Chamate (Auckland CBD, New Zealand)

This one was quite a late post but like most say its better late than never, so here we are reviewing a place that we visited the last Father’s Day here in New Zealand which was September 3 which was 2 months ago. Anyways, as mentioned it was Father’s Day and it was my daughters first Father’s Day treat to me, she knew I was craving for a Yum Cha so here we are.

Chamate is in the heart of Auckland CBD, it is near the place where I work. It may be hard to find as they don’t have a good street frontage as they are located in a second floor, and the only visible part of this restaurant on the first floor is its door leading to the restaurant above.

I never been to this place, I never knew this existed, so I was really surprised. The place looks nice, it’s like those restaurants inside a hotel. It was visually stunning; ceilings were so high which adds to the nice ambiance. Dark furnishings along with large windows makes the place look elegant.

Before we head to the items we tried, it is worth noting that this place does not use pork meat on any of their dishes from what I noticed, so you’re expecting one, then this place might not be for you but you might think twice becuase at Chamate even they use only chicken, lamb and beef as the main protein they still do mean dishes that usually uses them, trust me I did not even notice the shumai does not contain pork, it was that good.

Another thing to note, this place is not your typical yum cha place where a cart goes around, here you are given a paper to tick what you want to order, and they prepare them fresh for you.

Right let’s get to the business, so here is what we grabbed.

Crispy Golden Prawns (NZ$9.80) – Savoury juicy prawn meat wrapped in a thin layers of savoury pastry then deep fried.

Xiang Long Bao Shanghai Style (NZ$8.80) – Steamed Chicken Dumplings filled with chicken essence.

Har Gow (NZ$8.80) – Another Prawn filled Dumplings and steamed

Siu Mai (NZ$8.80) – Prawn & Chicken Dumplings

7 Wok fried Mixed Seafood (NZ$19.80) – Not sure what the 7 means but probably seven ingredients rather than cooked in 7 different woks

For the drinks we had the following

Mr & Ms Mango (NZ$8.00), a combination of Mango Passionfruit, Pineapple and Orange in a slushy form very refreshing.

Snickers Bite (NZ$8.00), a smoothie made with Snicker, vanilla ice cream, cacao, and peanut butter

and Iced Salted Caramel Latte (NZ$8.00)

So overall it was good, most of the dishes were amazing and as a pork lover I did not notice that there was no pork in all of the dishes we ordered. The best was the Siu Mai, it was juicy, meaty, perfect size, it was even better than other siu mai that uses pork. Another good one was the Crispy Golden Prawns, the flavours on this one was amazing, and the textures was great too, it looks nice and it’s really fun to eat. Other dimsums were great too.

For the drinks that Snickers Bite was amazing, it indeed tasted like a liquified Snickers, nutty and with hints of caramel. The Mr & Ms Mango on the other hand lacked taste, was refreshing but was expecting a bit more tartiness and sweetness but it felt like diluted. Iced Salted Caramel Latte was a let-down as well as it was just bitter, not creamy at all.

As for the service, it was OK, nothing to really highlight on this one. The place is clean and nice and is not crowded.

It’s a good place to recommend especially for those with dietary requirements that don’t eat pork, it’s a nice way to introduce Chinese food to them.

Chamate Restaurant
Address: 17 Swanson Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Phone: +649 302 7788
Website: https://www.chamate.co.nz/