Chulongji Chinese Restaurant (North Shore City, New Zealand)

Recently we discovered this hidden gem located in North Shore tucked hidden in Sunnynook’s Highview Court, the name Chulongji. We learned this place after I asked my daughter to look for something new to try, it was nearly dinner time and we were quite busy doing some household stuff, so I asked her to search online while I finish my tasks.

It was minutes away from our house in North Shore which was good since we were quite hungry, she told us to go to Highview court which I did not expected since this place is known for Asian groceries, while there were restaurants here that we tried before, this place is not known to have good places to eat.

A couple of minutes later we were there, the place looks familiar because I think we have been in that place but it was a different establishment back then, if my memory serves me right, it was either a restaurant or an Asian shop which did not look nice, it was uninviting. Now it was this Chulongji and the vibe did change a lot, it was clean and white.

Upon entering you will notice the place is quite vibrant and there are tons of bamboo steamer hanging on the walls as decors. We immediately sat down on an empty table and asked for the menu. Menu was nice as well, it was clean unlike most Chinese restaurants where you see a lot of food stained pages, their one was clean, streak free and white. There were no photos but drawings reminiscent of old Chinese art works. While there was a good amount on offer, it was not very confusing as it was well ordered into sections.

We immediately ordered and we based our orders on what most of the diners had on their table. So we grabbed a couple of dumplings, noodles, meat, and some drinks. We started with their specialties, the dumplings. First order was this Xiaolongbao, Steamed Soup Dumpling in Original Style (NZ$9.80), in 6 pieces. As expected, it was good, the dumpling wrapper what thin and the soup inside was quite tasty.

We also had this Steamed Glutinous Rice Shaomai (NZ$7.80) which was quite unexpected. At first, I thought it the dumpling skin was made glutinous rice flour instead of wheat flour but instead it was filled with glutinous rice and some meat, like Lo Mai Gai in a dumpling form. It was surprisingly good and quite heavy.

Then we had this Noodles Mixed with Scallion Oil and Soy Sauce (NZ$10.80), again another great dish. Don’t be taken off because of its simple looks as this humble dish was quite tasty. It’s one of those dishes that focuses on the quality and taste of noodles and this dish did not let us down.

Finally we had some Crispy Pork Chop with Garlic (NZ$22.00), again it was unexpected as I was thinking it is made with pork chops but instead it was made with pork ribs, even better in my opinion as the meat near the bones are tastier. This one was quite tasty, very garlicky and was quite crispy too.

For the drinks, usually Chinese restaurants give free Chinese tea, with this place they don’t offer that, so we grabbed some Coke and Soya Milk to push all that delicious food down.

Overall, we were happy with the food, not just that we loved the place, it was clean, and staff was quite friendly. It’s just sad it’s in a location that is not visible from the road, so random passer-by won’t be able to discover this great restaurant.

出笼記 Chulongji Chinese Restaurant
Address: 11/20 Link Drive, Wairau Valley, Auckland 0627, New Zealand
Phone: +649 443 3333