Mr Lobster Private Kitchen (Henderson, Waitakere, New Zealand)

Yes, it is another day for yum cha, like I mentioned last week, we haven’t been to a yum cha for ages, now we are back on a vengeance, that is why we are having them again. Today we are at Mr Lobster Private Kitchen, we skipped this one last time we were here on Lincoln Road due to the long queue outside, so we ended up eating at Dagu Rice Noodle but now the queue is tolerable, so here we are.

The first thing I notice when we were accommodated is that I felt like I was warped to Hong Kong, the scent, the decor, the type of nice and even the aircon temperature. It was like eating in a nice restaurant in Hong Kong, the heavy Solid Wood Lazy Susannes, fluffy leather seats and nice cutleries, it was clean too. It was my wife and me this time, but we still did order quite a bit, we even wanted more but it can wait next time as we want our daughter to try this place too.

It is a yum cha place when we came in at noon time, but I suppose they change into a lobster specialty place at night basing on the menu and the restaurant name. Anyways we ordered four items, and it’s unlike the normal yum cha where carts go around, here you are given a paper with menu and images and you tick what you want, after you filled it up, just give it to the waiter and just hang on until it arrives.

Service was quick, the items arrived minutes later, and they arrive as they are prepared, so don’t expect them to show everything at once. Like I said we ticked four items, first was the Deep-Fried Taro & Prawn Roll (NZ$9.00), this is one of my favourite dim sum items.

Their version certainly is one of the best I tried so far, instead of just minced pork and vegetables, Mr Lobsters version comes with prawns, a lot of them and they are so darn good. Served at the right temperature, where it is hot but not piping, so you won’t burn your mouth. Outside was very crispy, middle was so fluffy, and the filling was filled with umami flavours.

Next up was the Pork & Prawn Siu Mai with XO Sauce (NZ$8.00), again this exceeded our expectations. It was very tasty, the texture was perfect, it was very dense but tender to the bite, it was chunky, and you can taste the prawns on this one. Again one of the best Sui Mai’s in NZ.

We also had this Steam Pork Spareribs (NZ$7.00), nothing special on this one, just a good steamed pork ribs.

Finally the Xiamen Style Fried Noodle (NZ$18.00), this was the surprise, first time I had a noodle like this, it was sour but delicate and we loved it. Noodles was cooked to perfection and all the elements on this dish was well thought of, the flavours are exploding but it’s not overpowering. This was really nice with the dim sums that we have.

We will be back, especially now that I had seen other items on the menu, definitely want to try more of what they offer.  If you want to have some nice Chinese for lunch, this is the place, great service, clean place and most importantly, the food was great.

Mr Lobster Private Kitchen 龍虾皇私房菜
Address: 4/301 Lincoln Road, Henderson, Auckland 0612, New Zealand
Phone: +649 218 8180
Website: mrlobsterprivatekitchen.co.nz