurant was there and was so accommodating and pleased to hear that 40 years on I brought my daughter. You do have plenty of Chinese restaurant options in Melbourne but give this one a try first. You won’t be disappointed. Excellent service, delicious food and competitive prices. Thankyou to everyone at Shark Fin Inn.

Great place to eat seafood! We ordered one lobster for two persons, and that lobster was LARGE!! Staff is also very kind. We’ll be there again.

A great place for dim sum and lunch whenever you are in the city. Very near to Parliament station. Attentive staff, quick service despite busy lunchtime and delicious food. Can’t go wrong!

Came in for Yum cha and was impressed with their different types of dim sums. Prices are higher but you pay for the quality. Services is good nothing short but impressive. Would definitely be back. The only criticism I have is the toilets is dated and no change tables if you are a young parent 😬 Overall 8/10.

Not bad. Not as good as secret kitchen but just solid yum cha. Has all the favourites: Cheung fan, siu mai, har gao, ham sui gok, fongjau/gaigeuk, char siu (charn ) bao. It was just above average yum cha, nothing that blows your mind. Will come back when taking people for traditional yum cha

The best egg tart ever and the truth Hong Kong style ever. Pastry is very fluffy and egg custard is really delicious. This is one of the rare egg tart that almost disappear in Melbourne. Beef meatball and beef mixed pieces are so yummy and lots of flavor. The chicken feet and pork rib rice is so soft and delicious. The price is normal and their yum cha food are always high quality even during lockdown. Very impressive :)

Four Stars 🌟. Two people for Tuesday Yum Cha lunch. Total Bill @ $100.20. Amazingly tasty, the food and service was very pleasant and prompt. The Floor Manager was really service orientated, with awareness of pouring us Jasmine tea at the ripe times. The waitresses were all pleasant and well mannered. Top dishes recommended: Chicken Feet, they were the largest and tastiest I'd had in a while anywhere! The Scallop and Tofu Dim Sums, The Steamed Rice Flour Rolls with Prawns (need to special order), The Yellow Custard Bun for dessert were amazing! (need to special order). They were fresh, steaming hot, fluffy and the custard inside was gorgeous. Totally hit the Spot. ❤️🍮👌

I have finally found a real place for yum cha, serving all the traditional variety of foods and specialties. The mixed tripe was superbe and the chicken feet were some of the best I have ever had. The Chinoise style scallops in the shell were very nice. As a retired professional in the field, I can certainly recommend this restaurant. I definitely will be back quite often.

Worst service of any restaurant in Melbourne... avoid! If you want good yum cha go to secret kitchen.

This restaurant represents the very best of Chinatown. I've eaten here many times, and it's a Melbourne institution. The yum cha is fantastic, I especially love the fried octopus, and their range of dumplings are delicious. This place is perfect for a group lunch and the trolley service means you never have to wait too long for piping hot yum cha. Highly recommend, and I will definitely keep coming back.

Hideous<br/>After suffering through an entry full of dirty seats piled up like the aftermath of the cheapest wedding you’ve ever attended, you’ll be ushered up a flight of stairs of carpet so worn you’ll wonder if renovations are being held off while the council decides to condemn the building. <br/>The staff will continue with the “what’s-the-point?” theme by taking your order but not putting it through to the kitchen. <br/>In the 25 mins you initially wait for the “lost-in-translation” first course of the “Shark Fin Banquet” you’ll probably make a trip to the toilet. After passing clientele who look homeless and stacked up highchairs in need of an yet-to-be-invented industrial cleaner, you’ll return wishing you’d urinated into your handbag- the undeniable absence of hygiene combined with the vomitous smell will have completely put you off food anyway. <br/>But you’re polite, so you’ll wait. And wait. Staring at your friends and loved ones, all squinting and exposed by some of the harshest fluorescent lights outside of a 711. And you’ll continue to wait. And by the time one of the completely disinterested staff members bothers to ask “are you ready to order?” you’ll be glad you hadn’t really put anyone out, and stand up and storm out. <br/>But don’t think you’ll get an apology. NO!!! Instead the palpably pathetic manager will add $3 on to the menu price of the almost full bottle of Pinot Gris your party left on the table and look strangely excited when you throw extra cash at him. <br/>A complete dump.<br/>Hideous

Amazing Chinese food! Loved the lobster so much. It was so fresh and cooked and seasoned really well. Definitely worth paying the price!

Great Chinese food and well known for taste and value. <br/>Call in advance for specials of the day.<br/><br/>Seafood are defiantly the best dishes . Decor has not change in ages. Staff are very efficient. You could also BYO. <br/><br/>Sunday yam Cha are always packed so book early.

Only accept cash when under $20 - no exceptions and won’t even allow credit card with surcharge. When do many people are not using cash anymore this is a ludicrous policy.

They have been very consistent all this years and the food here is amazing! We usually order dishes here during dinner and the food is good! Be sure to have their steam fish and lobster and you would not be dissapointed

Shark Finn has been my family's favourite Chinese restaurant for close to 2 decades. We're very big fans of the food but have always gone to the Keysborough venue. This was our first time at the CBD location and we didn't love it as much as Keysborough. <br/><br/>The staff were very polite and prompt with their service but the atmosphere in the venue felt a little dull and dated. The food, as expected, was fantastic though. <br/><br/>The seafood San Choi Bao was a standout, with a decent amount of visible pieces of fresh seafood. Very enjoyable however the sauce served with it was too tart for my liking.

