Secret Kitchen Chinatown

Nice place to eat Chinese food in the Chinatown area of Melbourne. The food is nicer than many others, but the prices for fish are a bit higher. However, it's still worth it because it's nice. If you don't choose fish, there are still many other food options that are nice.

Authentic Chinese experience, bringing out trolley after trolley of food to make selections from. There was just so much good food I left two belt notches higher. Bookings essential, and this seems to cater for large groups, but there are couples tables. Dumplings, crispy pork and duck were the highlights. Was a bit difficult to get the attention of staff at times due to us going on Chinese New Years. Still 5 Star, and a must visit for Chinese food in Melbourne. Yum!

Traditional Dim Sum served Yum Cha style on trolleys. Choose what you want as the cart goes by and be careful not to let your eyes get ahead of your tummy. There’s so many things to sample. Be sure to make reservations.

Really yummy yumcha in the CBD, decent pricing. The place has an upstairs too. We had the custard bao with a piggy on the bao, it was such cute presentation.
One recommendation book in advance to avoid disappointment!!

heard lots of great things about secret kitchen’s yumcha so decided to come here with someone whose well-versed in the yumcha scene in melbourne and we both enjoyed it so much!

siu mai
- yum like theres so much filling inside it
- i really enjoyed it like probs my fav dish
- 10/10 😋

xiao long bao
- so much filling again!! and just the right amount of broth too
- 10/10 😆

truffle siu mai
- not as good as the og one but it does have a nice mushroom taste to it
- 8.5/10 😊

peking duck
- soooo juicy and the skin was crispy too which was yum
- would have been nice tho to have some small wraps on the side
- 9/10 😌

chicken legs
- taste is good although its very hard to eat bc of the amount of bones
- 8.8/10 🙂

har gow
- juiciest har gow in melbourne like maybe even better than gold leaf?
- maybe a bit too much meat though?
- 9.5/10 😍

portuguese tart
- sooo good like it had a lovely caramel flavour too and didnt taste like just egg
- lovely tart like so crispy and flaky
- it did get a bit sickening at the end tho
- 9.7/10 ☺

amazing yum cha restaurant. please come. and like the decorations are so nice too like a big gold fish statue is in this restaurant omg.

We arrived, not knowing that we had to have a booking. Went to the lady at the front desk and asked if we could do a walk-in. She said not a problem and took her straight to a seat. Staff was very friendly and welcoming.

We’d been to a Yum Cha many years ago but visiting The Secret Kitchen was a whole new experience for my wife and I.
The food was amazing. The service was fantastic. The manager, Christine made sure our needs were more than met.
Pricing was very reasonable for the amount of food we had.
Overall experience was 100% ++
Definitely recommended.

I can’t say whether this is the best yum cha in Melbourne but I think as far as CBD options go it’s pretty good.

The trolleys come quickly and frequently with a wide array of dishes. Vegetarian items are limited but can be ordered upon request. Standouts on that front include the steamed rice rolls and the veg dumplings, while my favourite of the non-veg dishes was the fried squid tentacles.

The stir fried radish cake with XO is also a must (although it was a little mushy for my taste, as were some of the dumplings). It’s probably better going for items with a thicker or less fragile skin like the beancurd rolls or the custard buns, which were perfectly cooked and so adorable (they look like pigs). Pretty much all the sweet options were solid, from the mango pudding to the tofu pudding to the mango cream wrapped with super soft, thin mochi.

Also as an FYI, the dining session is limited to a little over an hour and flies by, so make sure you get what you want early before you run out of time.

Felt like duck, googled best duck in Chinatown and decided on Secret Kitchen. Did not disappoint. Service was lovely and warm and that alone would set this place apart in Chinatown but the interesting menu & warm (and romantic) vibe really elevates. The BBQ plater was delicious and well priced. Will be back for the lobster soon.

Recommended dish is Pork rib

Most of dim sum menu is good but Xiaolongbao.

Great food and atmosphere. Very friendly staff. Would highly recommend!

