Big Thumb Chinese Restaurant

Had yum cha there 3 times in a row over 1 month (all weekends). That tells you how much my family enjoyed the food there. Food is really good/fresh and for now (not sure how long it will last) yum cha dishes are around the $6.50 range from about $9.50 so good food at good prices makes it worth a visit! They will run out of food so go earlier and order more as around the 1.30 pm mark on a Sunday, they are completely sold out of yum cha food.

I bring my own favourite tea (Feijoa & green tea, or Iron Goddess of Mercy) there and just ask for hot water so I can enjoy my favourite tea with the yummy food as the tea they serve there is not to my liking.

Love big thumb. Their fried dumplings are awesome. Lawrence cooks amazingly good sichuan and cantonese food. My happy place

Found my new favorite place for yumcha. Booked a table of 2 for lunch on a Saturday. We got too excited that we didn't think of taking pictures at all. The food was amazing. There were staff pushing trolleys with different dishes around, and they also gave us menu to order what we want. The staff also noticed when we had enough food so they stopped offering and let us enjoy our meal uninterrupted.

Great food, the venison was great. Tea is very good.
But it seems that they don't have enough cooks and waiters, so there may be a wait during busy periods.

Each menu had a different price and the food was average! 1 star is mainly for the pricing discrepancies. Price was also far too high for the quality.

Left service without a star as this is an adequate representation, waited 90 mins for the meal and understandably had to leave prior to receiving said mean. They then demanded I pay for a meal I never received

Waiter is absolutely lovely, kind hearted and attentive. Fast service. Delicious duck and great atmosphere.

Disappointing to see shark fin on the menu, food is average as better to go to dragons down the road

Had Yum Cha here. Food was nice, service was good although there were very few diners.
Like many restaurants the toilets let them down.

We did Yum Cha on a sunday. Food was fantastic! Service nice and friendly. Really appreciated the menu with pictures of the good. Pricing ok. Orange beef and squid was fantastic, and they had the ability to order specific dishes from the menu.

Will make up some excuse about a day being excluded from the vouchers people bought when they weren’t able to operate during closures. Not worth supporting.

Food was middling. Better options nearby.

Delicious, authentic range of yum cha dishes, hot and appetizing. No rush, great service, friendly staff. A great Sunday lunch experience

The food was amazing! My wine was amazing! Only puzzling thing was the absence of the man with the big thumb! Kept looking but couldn't find him. Might be false advertising but that's all good.

If I could give a lower rating, I would. Big Thumb consistently has the worse service I have seen from any BYO establishment. Unlike other similar places like Ozeki, Red Mount etc where for large groups you pay as you order, Big Thumb makes you pay at the end of the meal which frequently leaves people falsely double charged for food and beverages.

The service is surly and often hostile and the food expensive and bland. Please, heed my warning and DO NOT GO!

Wasted 2 hours of our time here as we waited for our mains to arrive. They never arrived and the managers tried to charge us saying that we had not noticed that our meals had arrived? Half our of party never received their mains. Disgusting service.

Fantastic place always friendly, polite and attentive. Nice and big restaurant not squished in like the place around the corner and they dont rush you. Fast turn around of yum cha with also many dishes to choose from the menu.

We had a nice dinner here however there were a coupple things which threw me off here. The second I walked in (with a mask may i note) i noticed a pungent smell of cigarettes. The later once we got our meal I found a hair in it. Not a huge deal as these things happen, but just something to think about. Otherwise the food was wonderfull.

Tucked down a side street (Allen St.) off Wakefield Street you could be forgiven for overlooking BTCR as it is somewhat off the beaten track of the Courtenay Place plethora of pubs and eateries with their loud pub music and merry patrons especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

This little gem will not disappoint especially if it's brunch or Yum Char you're after. It's as good if not better than some older or larger Chinese Restaurants offering similar fare. There are dishes galore from dim sims to lotus-wrapped rice (one of the nicest sticky rice parcels to date with finely diced chicken), to succulent roast pork (the melt-in-your-mouth crackling is simply the BEST in town!), seafood dumplings, etc.and of course there are desserts as well such as the quintessential egg custard tarts and other Chinese cakes for those who like to finish their banquet with sweeter treats.

The only negative is the chilli sauce which is so bland it is devoid of any kick (unlike the All Blacks:) or flavour. You may have to resort to bringing your own chilli-oil sauce, preferably one that's designed for yum chars to score more cuisine goals. On the whole though the parceled delicacies have been deliciously crafted to perfection, enabling BT to be a serious contender for the Gold Medal of Yum Char Olympics!

Service is very quick and the hostess is very gracious and friendly. You will never run out of tea as she is ever so attentive. If you are looking for a fabulous Chinese yum char brunchquet to share with friends or/and family in convivial surroundings then visit the Big Thumb Restaurant! So here's a BIG THUMB to them!

PS: Taking the family out to brunch after your Covid-19 vaccine jabs is a great way to "make the medicine go down in the most delightful way". (Mary Poppins). Bon Appetit!

Loved all the food that were served for today's yum cha. Very tasty and delicious. It's hard picking a standout dish from today but definitely recommend the orange beef, pork buns, dimsums and sesame mochi red bean balls. Not giving 5 stars just because there were times when we ordered/requested some food items but they either didn't arrive or we had to follow up on the item a couple of times.

Best orange beef in Wellington! But let down by overly expensive price which doesn't include/come with rice. Around $30 a meal