Went there for dinner and the Peking duck was great!! Loved it so much. Ordered sweet and sour pork, fried rice, roast chicken as well. They were all good chinese food but servings were not that big. Service was pretty good — defs one of the good Chinese finds in CBD!

I love my yum cha and needed a place to take some friends in the CBD. Since I've frequented Shark Fin House a few times in the past, I thought I'd try Shark Fin Inn this time round. The tables do seem less tightly packed which is a bonus, but I was a little disappointed at the limited options compared to other yum cha restaurants I've been to this year. The 'carts' had less food on them, and there wasn't as much variety in terms of dumplings, fried dishes or desserts. In the end, I needed to look at their menu to find some more food to order, as a large proportion didn't came around in the trolleys. It also felt a little rushed towards the end as they are quite strict with their 3pm finish, as opposed to other yum cha restaurants where we usually have the luxury of chatting a little longer if we're in their last session. Service was ok. Food quality was decent and there was a good amount of prawn in the har gow dumpling, but their other dishes were average. The cheong fun noodles were a little too thick for my liking, and the chicken feet were a little smaller and less well-marinated than others I've had. The price was quite reasonable though.

Favourite place I’ve been for yum cha in Melbourne. The staff were so nice to us the whole time, and even though we were put against the wall, they made sure they offered us everything. The food itself was great, the dumplings were just a little more flavoursome than other places, and the dumpling skin textures were perfectly sticky and soft. The fried dumpling was the best I’ve had around too. Finishing off with the egg tart and mango pudding was the best end to a great lunch.

I came here with my partner for casual dining for our anniversary. The food was good and the service was great. We ordered half Peking duck and it was fully prepared, wrapped for us. If they could spoon feed us, they would. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We'd been here previously but this time we were treated appallingly. We sat down at 1.15pm for Yum Cha. At 1.50pm they started harassing us to leave as there's a second session. They then harassed us twice more to hurry. When we complained about the poor treatment they said we were told we must finish within an hour. They never said this or we wouldn't have sat down as my Mum needs a lot of time to eat. We paid and left by 2.10pm. An awful experience for us but they didn't care.

Decided to come here whilst out in the city and I haven’t ever tried yum cha. The restaurant was pretty busy for a Sunday lunch which is usually a good sign. We tried a little bit of everything and everything we tried was really nice. The bill ended up coming to $50 which isn’t too bad I would definitely go back again..

I’m not the biggest fan of Yum Cha, but I must admit this was pretty good. There was a huge variety of dishes, and the dishes cooked fresh from the kitchen were also good.

We ordered way more than whats pictured but the food was not enjoyable so I gave up on photos. Service was pleasant however, food could be better.<br/><br/>The vegetables were not fresh. they gave us mostly the ends of the greens with yellow leaves. Honestly bits i would've thrown out at home.<br/><br/>The liu sha bao (kinda like custard bun) was dense , and not made properly. The bun was not light at all and felt hard and old. The fillings were very thick, like overcooked yolk.<br/><br/>Dumplings were ok. I mean , how can they go wrong?<br/><br/>I cant spell, but the thing with chinese doughnut jn the middle was not good either. The you tiao was very very crispy and not hot.<br/><br/>Shanghai pork dumpling skin was also too thick.<br/><br/>There were no carts going around<br/><br/>Not a yumcha i like and ive been to many.

This is the sister restaurant to Shark Fin House which is just down the road - and not any less in quality! Food is authentic (if not more affordable), service is great and it’s still BYO. If anything I prefer this restaurant because it simply has more space, and you are not sitting too closely next to strangers.

Very busy yum cha place in Chinatown. The food is fresh and hot, and the service is fast. The jyu cheong fan and mango pudding are highly recommended. Pity there are hardly any windows, as the place is quite dark.

Great service and great food. Went here on Valentines Day and they even gave me a rose to give to my Girlfriend. We had the banquet which was very filling. The steak was my favorite dish. Would visit again.

We have been coming here for 20 years !! but will never return !!! Our family of 10 had dinner on Saturday night & my son went to the toilet. The watier was in the toilet that had been serving us all night handling our food. He finished doing his business & then walked out of the toilet past my son & DIDN'T WASH HIS HANDS !!! he came straight out & went back on the floor & started working on another table !!!!!!! WHAT !! my son walked up to the floor manager, the guy wearing glasses & said your waiter just went to the toilet & did'nt wash his hands, his reply O !! i'm sorry about that !!! not good enough !! the food is good but we can't take the chance of getting very very sick due to poor hygiene !! NO THANKS !!

It was nice and the service was good too! I liked all my meals and I couldn’t be happier. The xiao long bao was a bit dry on the outside and some foods took longer than expected but was overall a good experience

Truly amazing. One of the most authentic + delicious Chinese restaurant you can find in Melbourne. lobster was great, so was the spinach. The beef was perfect. Would certainly keen to visit again.

