A rare combination of a store, teahouse and Chinese restaurant, Oriental Teahouse is a unique experience. Come for both food and drink options, as the eatery — another of David Zhou’s forays — puts just as much love into both. 

Red Door is more than just a yum cha restaurant. In addition to tasty Cantonese food, the eatery is also an antiques store full of treasures — and it has a beautiful decor to sit, sip tea and down dumplings in. 

The sandy side of town has some offerings for yum cha, too, so don’t be thinking it’s only about Chinatown. Part of the restaurant precinct on Fitzroy Street, Mahjong has been serving up scores of dumplings for nigh on ten years. 

Up the Parliament end of the city sits Secret Kitchen. At its entrance is one of the largest restaurant aquariums in the city — those swimming fish seem happy and there’s a high chance that you’ll also leave Secret Kitchen happy, too. 

Yum cha over at David’s in Prahran is no joke. Open on Saturdays and Sundays, the light and airy space plays host to some serious dim sum situations. Pick your time (11.30am or 1.30pm) and shuffle in with some mates and an empty tum ready to fill.

Gold Leaf has a couple of very important drawcards, and mostly it’s the fact that there is more than just one of them for your convenience, with outlets in Preston, Docklands, Burwood, Springvale and Sunshine.

If it’s high time to treat your body to something fancy and stacked with culinary goodness, head to find Spice Temple. The luxe eatery is serving up modern Chinese food with an emphasis on China’s lesser-known regions (such as Yunnan and Sichuan).

You know it’s going to be good when you’re venturing right into the middle of Chinatown. Tram down on a weekend and you’ll immediately encounter queues for various restaurants, all merging into each other higgledy-piggledy.