China City Seafood

For those on a quest for Brisbane's best yum cha, the holy grail might well prove to be in this unprepossessing location. Recently opened on the ground level of the Diana Plaza Hotel, it looks like the stereotypical Chinese restaurant, with bubbling fish tank, red and gold patterned carpet and the eponymous lucky waving cat. But China City rises above the usual yum cha standards. The seafood of the moniker, is, by and large, reserved for the a la carte sections, with yum cha offerings more meaty than piscine. The Cantonese-influenced menu is huge, and staff make swift rounds to proffer baskets of flaky sesame-crusted crescent pastries filled with sticky pork, or nuggets of steamed beef ribs, hot and succulent beneath their pepper sauce. Chicken feet are cooked to tender in an umami-rich blackbean sauce, and dumplings and steamed buns are available in every possible permutation, from pan-fried pork to steamed sausage. Finish off with the perfect egg tart, neither too sweet nor too eggy.