Had yum cha. Was busy as soon as doors opened on the weekend.<br/>Plenty of food coming out but surprised they did not bring out certain dishes (rice rolls and more specialty yum cha items). Their drink selection was also limited.<br/><br/>Service: 3/5. Had to wait until a waiter/waitress was coming around to serve before being able to speak to someone<br/>Food: 4/5. Would be better with a wider variety of yum cha items<br/>Ambiance: 3/5. Tight space with waiters having to push past our full table of food to get the the other tables.

We had a party across two tables, the waiter was proactive and gave us an extra table to bridge the two together, they let us stay late and didn’t make us feel uncomfortable that we should leave, first rate attentive service, food was good, BYO beer and wine! What else do you want?

Will come back for:<br/>+ Century egg porridge<br/>+ Chicken legs<br/>+ Xiao Long Bao<br/>+ Spare Ribs<br/>+ Egg Tarts<br/><br/>This must be one of the first yum cha places in Melbourne. The focus is on good ingredients and sticking to good traditional flavours and service. I really liked the porridge (flavourful and generous bits of century egg and pork), the chicken legs (juicy, delightfully gelatinous, and tasty), the xiao long bao (great thin skin with good amount of hot soup inside), the tasty spare ribs and the super light egg tarts. The egg york buns had good flavour, but look and taste a little “old” and were cold (these are best eaten piping hot). The yam cake was nicely grilled but the yam probably could do with a little bit more time in the steamer. The service was exceptional, really attentive, and friendly. Granted, the selection of dishes are less than some other places, but the flavours are true. Will be back!

Overall dishes are okay. The golden sand buns are the highlight of the yum cha! the cart went around quiet slow, so there was a bit of gap between dishes.

Good cantonese yum cha for reasonable price. Best chicken legs, Tau Huey and century egg porridge! Efficient service but recommended to call and book as the lunch crowded is crazy

Always a delight coming here, have been here on many occasion for family dinners and yum cha lunches. Food is always very delicious and flavorsome. I’ll be back to try the other dishes we had our eyes on!

This place is my weekly yum cha place. Have a lot of selections of dim sims and dumplings. Staff are polite. Food comes out quick. Serves good tea. And most important, good food and affordable.<br/>Food : 4/5<br/>Decor :4/5<br/>Service : 4/5

So many choices. The salted egg custard bun is to die for. The staff were very friendly. So attentive-given a very busy restaurant in Chinatown

Came here one weekend and it was extremely packed. There’s people eating till at the end when they’re about to close. We got seated an hour before close and the wait staff seemed extremely pushy. By that time there wasn’t much trollies being pushed around so we had to place an order. I really wanted to get the cheese oyster but they were out of stock which was so sad! Of course we had the shui mai and all the other standard dumplings. <br/><br/>Overall, yumcha all taste the same to me. Still so good tho. Only thing is that, you get carried away and continue eating not realising that it gets quite expensive to get full. Of course I’ll be coming back! Who doesn’t love yumcha!

Good place for family dinners as they have fresh live seafood tanks. They have lion dance performances during chinese new year and often get very busy. Their food is tasty and we ordered 8 dishes.

Spacious and elegant restaurant set on two levels. The staff is efficient and friendly. Had a family meal there. The duck with pancakes was the highlight of the evening. Fleshy duck with crispy skin and hardly any fat. Very much enjoyed the fresh seafood; fish, scallops, crabmeat and prawns. We were even shown the fish live before we ate it which I suppose can be freaky for some but you can't get more fresh than this! However, the drunken chicken was terribly disappointing. It tasted strange (and I had drunken chicken several times before) and it had quite a bit of dry blood in various places. Overall, it was a satisfying experience. My uncle and his family regularly visit this establishment.

这家店已经成为我和男票早茶的唯一选择了。每次大概11-12点到，运气好一点就不用排队，排的话也快的，毕竟有三层。<br/>这家不是点菜，是有服务员推着小推车来问“这个要不要？这个要不要？”要的话他们会记在单子上。吃到现在只有菜心我觉得没味儿，不好次，其他简直没有雷！！！<br/>上周吃了酥皮叉烧包感觉打开了新大门！妈耶，简直要哭了好嘛，还有麻球（中间是空的），我这种芝麻绝缘体都吃得停不下来！另外，像虾饺烧麦凤爪这种就不说啦。总之，看着哪个好看就要吧，再说一遍！没有雷！

We came here for the Mid autumn festival dinner in the evening although it is famous for yum cha actually. The dishes in night session were still excellent, the beef and the pork were our favorite! The tofu was good too. We had a try on the crocodile as well which tasted like the chicken. And since it was mid autumn, we got the mooncake as bonus, that was wonderful! The only shortage was the price, much higher than some other Chinese restaurants.

