The Scholar

Yumcha is really good. Even though Sunday can be very busy. But we really enjoy the food and got what we asked for our drinks.

Overbooked the restaurant, line went all the way down the stairs, lady refused to acknowledge anyone. Was told to just wait repeatively when approached, we waited 30 minutes and in the end had to leave to get fed elsewhere.

I absolutely loved this place until I went recently with my partner and realized they're running a scam. They charged me for 8 meals when we only had 5 and when I had returned for my rightful refund the lady at the desk told me we ate 5 large meals and it's why it was more expensive, this was after I demanded to have my docket looked at again and saw the extra 3 ticks that came from nowhere. Out of my $40 refund she returned $15.80? ! No apology and said she'll remember my face next time I come in for a discount.

If you're going to go, make sure you check your docket first before paying. I've been to The Scholar a few times and the prices are always dramatically different.

Yum cha with the family, very popular with every seat taken. Quite crowded, like every other yum cha place I've been in. Serving carts circulate regularly, good selection of tasty dim sum. Not sure it's the best in Canberra but worth a visit.

Over crowded. Ended up sitting in a makeshift table. Glasses at the table were dirty, dirty linen in the corridors. We also had to chase down the staff in order to get food. Good food, but sadly consistently poor and disappointing service and facilities.

My partner and I came here at 11: 15 am Sunday morning and waited by the top of the stairs to be seated.

Firstly I need to say, arrival order to the premises has absolutely no reference to seating order. If a 4-seat table becomes free they will go down their entry stair to find a 4 person group. These people could have been waiting just 3 minutes where you've been there waiting for 20 to 25 minutes. We were there for a good 20 minutes just waiting for a seat before we were eventually waved over to a seat.
Firstly the food was average, nothing spectacular. My biggest gripe is that while we were waiting the kitchen was busy and a lot of trays with interesting food came out. A lot of these same food (like deep-fried chicken and barbecue pork in a sauce). NEVER came out the whole time after we were seated.
We had a few trolleys of things mostly finding, dumplings or seafood dishes come out but most of what we saw come out never once appeared once we were shown a table.
The next huge kick in the face was the fact that 15 minutes into our seating placement, pretty much nothing came out of the kitchen. Two trays at most if you were lucky and it seemed cleaning tables and preparing for the next rush was more important than bringing out stuff from the kitchen. Before we sat down there were trolleys and trays all over the place - absolutely consistent. When the cleaning phase started it was more (screw the current customers, we're getting ready for he next batch).
After waiting we gave up and left. Won't be going back. If tidying tables up and leaving trolleys lying about is more important than bringing current customers the stuff that wasn't being brought out since the stair waiting then yep, we're done.
I really wish that I had got the photo of the stairwell when we left. It was so jampacked we had to squeeze between people who were lined up both left and right with a very narrow gap in the middle to get out. Covid spacing and so forth completely out the window. That photo would've been such a huge topic for health regulation and safety.

Very rude waiters/waitress, I called for service and they just ignore or pretend didn't hear until I bloody shouted for help, and one of dish had hair in it! Not going there anymore. Food was average

Hi, just want to say a big thank you to the Scholar restaurant. I left my phone in the chair and people here literally tried to find me along the streets. And they found me! By the way their food is awesome, you simple must try the sweet sour pork and three cup chicken. 谢谢你们！

Extremely busy on a Sunday afternoon. Wide selection of dishes to choose from. The dumplings were over steamed and the portion sizes were a little small.

Been here a couple of times recently. The lobster was fabulous, cooked really well and priced as you would expect. Had this on both times we visited. The roast duck was also good. The stir fried Chinese veg had way too much garlic, but otherwise tasted ok. Tried a couple of the clay pot dishes (aubergine and tofu one and a mushroom one), both were very tasty.

Very poor service, we were sitting and waiting for 45 minutes for our meal to arrive and they only got their act together when we had to ask a waiter where our food was.

We celebrated my wife's birthday here. We enjoyed the Yum Cha. The Beef Horfun noodle was mixed to much that its already cutted into smaller pieces. Overall, the experience is good.

The food is way too salty.the rest of the mains are less that average, dirty and almost zero customer service. You really feel like" just a number". When you paid more than $400 for the dinner not worth of the money at all.
Sooooooo disappointed.

Never come back again

Not recommend anyone going there?

We ordered takeaway today and found the portion is extremely small compare to dining in. However we were paying full price. Very disapointed!

We highly recommend Scholar to offer some sort of discount for takeaway order at all time. Until then, we won't come back again.

Large variety of dishes to choose from for yum cha. Prices are slightly on the high side (in comparison to popular establishments from Sydney CBD). Plenty of staff to look after you during your visit. All are well mannered.

We visit this place for yumcha every year on to way to snowy mountains. Yumcha dishes cater well for all types of customers.

A friend had a birthday dinner there, the ingredients were fresh but the dishes lacked fragrance or taste, rather disappointing. They need a new chef.

I have been here many times for the Yum Cha and it is very popular - the food is very good, with a wide variety. Price isn't too bad, and even though it is popular, U can generally always get a table.

Came here for Valentine's day, rude staff, one hour wait time for food and waiters only served the big tables.

Very nice yum cha, very ordinary service though. One server didn't stop once for us. No disabled access. Nice food but I don't think we'll go back.

This place is a Canberra institution, serving a large variety of quality Chinese food. Lots of options for fresh seafood. Friendly staff.