Restaurants
Oriental Teahouse
Open today
10:30 am - 10:00 pm
(03) 9826 0168
455 Chapel St
South Yarra, VIC, 3141
Oriental Teahouse
Traditionally, Yum Cha means to drink tea, referring to the ancient Chinese custom of sipping tea whilst eating small portions of foods, not the all-you-can-eat lunchtime images that spring to mind with Yum Cha nowadays. But the Oriental Tea House is one restaurant who stands apart from modernised definitions, serving Yum Cha throughout the day, 7 days a week, and offering it with over 80 variations of tea to choose from!
The award winning Oriental Tea House really is a complete dining experience. With a specials menu also available, and a retail shop attached to the store where you can purchase the many and varied assortments of tea to take home, you can stop in here for a meal or just for a cup of tea, or to see their Chinese medicine doctor. To top it all off, the Oriental Tea House?s décor is immaculate, all contained within an absolutely stunning building on Chapel Street in South Yarra. ...read more
Contact details
Dining Options
- A-la-carte
- Banquet
- Corporate Dining
- Delivery
- Eat-in
- Outdoor Seating
- View more (4)
Cuisine
- Yum Cha
- Asian
- Chinese
Payment options
- EFTPOS
- AMEX
- Visa
- All Cards Accepted
- Cash
- MasterCard
- View more (1)
Price Guide
- Entrees under $10
- Entrees under $20
Features
- Family Friendly
- Group Bookings
- Outdoor Seating
- Bar
- Catering
Licensing
- Licensed
Ay Oriental Tea House is a combination of a tea house and a light restaurant serving ranges of dumplings and small dishes and Chinese-style desserts. The place is very spacious, with a store at the front selling variety of tea, and lots of tables and seats all around for eating in and enjoying the food and drinks.
We had a chance to visit this shop on a Saturday afternoon for an afternoon tea. Literally. The food offerings were authentic but sadly the dim sim food that we ordered were not as fresh as we expected. The steamed dumpling (xiao long bao) were already dry with no soup inside as the server explained when it was offered to us. The spicy wagyu dumpling were quite alright, although we did struggle to experience the 'wagyu' part of the dish. The cold drinks were refreshing.
The price points for the food were on the expensive side, but a little bit more reasonable on the drinks, with cheaper price for iced tea refills.
If you only care about having great food, then Oriental Tea House will certainly please. If you want great service, then either look the other way of go somewhere else. I say this only because it was very obvious the staff were there to get you out as quickly as possible. The dishes come out in a blink of an eye and the plates are gone before you know it. We felt quite rushed to order and were intimidated to ask about menu options. Might just try tea and a custard bun next time
I agree the food is pretty decent but its a little pricey for yum cha.
The food came out fast and the staff made sure they came to your table every few minutes to offer different dim sums. The speed and service was very quick and efficient. Up till the point when one of the staff dropped a plate whilst clearing the dishes. The sauces and drinks were all over my jacket and bags. All they did was pick up the dishes put more napkins on my table and everyone seemed to disappear. No one seemed to come to help clean it up until i was standing there with my jacket in my hand trying to wipe up the mess. I understand these things happen. However no one showed any initiative to assist me.
I'd recommend other yum cha places in the city - they're cheaper too.