Three of us came here today for Yum cha. The group size was perfect as most dishes came with three items in them with the exception of the buns and tarts, they come in twos. <br/> <br/>We ordered prawn dumplings, prawn and chive dumplings, prawn toast, Chinese broccoli, sticky rice, eggplant, bbq pork buns (comments from around the table are these where quite sweet) and we finished off with custard tarts. To being with I need to say I am not a huge yum cha fan, but todays spread was pretty good. The venue was packed at 12.30pm on a Monday lunch time and luckily we booked in advance. Unfortunately I forgot to take many photos, but my favourites where the prawn and chive dumplings and the Chinese broccoli, the prawn toasts where also good, just a little oilier than I would have preferred and the daisy and dandelion tea this was incredibly refreshing. Personally I found the sticky rice way to oily and the custard tarts very eggy, Im going to stick to custard buns in the future.<br/>KD

this is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br/>这家店比我想象中的要好一万棒 一亿倍！<br/>我之前一直去吃 正斗啊 还有翡翠小厨<br/><br/>要不是今天墨尔本的一场雨<br/>我根本就不会来这家店吃饭<br/>我的天哪 感谢这一场雨！<br/>这家店简直是人生最大的幸福啊！<br/>人生中的美味！<br/>我真心推荐这家店！<br/>1000000000000000分！

Came here after raving reviews. Very happy with the food, fresh, tasty, good portions. Servers were attentive and friendly. Managed to get a seat as soon as we arrived. Favourite dish was the carrot cake with xo sauce.

Rate a 3.5/5<br/><br/>Yumcha selection is pretty standard. The siumai and savoury dim sum tasted okay. What I wanna commend are the egg tarts and the golden yolk bun! The egg tart is fresh off the oven. SO SO YUMMYYYY!! The golden yolk bun is so runny and tasted amazing 👌👌👌<br/>Service is friendly and I'll be back for the egg tarts!!! 💕💕

In my opinion this may be the best yum cha in Victoria, you must book a table before going here it is very busy. But just the food,service,Interior and location is spectacular that it just is nearly a perfect experience.

We had yumcha for lunch, great food and service. It’s hard to find a good yumcha place and this one get our business because of the consistency.

A long time establishment of Chinatown in Melbourne along with its sibling restaurant, the shark fin house, both of which I've been going to for over 20 years. But I believe the inn is better overall, especially for yum cha, along with being more spacious.<br/><br/>Last time I was here was for a wedding not too long ago. A fully booked packed floor and a multi course dinner. In fact the last time I went to the sibling restaurant - the shark fin house - was also for a wedding, but the pictures provided are from shark fin inn. One is a lobster dish and the other abalone - both before they were divided onto individual plates by the staff.

A dining institution amongst my peers. This place is always buzzing with the locals who enjoy the traditional Chinese cuisine on offer. <br/>The spicy salt fried chicken ribs are highly recommended!

Very very average Chinese. Seafood and bean curd soup lacked seasoning and taste while some of the seafood had that frozen taste.<br/><br/>My satay prawns were oily and didn’t have any peanut flavour. When I asked for it to be made spicy they just added raw green chillies on top. Rice lacked seasoning.<br/><br/>Charged extra for Riedel glasses - they were not Riedel as they didn’t have their name on the base of the glass. The guy argued and said they were.<br/><br/>One of us had almost finished their dinner and the plate was whipped away, bad luck if you wanted to have the sauce with some rice!!!<br/><br/>Wouldn’t return here<br/><br/>Would not visit again -

Dimsum and chinese eatery<br/><br/>Ambience: There are two floors, both very cramped. We sat at the second floor which is dimly lit. The furnitures all feel old.<br/><br/>Service: Me and my friend were asked to wait for 30 mins, so we wrote down our name n gave our phone number, went somewhere else and came back. Fortunately we were given a table as soon as we arrived. Service are okay, but not so friendly. It's also really hard to get anyone's attention, and the dimsum tray just didn't get to us as it was so cramped, so after 10 mins we just ordered what we wanted. The food also took a while to come out, which is unfortunate.<br/><br/>Food: Had their prawn dumpling (hakau) (super deluxe), siuw mai (small), bbq pork buns (small) and egg tart (deluxe). The first one was pretty good, altho the skin can be thinner, siuw mai is too salty for my liking, but texture was okay, the pork bun was yummy though, and though i didnt try the tart, my friend loved it.<br/><br/>Price: It's pretty okay compared to many other fimsum places. 5.90-6.90-7.90 (small, deluxe, super deluxe)<br/><br/>YUM: pork buns, maybe the egg tart<br/>NAH: maybe siuw mai as it it too salty<br/><br/>photos: go to photos section for detailed description<br/><br/>ｘｘ、 ｊｏｅｌｌｅ

Similar to the Shark Fin House down the road, but we got sent here on the weekend. Companion remarked that the environment wasn’t as clean as the House, but the food at least was similar. We had our standard yumcha orders, including the dough fritters in cheongfun, or zha liang, as we call it in Chinese. <br/><br/>Food certainly up to standard, still one of the better joints in the CBD to indulge in weekend yumcha, as evident by the amount of diners that filled the space. Bill came up to about $180, which for 7 diners can be considered very cheap. <br/><br/>As usual, service can definitely be improved. One of the servers, when placing a saucer of vinegar that we asked for was so brusque that he got vinegar all over my phone that was on the table. Instead of apologising or bringing over extra serviettes, he was more concerned that he had gotten vinegar on his hands......... <br/><br/>4stars for food, but could probably drop a couple of stars due to poor service.

Staff were polite and the food was pretty good. Nothing mind blowing but no issues. We did the signature banquet. Tip: shark fin house is just a few metres down the road. Make sure you’re clear on which one you’re going to, I went to the wrong one!

Good food, good service as the little sister of shark finn house.<br/><br/>not essential to book, but worth doing so for Friday or Saturday evening.<br/><br/>being a little closer to spring street, this is a good choice before the princes theatre.