The food at Secret Kitchen Chinatown was outstanding! I overate and I dont really do that 😳
There is a dinner menu for evenings and Yum Cha during the day.
As a party of seven we had; One Minced Chicken
San Choi Bao each, three lots of Assorted Steamed
Dim Sim, one vegetarian Steamed Dim Sim, Eggplant with Minced Chicken & Salted Fish Hotpot, two lots of Stir-Fried Chinese Brocolli with Black Garlic & Duck Sauce, Beef Fillet with Mixed Fungus in Teriyaki Sauce, Szechuan Spicy Fish Fillet, Steamed rice and Sautéed King Prawn with Spicy Seafood X.O Sauce. Dessert was a shared Banana & Red Bean Pancake. We were well and truly stuffed by then. We had Jasmine tea and sparkling water with the meal as well as Asahi, wine and cocktails for those who drank.
Defs recommend for top notch Chinese cuisine. The place was moderately busy. Excluding drinks the food was around $60-$70 pp and we all shared the dishes. Totally worth the cost. Really good food. Best two for me were the Salt n Pepper Beancurd and Eggplant with Minced Chicken & Salted Fish Hotpot.

We were lucky to get a table for 2 at 1130am Sunday morning on the18th of June. We had 30 mins to eat before Yum Cha was over.

Friendly staff and managers; very accommodating and helpful. They made sure I knew what was vegetarian. Checked up on us multiple times to make sure we were happy and out orders were correct. Very rare in a Yum Cha/Asian restaurant so appreciate it very much.

Food served fresh and mouth watering. Rice noodles and egg tarts were melt in the mouth. Every thing was delicious. Not cheap but worth it for delicious food and great service.

Only advice to customers is pay with cash. There is a ridiculous 10% surcharge using a credit card! We paid almost $10 extra on our bill!

Secret Kitchen is a hive of activity, but the wonderful Christine and her team are at all times attentive, efficient and super friendly despite being so busy, making us feel very welcome. We ordered a broad range of yum cha items (alas, didn’t photograph most of them) and everything was excellent, from the savouries through to desserts. As a group of 8, the bill was actually excellent value for the quality of what we got; we look forward to returning!

Fantastic Yum Cha. Definitely on the expensive side but everything was full of flavour and perfectly cooked, so happy to pay the higher prices. Great and friendly service, especially by Charles our waiter. Lots of trolleys so plenty of food moving around and a really quick rotation on restocking so nothing was left out to dry out.

We enjoyed an amazing yum cha this morning. Best I have ever been to. Superb food, exceptional service, couldn’t fault them. Will definitely be back.

Authentic Hong Kong dimsum, especially the roast duck.

Cant say much, all dimsum tasted very original, and prices are reasonable too.

This place has fantastic food & cocktails and magnificent and very honest staff. Not only did I have a magnificent meal there, but I lost my wallet. The staff were amazing and helped me look everywhere, they even raked through security camera footage. It could not be found. One day later the owner called me directly to let me know they’d found it. It was all my fault - I left it in a menu. They posted it to me express post, interstate and didn’t open it - it had all the cash, all the contents. They would not accept me to pay for the postage. VERY GENEROUS AND KIND.

Thank you for your honesty and help. And the delicious food. I’ll be back.

I went there yesterday with my group of friends and the food was very good. The manager Andy Wu went above and beyond for my friends as it was a sweltering 35 deg outside, he brought in some fans to kept us cool and comfortable. Food was good as always but the service was impeccable. So look for Andy Wu there and trust me he will ensure you are being taken care of.

*Yum Cha that pleases with personality*

It’s not everyday I find myself wanting to review a Chinese restaurant for yum cha. But I can firmly say the food and service was exceptional! How? A sense of humour from their waiters and very cute greetings from the trolley ladies.

Special shout-out to Christine for making our no-booking-CNY-spontaneous-lunch a possibility. You truly made it possible for us to indulge in all the delicious sweet treats and equally yummy dim sum.

Ok let’s talk food. Pork tendon, tripe, pork ribs and most of the dumplings were honestly some of the best we’ve had in awhile. Star of the entire show was the black bun with runny egg yolk (extra cheesy). Followed closely by the durian pudding and mango mochi (note: only available for order on weekends and public holidays). Couldn’t fault any of the dishes and it was truly a 10/10 experience.

Thank you for having the lucky 8. 💛