Dumpling hour: the case for yum cha
Round tables, rolling trolleys and the best-value feast in town. Yum cha is a team sport — bring numbers.
Yum cha punishes the solo diner and rewards the crowd. The format is built for six people talking over each other while small plates keep arriving — dumplings, buns, things wrapped in things — and the bill at the end always seems too small for what just happened.
The tactics
Go hungry, go before noon on a weekend, and say yes to anything you can’t identify at least once per visit. Order tea for the table and keep the lid tilted when it needs a top-up — the staff are watching for it.
Round up your people and find a table.
Find yum cha