Worst place ever. Horrible service. The manager on the night we were there seemed to have a chip on his shoulder; he was rude and very aggressive. Food was average. Will not be going back.

Shark fin inn at CBD. Same with shark fin house but the food is a bit different with a bit budgeted price. Yum cha lunch menu is better taste than the dinner.

Famous Yumcha restaurant in Chinatown, packed with people , don’t expect excellent service . Food is about average, take all aspects into consideration , it would be better try other place.

Been here a few times because of their good service. Restaurant is pram friendly. Roast duck is a must to order. We had snow crab cooked with ginger and spring onion on egg noodles. The snow crab was fresh and succulent but the noodles were slightly over cooked. The tofu with dried scallops was delicious.

Came here for birthday feast. All the dishes ordered tasted very mucky (cloudy and thick) from the sauce they use to cook it and very similar. The large abalone which I ordered was also not very nice and it cost a fortune, literally. Good thing they let us take the shell home. The sweet and sour pork was not as crispy and succulent as other restaurants i have tried. The soup was good though. Other than that plus the complimentary desserts the food was quite average for the price.

Been here for dinner and yum cha and I really enjoy the food.  The service is so so like most traditional chinese restaurants  but they treat you better when you order alot

3.5 pretty much nails it. We were here for the group Xmas lunch. It’s a good option for that type of experience. $42 all you can eat yum cha. <br/><br/>The delivery matched the offer. Dish after dish of yum cha staples came rolling out. Quickly too. Service was good. Efficient, polite and non intrusive. It’s a good mix.<br/><br/>You know the drill so check out the pictures. Bottom line, this is a sound mid range yum cha option. They know their stuff here. Don’t expect to be wowed by quality as it’s not at that level but it delivers unerringly well to the price point.

One of the few original yum cha places left in the city. Established in 1980, Shark Fin Group led the wave of Chinese and other Asian cuisines that are now served in Melbourne. The food has always been great, very professional service and you can tell that the servers are very well trained (side note: they all need to speak Mandarin, Cantonese and English to be hired). Of course there are now more yum cha places in the city that taste exemplary, but if you're looking for a traditional and iconic place to eat at a decent price, Shark Fin Inn and Shark Fin House are the places to go.

Yum cha here is great but it gets super duper crowded and a little claustrophobic so remember to book a table. Dinnertime dishes are great - a good place to have crab noodles as it is consistently good.

I was very happy to have been able to book a table last minute as I had Familly down.<br/>The food was average the only thing I was impressed by was the pork dumplings. <br/>I was really disappointed by one staffs service she was rude and abrupt to me as I was pregnant I had to know exactly what each food was and contained because of dietary requirements.<br/>I could not even see or understand what Was coming out every time she served the table even though I could understand her accent and can speak mandarin fluently although I am western. The price was impressive and I did enjoy the atmosphere and it seemed beautiful and clean. <br/><br/>I think I would have enjoyed my visit and rated higher if there was more time to pick each dish and they where allot more welcoming to me and my Familly. <br/><br/>I will visit again hopefully service has improved.

We had Lobster and Crab meal and costed 6 ppl paying $700. The food was good, service also not too bad, however when I made the payment, the staff forced us to pay minimum 10% the tips on top of our total bill of $700, which forced me to pay $770. <br/>I dont think its any restaurant in Melbourne should force customer to pay tips. Service is part of the dining experience. Tips should be paid voluntarily rather than compulsory. I dont think its the right thing the restaurant staff  should do. When I asked him whether its a compulsory requirement for pay minimum 10% of tips on top pf the total bill, the staff was very angry. The staff name was Angus. We ended up paying extra $70 tips even we dont believe we should pay for it.

Both lunch yumcha and dinner food is amazing! We’ve been here many times and tried almost everything, all with very special taste, not just some Chinese food.<br/>Very thoughtful and thorough staff, service is exceptional!<br/>We also organised a few parties here and they also made some special dishes just for us.<br/>A big thank you to Kelvin and all staff!

Nice Yum Cha, nice spot, well priced, a lot of others to compare too in the area however<br/><br/>Staff were friendly, genuinely good food, unsure of dinner / a la carte menu

Tried this place for a late friday night dinner with friends. Love most of the Asian cuisines Japanese,Thai, Vietnamese and Malaysian.I asked waiter for stir fried hot spicy noodles with mixed vegetables and king prawns was assured i would enjoy them. Noodles were the instant type very thin variety. Not a dry stir fry but in a saucy soup. Too wet for me. At least 10 Prawns were included which was good vegetables disappointing some bok choy some Chinese broccoli  pieces and some roughtly cut spring onions...not my idea of mixed vegetables. As for spicy well they weren't. To his credit the Waiter ended up bringing out some fresh chilli and a couple of sauce varieties to please me. $29.00 not worth it considering it was only 2 cakes of instant noodles that made up the bulk of the dish.... Friends also shared salt & pepper squid which was very average in their opinion, seafood combination on dried fried noodles were ok very similar sauce was used as other dish and Mongolian stir fried beef nice. Would i got back there ??? No cuisine style average not to my palette ...lol..Im sure fans of Cantonese Cuisine will enjoy. Service very good & staff very accommodating!

