Went there yesterday for yumcha at 1pm. Liked that they had a menu with pictures on it so we knew exactly what we were ordering. They should put the prices of drinks and chinese tea on the menu as well if possibile. Service was pretty good, food didn’t take too long to arrive and probably one of the better tasting yumchas in Hamilton i’ve tasted so far.

We were expecting some great food after a local paper recommendation pasted on its windows. We settled for dinner instead of Yum Cha. Food was alright. Nothing to shout about. Lesson learnt – look out for a restaurant with more guest and I can bet the food is better there.

Terrible Yum cha, on two occassions. Food took extremely long to arrive, and the wait between different dishes to arrive at peak lunch hour was atrocious. We at one stage when ordering a dish for takeaway, were undercharged- which we wern’t aware of as the menu had the price stated which is what we paid- the waitress then 20 minutes came with the dish, and said we needed to pay 8 dollars more than what we had. It was her mistake completely-she should of just dissolved this,she made herself look completely unprofessional not interested in earning regular patrons, more concerned about a quick buck. If you want great yumcha i recommend Master Kong restaurant on the other side of Victoria st.

We went to Yum Cha at Master House because we wanted to try a different Yum Cha restaurant. One word, disappointing. The food was alright, that wasn’t really the problem. Service was terrible. I have never been so disgusted at service like I had at Master House. Our waitress hardly greeted us, it was more of a couple of grunts when we asked for water or tea. When we asked for more tea, we got a refill of hot water, no new leaves. There was also no communication, such as “how was your meal” or “enjoy your meal.” When we went to pay, we were confused about why an extra $5 was added. Apparently tea cost $1 per head, which was not explained at all, as we were offered tea at the start but no explanation it would cost. We also got a lot of attitude from the same waitress when we did ask about the tea. We obviously did not know about cost, and there was no apologies for anything. Not the way to treat customers. All in all, we were all appalled at the service and the were disappointed with the food. I would not recommend Master House.

Weekend Lunch 20/10/2012 $95 for 11 dishes and six beers ! Service was average, they could do a bit better asking if people want drinks and checking if they would like to order more. All in all, will definitely return after my first experience.

Business Lunch July 2012.
Very pleasant, place was full, service was as expected, food was good – nothing over the top great, but not horrible. Menu was as expected however a little disappointed that wait staff did not really take the time to ask if we have had yum cha before.
Tempura squid definitely not as pictured – dense batter rather than tempura.
Were checked up on to see if we needed more beverages.
Would dine here again happily.

Went back for Yum Cha for the first time in years, were a bit disappointed, first time we went (some years ago) thought if was great raved about it wouldn’t want to take someone else there now. Food was okay service was poor, couldn’t get a drink for asking. Place had a messy unclean feel about it, won’t be going back

Over all a disappointing decision to walk in off the street for a meal.
There was no greeting or smile, just pick up of the menu and shown to our table. My partner was asked if he wanted Jasmine tea and he said no, but I never got asked so we had to call the waitress back.
The restaurant was like an open corridor with tables scattered everywhere. The walls had splashes on them. The wood around the wall was uneven and didn’t join in some places. The art work on the wall was OK but there was no connection it was like it was placed there to fill the gaps. No atmosphere at all.
My partner ordered a lemonade – came in a bottle with a straw hanging out. More like a dairy offering than a restaurant drink. Give the customer a glass.
We ordered beef and vegetables and lemon chicken. Would have been great if the dishes came out together we had almost finished the beef dish before we had to go and ask where the chicken dish was. The beef was quite good, the vegetables were crisp. The dish was hot. My only negative was having great shards of ginger in the dish – did nothing for my taste buds other than to leave a harsh taste in my mouth. The lemon chicken was so bright it would have glowed in the dark. It was more battered offerings with a hint of chicken inside. Two circles of lemon on the plate were tarnished brown so not a pleasing looking. The sauce was very thick and contained three lemon pips.
The rice was reasonable although a bit gluggy.
All up $50.
Wait staff could be more friendly, smile, greet the customer, ask about the meal at the table and when paying the bill and check if we wanted more drinks or if the meal was ok. Didn’t even thank us for coming. For Hamilton’s main street of dining a poor showing of hospitality

Master House started out 10 or so years ago and featured the cuisine of chef’s head hunted by the owners from Hong Kong. The décor is wonderful and very clean with many of the pictures painted by the boss’s wife and family. The food was brilliant, and well priced.

Sadly over time the quality of cooking has gone down hill a bit, and if it’s authentic Chinese cuisine you’re looking for I wouldn’t eat here. The last time we ate there (and it was the first time in two years) we noticed no difference to the highly westernised menu, and can say with some authority there are much better Chinese restaurants in Hamilton.

Reasonably priced authentic chinese meals in a clean and pleasant environment.

Kia ora,

I had read a review in the local newspaper quite some time ago about Master House, saying if a Chinese restaurant is full of Chinese people eating, then it’s good – this could be said about my visit, as there were many Chinese lunching. This signalled to me I was gonna taste some true authenticity.

I liked the atmosphere, clean, tidy and smiling staff who were very hospitible. We drank jasmin green tea while we perused the Yum Cha menu (if you’re new to yum cha, google it). Other Yum Cha places I’ve been to, usually bring the dim sum around in a server for you to pick, I think I prefer menu now, tastes fresher. Anyway, we got shrimp balls, fish tofu, combination dumplings, pork rolls, and sticky rice. Everything tasted freash, and very ‘more’ish’. This motivated me to order some duck, oh, glorious duck! It was absolutely gorgeous. After more fish tofu, shrimp balls and duck and a serving of this delicious shredded seaweed & sesame dish, we tried the pineapple buns for desert, a very delicately flavoured treat, with a quite unique texture that was like biting into a sweet cloud – we thought they’d be nice with a cuppa later, so we asked to take some home!

All in all, we had a wonderfull time, great setting, great service, and great food (which wasn’t expensive, $70 for three) along with great company made for a truly great meal. We look forward to returning to Master House and trying some new dishes along with more shrimp balls and that glorious duck.

Great for a yum cha lunch