Huami (Auckland CBD, New Zealand)

Huami is unlike any other Chinese restaurant, as a fan of yum cha I know what to look for and what the good ones really taste. Having a lot of Chinese friends help even living in Hong Kong helped even more in sifting though and choosing the cream of the crop and I can say this is one of the top ones I tried. Presented really well everything feel like each dimsum was well taken care of, it is served with refinement and finesse. The prices are quite high but if you take into consideration the location and the quality of dishes that come out of that kitchen then you will understand why.

Food is one thing, location is another but one thing that really stood out is the service, the staff here are friendly and will attend to most of your need with utmost importance. A service will only see in fine dining places, things like them laying down the table napkins on your lap, pouring tea on your tea cups once it nearly dries empty or just asking you if you need something else.

On my first visit we were attended by Maître d’hôtel and set us in a bar while they prepare our table. While waiting the bar attendant offered us some drinks, he was friendly but the selection was quite intimidating (in a good way), there were tons of selection ranging from different spirits, beers and wines. The display was amazing as well, there are spirits that I guess came from China as most of them I haven’t heard of yet alone seen. Too many options so I just stick with a trusty beer in the form of Hallertau Statesman Pale Ale, perfect drink while waiting in the middle of a muggy hot summer day, it was citrusy, with hints of honey, with a great tang, it’s quite nice to drink.

We were in a group of seven so they have to join tables for us but it did not take long, minutes later we were seated and was offered some Chinese tea with three options, we opted for the green tea. The server then did unroll the table napkins and set it on our laps. Since I am the only Asian in the group and the one who have a food blog they assigned me to the honour of ordering for everyone, so for simplicity I ordered three items of each of the orders I will be mentioning below. The only thing they requested is that there should be no chicken feet or beef tripe, I happily obliged.

We started with a Fruit wood-roasted Peking duck (half NZ$40.00), this is the traditional crispy duck skin roll served with thin pancakes and condiment such as spring onions, cucumber and Hoisin sauce

The duck was amazing, skin was so crispy, clean flavours and perfectly cooked.

Then the dimsums came, first was this Ha kao’ (NZ$12.00), a delicate prawn dumpling served with a bit of truffle on top. It was good, prawns used was large and juicy, and the truffles add a bit of earthy taste to it.

Then came this Crispy Taro Puff (NZ$9.00) filled with chicken and scallops, this was my favourite of the bunch, it was my first time trying a taro puff like this where there is whole on the middle where a large scallop covers the opening on top. The flavour was great and the texture was out of this world, it was one good taro puff and hopefully all taro puffs are done this way.

Another great dimsum that was served was this Steamed Saffron Vegetable Dumpling (NZ$9.00), this was surprisingly good, though there are no meat on this it was flavourful enough to satisfy meat lovers like me. Presented really well in a semi translucent golden dough, it was a pleasure not just to the palate but with the eyes as well, you can see the individual strands of saffron inside as well as the strips of colourful vegetables used.

Yum cha will not be complete without this, a Steamed Barbecue Bun (NZ$9.00), so we got some as well but instead of pork these guys do it with chicken and its equally as amazing if not better. The bun was so fluffy and the meat was so tasty, it was done really well.

Another classic that needs to be ordered was siew mai so we also grabbed some of their rendition, the XO Chilli ‘Siew Mai’ Shrimp and Chicken Dumpling. It uses XO sauce to give it a good flavour with a zing this was one of the best Siew Mai’s I ever tried, the aroma, the taste, the texture was just exquisite, it was impeccable.

Finally, we had this Short Ribs, Taro, Black Bean Sauce (NZ$7.00) another classic and another great dish, definitely tasty and perfectly cooked.

We did not bother to get some desserts, with three of each we were quite full. This was a really nice experience overall, every dish that came out was superb. I would happily recommend this dish, the price might be high but that reflects the quality of ingredients used and the service rendered, I will definitely come back here with a big smile on my face.

Huami
Address: SkyCity 87 Federal St, Auckland, 1010 New Zealand
Website: https://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/restaurants/huami/