The food wasn't great, nothing so special. We ordered duck with seafood combination, king prawns with cashew and diced vegetables, combination fried rice and chicken with chilli sauces to share 3 of us. The portion were good. I m pretty convinced they uses frozen vegetables in diced vegetables in king prawns dishes. Wine selection is pretty good and food serves quite fast which is good. But for foods qualities just pretty average. I won't be back.

I have always loved the dimsum here. They have stayed true to what dimsum should have been without the fancy stuff to inflate the prices. While they are not the most exquisite or the most fine dimsum you can find, they sure are very traditional. For the purist, this is the place. What's more to love is that their prices are probably the cheapest you can find in chinatown. I spent approximately $40 for two and left feeling very full. (Note I am not a big eater but it is still cheap for dimsum given their quality) <br/><br/>Shark Fin Inn is my go to place for dimsum and when u do want to give this a try, come early as the restaurant gets filled up very quickly especially on Sundays. Line starts to form 15-20 mins before doors open.

I've been looking for a good spot for yum cha for a long time, I think we've finally found our go-to! Shark Fin Inn filled up so quickly for a Saturday lunch which really added to the yum cha ambience that you usually expect. They had trolleys going around with all the staples and you can order the dishes that you don't see come round. Best dishes included pork spare ribs, chee cheong fun (rolled rice noodles) and the best dan tat (custard tart) that I've had! Wish we had more people eating so we could have ordered more dishes! We'll be back again.

Huge fan of their Yum Cha - you definitely need to book on a weekend. The service was attentive & efficient despite how crazy busy it was & reasonably priced. <br/>All the food came out hot & the winners for us were : <br/>*Sui Mai<br/>* BBQ pork bun <br/>* Ginger & Prawn Dumpling <br/>* Egg Tart <br/>Prepare for food coma afterwards ... it's inevitable

The highs to any Chinese meal is its seafood and I was lucky enough to tag along and chow down some of the best Chinese food I've had in a long while. Just sit back, let the folks order and enjoy the ride.<br/>We started off with one of their specialities, a kind of surf and turf hot pot which included premium ingredients such as thinly sliced abalone and slightly marbled beef. Cook it shabu shabu style (only a couple of seconds) and accompany it with a variety of sauces, shrimp paste, light soy/garnish and XO sauce, all excellent but the potency and the funkiness of the shrimp paste won me over. There was also two soups, a standard broth (I didn't taste it by itself) and one that tasted like satay, we preferred the standard. After all the cooking is done you can drink the soup which was amazingly flavorful from all the ingredients.<br/>Next up was snow crab with a rich goat liver sauce. Never heard of snow crab being prepared like this and it was probably one of the best sauces I've had with any crab. Mixed with the crab innards I just had to grip my seat as to not fall off, it was that good! Crab meat however was difficult to extract (more so than usual).<br/>The rest of the dishes came out, highlights were the pork jowl (or was it neck?) with mushrooms and onions in a "special sauce". Meat was firm and incredibly addictive with the sweet sauce and onions. The steam chicken was juicy and salty, delicious. A trio of cold meats was good but not for everyone, jelly fish is always a winner, duck tongue and duck feet (boneless but webbed) were rubbery and tastey. The usual greens to balance out the meal but a disappointment was the preparation of the mapo tofu which was more sweet than spicy/savory.<br/>We finished with the usual array of sliced up melons and a red bean sweet, great finish to an enjoyable and unique meal. Service was on point throughout the night.

It's a fine place for weekend yum cha. The prices are good, and the dishes are good. My gripes are that the place feels crowded, and the selection of yum cha dishes is definitely on the small side. Service is gruff at times, which is not unusual for yum cha I suppose. Nothing off the beaten path, it's very straightforward dumplings. The decor is basic and feels pretty dated. I go here when we want basic yum cha with no frills, but it's not my favourite by a long shot.

I've been to Shark Fin House with work colleagues so when a friend was visiting from Sydney and craving yum cha we headed to Shark Finn Inn. I wasn't entirely sure of what the difference between House and Inn was but I figured House is always pretty packed at lunchtime on a weekday so Inn might be a safer bet. Unfortunately my friend was not impressed and did not consider the experience to measure up to Sydney dumpling standards. I personally enjoyed the food but felt a bit bad that he was displeased considering I had taken him there. I just love this style of dining and the experience of things coming hot and fresh off carts and this is one of the most traditional and long standing operations in Melbourne that offer authentic yum cha style dishes. The prawn dumplings and mango pudding are 👌🏽👌🏽

Had dinner here last week with my family. This is great Asian restaurant place with friendly staff. Excellent variety of food on the menu. Meal always taste good. Always busy to get in.

Been here several times for yum cha but never for dinner. Came here with 9 people and we had the banquet. The highlights are snow crab, pork neck, ginger steam oysters, abalone and beef small ribs. The other dishes are roast duckling, Kai Lan vege and Taiwanese three cup chicken which are all meh. Ordered additional two dishes which are just ok - fried beef noodles and fatty pork with preserve veges. Dinner ended with complimentary fruit and red bean soup.

