Top One Seafood Chinese Restaurant, Southport

April 28th, 2008

Yum Cha is one of my absolute favourite weekend destinations. It’s particuarly good for brunch and I find it works wonders when you’ve got a hangover.

From memory Top One opens around 12pm. It’s best to book here because it’s always packed - and the restaurant is pretty big! Located at the Australia Fair shopping centre in the food court it’s a welcome addition to the Gold Coast dining scene and I think the best yum cha on the Gold Coast.

When we arrived we were given a number and had to wait around 10 minutes for a spare table - and this was at approximately 2pm so definately book if you hope to get in earlier and especially if you’re going with a group.

There are so many staff working at this restaurant that you don’t have to jump up and down to get someone’s attention. The yum cha girls are friendly and thankfully, not pushy unlike many other’s I’ve been to. You can also order off the menu if you aren’t into yum cha or want some additions such as fried rice.

If you’ve never been to yum cha then basically the way it works is that you get an A5 sized piece of cardboard which sits on your table. The piece of card is divided up into different priced sections. The yum cha trolleys are pushed around the restaurant and they explain and show you each dish so you can choose what you want to have. Don’t feel guilty at not ordering anything from the trolley - just wait until the next one comes around which will have a different selection.

Once you choose your item they will stamp your piece of cardboard under the appropriate price depending on what you ordered. At the end you take the piece of cardboard up to the cashier.

Some more hints: If you order chinese tea and you’ve run out of water, simply turn the lid upside down or leave it off the teapot. This signals to the waitstaff to refill your pot. Also ask for soy sauce and chilli sauce to give your dim sims some kick.