Hong Kong Chef Kotara

Came in for yum cha today for the long weekend. We should have known how busy it would be we managed to get seated pretty quickly. The food was piping hot and absolutely delicious. The cherry on top was the service throughout the whole experience. The staff were attentive and absolutely lovely. Definitely coming back here again.

Everything is amazing and reasonable prices with a huge selection. Something for everyone and every taste.

Netty. Was. Here. It’s been a hot minute since I had Yum Cha! After travelling throughout SE Asia I was a little unsure if I would ever enjoy dumplings western style but this place does deliver! Wasn’t too impressed with the Sui Mai as it could have been worked into a paste more, was a bit chunky for my liking. Otherwise perfect! This whole set up was $83AUD!

Visited this restaurant and was greeted with warm smiles and promptly seated.Each dish arrived very promptly, the food was very authentic, most certainly delicious and left with a full belly.Great experience, will definitely be back!

Stopped in here for a quick lunch.Ordered the pork and chive dumplings and they were excellent.We were served within about 15 minutes. Good atmosphere and plenty of drinks to choose from too.They don’t split bills though, which in this day and age is ridiculous.

Waited an hour for our order and weren’t even served drinks, or even table water the whole time. No one thought to check on us until this waitress noticed we still had menus on our table, and it took an hour for that to happen. We had to ask her about our order for it to even be submitted to the kitchen. Ended up leaving without eating rather than waste another minute of our time there. Terrible service and terrible experience. Never going back and definitely DO NOT recommend. If I could give 0 stars I would. I’m not a fan of posting negative reviews myself but this one deserved an exemption.

A hidden gem in Kotara! The food was top notch. the service was great. The menu is extensive and full of beautiful dishes. A must visit for anyone looking for a good meal in Newcastle!!!

Don't buy the Peking duck. Duck was like rubber, fatty and soggy and tough as an old piece of leather, my cat even turned his nose up at it!, pancakes all stuck together not able to separate, spring onion and cucumber dried out curled and shrivelled up not even cut though , definately not fresh, hoisin sauce came in a tiny pot that wasn't even full up and wouldn't accompany 2 of the 6 inedible pancakes. My partner had fried rice that was whiter than an actors teeth, had no flavour , although it had bits through it, it was just one big lump of stodge and flavourless. $68 completely wasted, would have had more satisfaction eating the sole if my shoe. Very disappointing. Staff were friendly.

Very attentive and friendly staff. We tried the lobster special and it was great. We had a great time there. Will definitely come back with friends.

Hong Kong Chef has quickly become one of our favourite restaurants at Kotara. Generally speaking, the food is served quickly, and it is delicious. There are a lot of vegetarian options on the menu as well - including a dedicated vegetarian section, which I appreciate. We enjoy the atmosphere and the food, however, there are a few things I'd note:1. Food is usually quicker when it is busy than when it is quiet.2. Food rarely all comes at the same time. This restaurant is based around sharing the food, so with that context, it wouldn't matter that the food doesn't all arrive at once. If you are eating your own meal though, it can sometimes take 5-10 minutes between one dish arriving and another which is a bit awkward. Plan to share (if you can).3. The menu does not denote what is gluten free. Not a big deal, but with multiiple people who have coeliac disease in our family, it would make ordering easier.4. Don't expect a menu item to come out the same twice. I've had the same dish and seen it come out ini a variety of different ways. The core ingredients are usually consistent, but other things vary. Eg, I had a noodle dish that had bok choy in it and was garnished with lots of spring onion one day and another day it had no bok choy and just had spring onions mixed through instead. One day it was very moist and didn't appear to have much soy sauce. Another day it had a lot of soy sauce and was not very moist. Both times were still delicious, but it really does make the menu a bit of a guessing game. You can see in the photos, I've attached these two noodle dishes that are 'the same'.5. The servings are pretty huge and the menu is well-priced for the size of the meal.6. Most dishes do not come with steamed rice. It is served as an optional side. I like this approach.7. This comes back to food coming out at different times. Don't expect your food to come out before people who ordered after you arrived. It seems to come out as it is ready and so food that is ready quicker will come out before things that take longer.