If you want yum cha just like a bustling Hong Kong yum cha palace, this is the place to go. Shark Fin Inn is one of the few places in Little Bourke Street still being run by the original owners, and it prides itself on being an unapologetic classic Hong Kong Cantonese restaurant.<br/><br/>My family has been coming here for yum cha and dinner for over 20 years, and we rarely go anywhere else on the Little Bourke Street strip. As an added bonus, Shark Fin Inn stays open very late and offers the full menu well after midnight.<br/><br/>Prices are very reasonable, given the city location, and service is efficient and friendly. We've been coming here so long, we've got to know some of the waiters by name. It's the sort of place where staff tend to stick around for a long time.<br/><br/>The yum cha here is the best in the city, and their dinner menu offers a wide range of classic dishes. Duck and seafood are brilliant here, but I've never really had anything that didn't work. The yum cha is best when you get there early or for the first sitting. On weekends, they always have at least two sittings, and on big days, such as Mother's and Father's Day, three. They do tend to get you in and out on those days, but that's fine; there's never a wait for the excellent dishes. To me, yum cha means trollies. If it's off a menu, it's not really yum cha; Shark Fin Inn sticks to that classic style.<br/><br/>If you want a good quality, classic Cantonese meal in nice surroundings, you can't do much better than Shark Fin Inn. I hope it doesn't change too much because I'd love to take my grandkids there some day.

The food is really good and packed with flavour. The servings are also generous. The thing that lets it down is poor service. There is nothing more off putting than serving staff who are abrupt with the customers.

They offer quite a good selection of dimsum, one of the better restaurants in cbd area.egg tarts,porridge, chicken feet, radish cake, lomaigai , siewmai, etc were all quite good and standard. We always come here if we are in for dimsum. It's a standard to go place. Service was also good unlike some Chinese restaurants where the waitresses can be nasty.

After the meal my table was given a the check. We told them we would be paying on card and using a savings account. <br/><br/>The manager informed us that there would be a surcharge, and I can't recall a single time where I have been charged for using debit. I questioned the manager, who hastily produced a laminated news article and tried to pass it off as proof of the surcharge requirement. The article had NO such evidence to support his claim, and I questioned him again. <br/>This is where it gets interesting. The manager was Chinese and informed me in hushed Mandarin that he didn't understand what the article was saying. However, he couldn't afford to raise any questions as he was just a worker, and asking questions would almost certainly mean losing his job. He also encouraged me to spread the word and even raise it with the ACCC. <br/>The cruel thing was, I could tolerate the surcharge if the extra 2% was being redistributed to the staff. Unfortunately, the manager told me it was quite the opposite, and the head of the company keeps all the extra for himself. Won't be returning and I hope the ACCC does something about this.

Sunday night dinner for 2. The restaurant was very busy. We managed to get a table upstairs. You wouldn't dine here for the ambience. The lighting was very stark. We ordered spring rolls and roast pork in plum sauce for entree. For mains we had chicken with vegetables and a small fried rice. I couldn't really figure out what was in the spring roll filling. They were about 3 times the size of normal spring rolls, and extremely oily. The chicken dish was very salty. The only good dish was the fried rice. The staff were run off their feet. Great effort in trying to keep all the customers happy. <br/><br/>I haven't been here for awhile and thought I'd give it another go. Somehow I don't think I'd be back anytime soon.

Still the best Yum Cha in the city IMHO - a Sunday institution that's been going strong for years. Can't go wrong. <br/>Tried the rice noodle with Chinese donut for the first time this visit - off trolley; give it a go!

In the city for a matinee performance at the Comedy Theatre (just around the corner), nostalgia directed us to the Shark Fin Inn for a yum cha lunch – my family used to make special trips into the city for yum cha at the Shark Fin, but had not been there for years now that good yum cha is available in the suburbs.<br/><br/>The service was friendly and excellent. We chose several standards: chicken feet, prawn and sweet corn dumplings, pork spare ribs, bean curd rolls, pan fried dumplings, Gai Lan and mango pudding. All were good with great flavours and textures. The xiao long bao were also fine, except that the pastry was a bit thick. The only disappointment was the deep fried spicy squid – it had been wandering around the room for far too long and was oily and a bit chewy.<br/><br/>A good, well-priced place for traditional yum cha dishes.

I enjoy the sautéed roast pork with bean curd, mushrooms and vegetables. A great place to go when little Chinatown is busy. Being up the top end of little Bourke street it tends to get forgotten about. It is also open extra late!

Been going there for over 20 years, great food and efficient staff.  Food is always fresh, the place is always busy and the tables turned over and over.  Love the vibe of China town !

Oh memory lane .... <br/><br/>We've been going to this place since the 80's, it used to be called Janbo if my memory serves me right.<br/><br/>It was good and cool back then to go here for Yumcha and Dinner, lost count on how many times, only a few times in the last couple of years. <br/><br/>Today, is no longer, they have not spend serious amount of money in upgrading their interior, just a band aid stuff, they will still try to fit 14 people on a table for 10, very cramp. Same old service too.<br/><br/>Food is below average for what they are charging, although it is the cheaper version of Shark Finn House down the road as they belong to the same group.<br/><br/>Avoid Chinese New Year eve or New Year eve, they will charged you to the brim.

