Choose your favourite dishes as the trolley comes past. Photo: Ginseng.
Ginseng Chinese Restaurant has been serving authentic dishes to the Canberra community for over 20 years, including some of the best yum cha in Canberra and beyond.
Owner Rockie Cheung tells me that Ginseng is a family business. It started as a restaurant in Manuka before they expanded to the Hellenic Club around 16 years ago. Despite their long history, not much has changed on the menu.
“We do traditional Chinese food, rather than modern twists. We use traditional methods for our Cantonese-style yum cha, and use live seafood tanks at dinner,” Rockie told Region.
“We’ve got three specialised yum cha chefs working at the restaurant who are focused on making dumplings. They have to handmake every single dumpling on our yum cha menu: we’ve got around 40 to 50 varieties. Around 30 will be available when we do yum cha on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.”
Ginseng owner Rockie Cheung says people come from as far as Goulburn and Cooma for the yum cha at Ginseng. Photo: Rockie Cheung.
Some people have yum cha for a special occasion, but others make it a weekly ritual. Rockie said they have regulars from all over Canberra, and some who even travel from as far afield as Cooma or Goulburn for their dose of dumplings!
I recently visited Ginseng with friends for a round of Saturday morning yum cha. The minute you sit down, the trolleys start rolling by: “Spring roll? Steamed dumpling?”
I like to approach yum cha as an endurance sport – never overloading the table with too much at once; rather, flagging down one or two dishes at a time from each trolley. Rockie recommends relaxing, enjoying a cup of tea, and just picking whatever takes your fancy from each trolley.
Crispy spring rolls are a great starter, and we quickly follow them up with scallop dumplings and prawns rolled in chewy, steamed rice paper, doused in soy and helpfully cut into pieces for us to share. We are so enthusiastic about this dish that when a pork-filled version is on the trolley, the Chinese aunty makes a beeline for our table!
Pork and prawn Sui Mai dumplings are one of Rockie’s favourites. Photo: Ginseng.
We devour sui mai, BBQ pork, fried squid, stuffed eggplant, sticky rice parcels, and dumplings, dumplings, dumplings. Rockie told Region that their most popular dish is the fried lobster dumpling, but it’s worth exploring different things every time.
“I always try to sell chicken feet, beef tripe and other more traditional dishes. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s very tasty and authentic.”
“People are more open to giving things a go: the chicken feet are actually one of our more popular dishes.”
Yum cha is best enjoyed with a group so you can taste lots of different things, and you’ll want at least one member of your party to be strategically positioned so they can see what’s on the trolleys and trays as they come around. This person might also need to make some executive decisions for the group: it’s best to keep things moving quickly rather than umming and ahhing for too long.
Aside from yum cha, Ginseng is beloved for its seafood dishes, such as mud crab and lobster. Photo: Ginseng.
Enjoy sipping jasmine tea, and if your pot runs dry, simply place the lid slightly ajar to signal you need more hot water; someone will be around with a kettle in a jiffy.
I am a big fan of the five-spice whitebait, but hadn’t seen any coming on trays. So I asked one of the servers, who put in an order to the kitchen, and it came out soon after! So if there’s something you’re particularly craving, don’t be afraid to ask.
Don’t forget to leave room for an egg tart or coconut jelly to finish off with something sweet.
Ginseng is located at Woden Hellenic Club, 1 Matilda St, Phillip. They are open for lunch from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm Monday to Friday, and for dinner from 5:30 seven days a week. Yum cha lunch is available Saturday, Sunday (90-minute sittings) and Monday. Bookings essential. Follow Ginseng on Facebook or Instagram.
