Yum Cha at 88 Chinese Restaurant

88 Chinese Restaurant

Cuisine: Cantonese and Dim Sum 

Address: 801 Cameron Rd, Tauranga

Phone: 07 5712388

Website

Drinks: Licensed (small wine and beer list) & BYO wine

Reservations: definitely a good idea

 

 

88 Chinese Restaurant has never had a good name; it is hard to think of a more generic anonymous moniker, though it is of course a lucky number for some Chinese, which is why so many restaurants have it as a name. But for the past 25 years or more it has served the best yum cha in Tauranga, first down in the CBD on Devonport Road (at the actual 88) and, following a move last year, on Cameron Road near the hospital. The new premises may be bigger but it now seems busier than ever. I almost hesitate to write about it here lest more people discover the wonderful food and reservations become even harder to get.

It was the first Sunday in the new year and four of us rendezvoused there for a yum cha lunch.

 

For those not familiar with the concept, yum cha is a Chinese lunch service comprising a selection of shared small dishes (known as dim sum). Traditionally in larger restaurants these dishes are brought round on trolleys for the tables to select. More commonly these days you will just be given a menu and are tasked with ticking the items you desire. Then everything arrives randomly. You should also be provided with small dipping bowls of soy sauce and chilli oil.

 

I guess you could regard this as the Cantonese equivalent of Tapas, or the small sharing plates of every nationality that have become so popular over the last decade. We had:

• Deep Fried Combination Dumpling        $6

  

  Pork Dim Sum (Sui Mai)

• Spring Onion Pancake                              $6
• Beef Ribs in Black Pepper Sauce             $7
• Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce                $7
• Pork Dim Sum (Sui Mai)                           $7
• Prawn Dumplings                                     $7
• BBQ Pork Rice Roll                                   $7
• Spicy Wonton                                            $9
• Deep Fried Prawn Toast                          $9
• Deep Fried Squid                                      $9
• Malaysian Tofu (deep fried)                     $9
  
• Roast Pork                                         reg  $15

 

In typical fashion I forgot to get pics of some of the dishes. Mainly the ones that arrived later while we were already munching. But here's a bit of a gallery of what I did manage to photograph...

 

Beef Ribs in Black Pepper Sauce

 

 

 

Deep Fried Prawn Toast

Malaysian Tofu (deep fried)

Roast Pork

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Deep Fried Squid

 

 

 

Spicy Wonton

Prawn Dumplings

 

 

 

Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce

BBQ Pork Rice Roll

Spring Onion Pancake

Some thoughts: they really do a very good yum cha here, at least for the dishes that they offer. There are a lot of things you would regularly expect at yum cha - from many many different dumplings to stuffed vegetables - that are not available. Perhaps it's a Tauranga thing. But there are a few real stand-outs:

 

The Pork Sui Mai are outstanding, not filled with mince but as they should be with chopped meat, great texture, as good as any anywhere.

The Prawn Toast is also outstanding, with a generous layer of juicy prawns pressed against the crisp toast.

The Spicy Wontons are a thing of legend, primarily because of the beautifully balanced sauce. This time used cabbage instead of bean sprouts which wasn't as good but I assume they were temporarily out of the latter. 

The combination dumplings nail that unusual texture perfectly, a sort of weird "combination" of chewy and crunchy. Unique and worth checking out. (I didn't get a pic)

The BBQ pork rice roll also nails the unusual texture of the rice "skin". Not my favourite but people who like it rave about this version.

The Prawn Dumplings (Har Gow) are often very good. Sometimes the "crystal" pastry doesn't work but mostly it is excellent and the prawns have the correct "bouncy" texture that Chinese prize.

 

The only thing I would avoid is the Shanghai Pork Bun (Xialong Bao) which are a star of yum cha when made well but here are bought in frozen and are not worthwhile.

 

The restaurant is also open for dinner with a full Chinese menu, and does takeaways. They also offer roasted meats which can be taken home. The BBQ pork is particularly good for this as it makes a great addition to stir fries and other Chinese dishes and never tastes quite the same when you make it yourself. The wine and beer list is small but being able to BYO wine is great as a good Gewurztraminer is a wonderful match with pretty much all the food here.  

 

Yum Cha menu (1)

Yum Cha menu (2)