Definitely not as good as it's Sister SHARK FIN.... Went there late Saturday after we tried Shark Fin (which was closing). Everything was just average, food, service, ambiance. Do yourself a favour & go to Shark Fin instead. 👍

Came here for yum cha today. We were about half hr early but it was able to be accommated. The service was lovely and caring. Food was delcious and fresh. Price was reasonable. All in all it was a great lunch, will return + recommend.

so so yum cha joint in the hub of China Town. Nothing spectacular; lacking consistency all around. Service was decent. Overall, nothing memorable and worth returning for

Food was delicious but just above average in terms of taste compared to other yum cha places in the CBD. Most of the staff were attentive and kind but Vera was the best of them all. Really friendly, helped us with ordering food not from yum cha and also taught us how to say soft shell crab in Mandarin! The place is a little cramped for my liking (especially the toilets downstairs!) but otherwise an enjoyable experience.

Had dinner at good old Shark Fin Inn with a small group.  Admittedly I used to frequent here a lot more due to location many years ago  and during my poorer student years<br/><br/>Nothing much has changed, good old westernised chinese cuisine.  The good/great thing is that despite  everything in the CBD rising in prices due to inflation and 'hipsterness' they still serve good old fashioned chinese food at reasonable prices!<br/><br/>We had a whole peking duck which was pretty darn good and a few main course dishes which were all pretty good, but nothing spectacular and after a while you seem to be able to identify the same sauces on all the variations of the main courses.  However you wont get any bad surprises and portion sizes are good.  I think their intention is not to shock or take people on a culinary adventure but just do simple and safe.<br/><br/>Like others have mentioned their service isnt top notch, but its better than a cheap chinese restaurant and at the prices they charge, I would be silly to expect anything more.  Crockery, glassware is all simple and cheap and gets the job done<br/><br/>Its good to see such a old fashioned place still do what they do best.

Food's pretty decent but the service is a shocker. The whole point of yum cha is to catch up with friends over small dishes and have tea (which, is "yum cha" in cantonese). Felt like we were rushed to leave asap while I've seen them sucking up like slave dogs to bigger spenders. Special mention to Angus with an EQ lesser than the bovine breed who had the cheek to reply "you can say that" when we asked if he is chasing us away. There might be a second session but we most certainly weren't informed prior and would have timed ourselves better.

Average, westernised Yum Cha with few choices. The Zomato rating seems a little high to me based on our Sunday lunch experience.<br/><br/>There was nothing wrong with the food, but other places will give you a broader range to choose from. We asked for extra chilli or chilli oil which never turned up, and a couple of specially ordered dishes took way too long to come. The trolleys only had two or three servings of two or three dishes, so often we had to wait for more to come out.

I took a group of folks from work here for dinner on a week night. We ate upstairs in possibly the most depressing interior I have been in for a long time. Most of the crockery was filthy, the carpet had that sticky feel and the chairs were enough to damage even the most resilient back. Have I got onto the food yet? So ordinary. I have eaten better in a shopping centre take away. As for the waitstaff, don't even think about seeking their input - my grandmother would have had a better inkling of what to order. <br/><br/>I'm not usually this negative but it really gets to me to have to pay good money (their pricing in no way reflected their mediocre stance) to receive bad service, incredibly ordinary food and an atmosphere that has not seen a renovation let alone a cleaner in a decade.

I occasionally go to this place for Yum - Cha on weekend. Love all their dishes except the fry stuffs. Service is ok but  it can be annoying when the waitresses who wheel out the dishes is a bit pushy sometimes, especially when you already have finish your meal but still occupy the table. BTW, it's elevator is very old, tiny space and may be the slowest in Melbourne.

A meetup group and I went to Shark Fin Inn for some Yum Cha on Saturday. The food was really nice particularly the Xiaolongbao. There was also a prawn and pork dumpling I liked as well. Chicken feet was also on the menu but I wasn't brave enough to try it but those that were liked it. <br/><br/>Service was lovely. 2 people commented that they felt at ease talking to the staff and that unlike some Yum Cha places they weren't in too much of a rush and felt food wasn't going to be thrown at them. <br/><br/>The mango pudding was also lovely and the tea served at the Yum Cha was nice as well.

Our family met Sunday lunchtime for yum cha and enjoyed authentic Chinese dishes for our hungry adult offspring! It was very reasonably priced and the place, while busy, still had tables for a walk up for all six of us.

Lovely yum cha restaurant with excellent service. Most dishes were good (pork shui mai, sesame golden balls with red bean paste, soft shell crab), but there was some inconsistency in quality as some dishes were also noticeably lacking. The rice sheet rolls were overly thick which made the filling feel extremely sparse. The century egg congee was thick but the texture could be better as it was not smooth at all in the mouth. Overall, I would recommended this restaurant but I think your experience will depend a lot on the dishes you choose to order.

Good selection of yum cha, though there were certain dishes we had to request for but overall food was very fresh. The century egg congee was excellent. The service staff were attentive and fast. Overall not a bad place for a traditional chinese yumcha.

My extended family and I have been dining here for over 30 years (and I'm not even 25!).<br/>Needless to say, the staff are always lovely and accommodating. The food is made with care; highlighting traditional flavours and combining western touches here and there.

Hit the spot. Ventured out near my hotel and the name sounded cool. The super bright neon lights helped as well. Asked for a small serving of veg fried rice as well as a plate of sichuan chilli beef. Thought the chilli could have been spicier but the fried rice was on point.