The best dumplings in Brisbane

Jemma FletcherBy Jemma Fletcher
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Poached or grilled, tightly packed with all things sweet or savoury: there’s a lot to love about the humble dumpling.

Have your chopsticks at the ready as we take you on a quest to find the best dumplings in Brisbane.

1. Harajuku Gyoza

As you step through the doors of Harajuku Gyoza , you’ll be welcomed with a raucous chorus of “irasshaimase" (meaning welcome in Japanese).

Widely known for making some of the best gyoza in Australia, they are like little Japanese dumplings of happiness because they’re cooked crispy on the bottom and steamed juicy on the top. With crispy duck, mozzarella cheese, cheeseburger, and takoyaki gyozas, you can guarantee you won’t find these flavours in any other dumpling restaurant.

Do your tastebuds a favour and order the decadent garlic butter crab dumplings or the one-foot-long fries splattered with kewpie mayo. The star of the dessert menu has to be the salted caramel gyozas, as well as their raindrop cake. Wash it all down with beer, wine or sake.

Cuisine: Japanese

Where: Locations in Brisbane CBD and South Bank

Above shot of Harajuku Garlic Crab Gyoza and table
Harajuku Gyoza is widely known for making some of the best gyoza in Australia. (Image: Harajuku Gyoza)

2. Fat Dumpling

Fat Dumpling specialises in plates of plump, translucent dumplings served poached, steamed, or pan-fried.

Keen to explore beyond the typical pork and cabbage filling? Try the poached chicken and asparagus, pan-fried fish, and steamed pork xiao long bao (soup dumplings). Sided with pork spring rolls, a Chinese broccoli salad, and the farm egg and prawn fried rice.

These aren’t the cheapest dumplings in Brisbane, but each one is handmade daily with incredible precision and packed with flavour to create a more than enjoyable dining experience for patrons.

Cuisine: Chinese

Where: Locations in Bowen Hills and West End

Authentic and handmade dumplings from Fat Dumpling in Brisbane.
Each dumpling is handmade daily with incredible precision and flavour. (Image: Fat Dumpling)

3. Madame Wu

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill yum cha. With an enviable outlook over the Brisbane River and an elegant dining ambience, Madame Wu takes your dumpling experience to the next level with a delicious modern Asian Fusion menu.

Executive Chef Brendon Barker has made it his mission to incorporate fresh Queensland produce into each of his dishes.

You’ll find fancy fillings like wagyu and Jerusalem artichoke, pan-fried scallops, and pumpkin and sweet potato — the dumplings here are something else. While they aren’t technically dumplings, the steamed duck buns are lip-smackingly fantastic.

Cuisine: Asian Fusion

Where: 71 Eagle Street, Brisbane City

Steamed scallop dumplings from Madame Wu in Brisbane.
Madame Wu looks over the Brisbane River. (Image: Madame Wu)

4. New Shanghai

If you’d like to see dumpling wrappers nimbly stuffed and pleated before your eyes, make a beeline for New Shanghai . It nails the Shanghainese 1930s street-style setting, creating a causal but modern dining atmosphere.

These legends can be found hand-rolling out all their orders fresh from the kitchen using recipes passed down through generations.

If you’re after something a little different, we’d suggest you mix it up with the crab meat xiao long bao. Alternatively, you can just stick to the classics and order a plate of prawn dumplings.

Cuisine: Chinese

Where: 226 Queen Street, Brisbane City

Dumplings are hand-rolled in front of you at New Shanghai in Brisbane.
New Shanghai nails the Shanghainese 1930s street-style setting. (Image: New Shanghai)

5. Bamboo Basket

Specialising in southern and northern Chinese cuisine, the folks over at Bamboo Basket have bought a small part of Shanghai to Australia.

Known for their signature xiaolongbao dishes, they prepare these soup-filled Shanghai pork dumplings fresh for their customers every day.

You definitely want to start with these iconic dumplings, but we’d recommend ordering a few plates of the deep-fried mixed vegetable with bean curd dumplings and the steamed chicken and Chinese cabbage dumplings to accompany it.

While you’re there, be entertained by their professional, skilled chefs rolling out dough, filling and pinching dumplings, and making noodles right before your eyes.

Cuisine: Southern and northern Chinese

Where: Locations in South Brisbane and Hamilton

Pork and prawn dumplings from Bamboo Basket in Brisbane.
Be entertained by the professional, skilled chefs. (Image: Bamboo Basket)

6. Landmark Restaurant

Feed those raging Chinese cuisine cravings with a weekend yum cha session. At Landmark Restaurant , you’ve got trays upon trays of dumplings streaming out of the kitchen every minute.

The hardest part of yum cha is knowing which of the dishes to start with. You can’t go wrong with the following selection: shark fin, peanut and pork, garlic chives, and steamed beef Siu Mai (opened dumpling) – and the prawn dumpling noodle soup makes for an incredible starter dish.

Cuisine: Cantonese

Where: Locations in Sunnybank and Chermside

Enjoy a yum cha feast at Landmark Restaurant in Brisbane.
Landmark Restaurant, has trays upon trays of dumplings streaming out of the kitchen every minute. (Image: Landmark Restaurant)

7. Steamed

With fast service and juicy dumplings, what’s not to love about dining at Steamed ? Located in Brisbane’s CBD, these leading ladies are working tirelessly to dish up the best batches of dumplings in the area.

With only four items on the menu, you don’t have an excuse not to try them all. The Zen dumpling is filled with shiitake mushroom, seasoned tofu, and Chinese cabbage, while the Chicken Donggu mix is made up of chicken donggu mushroom and Chinese spice.

And of course, they have the Harbin pork dumplings mixed with chives and ginger and the ever-popular Pork Clouds (fluffy pork buns).

Cuisine: Chinese

Where: 95 Turbot Street, Brisbane City

Steamed chicken gyoza from Steamed in Brisbane.
Steamed only has four items on the menu. (Image: Steamed)

8. Little Red Dumpling

With so many locations to choose from, think of Little Red Dumpling as your local dumpling bar offering a little slice of Guangdong.

They pride themselves on preparing dumplings in-house daily, using only locally sourced ingredients — ‘just like ma ma used to’.

The menu is broken up into categories of ‘start’, ‘dumplings’, ‘not dumplings’, and ‘finish’ to keep it simple. While you can obviously branch out and order something from under the ‘not dumplings’ section, it would be remiss of us not to steer you towards the lamb coriander, crab roe, and rainbow dumpling selection.

Cuisine: Guangdong

Where: Locations in Brisbane CBD, Toowong, West End, Newmarket, Toombul, Springwood, Sunnybank, Cannon Hill, Victoria Point, and Carseldine.

Dumplings in Xián sour soup from Little Red Dumpling in Brisbane.
Think of Little Red Dumpling as your local dumpling bar offering a little slice of Guangdong. (Image: Little Red Dumpling)

9. Donna Chang

Giving a gentle nod to Sichuan flavours and authentic Cantonese cuisine, Donna Chang offers a dining experience to ignite your senses.

If you’re looking for a side of elegance, the dining room here is filled with marble tables and suede chairs to set the tone.

Having sourced the very best local ingredients to create inspired dishes, their Moreton Bay bug, and scallop dumpling is one you absolutely need to try when in Brisbane.

Cuisine: Cantonese

Where: 171 George St, Brisbane City

Watch chefs prepare your food from the elegant dining room at Donna Chang in Brisbane.
Donna Chang offers a dining experience to ignite your senses. (Image: Donna Chang)
Jemma Fletcher
Based in sun-kissed Brisbane, Jemma Fletcher is an accomplished writer, editor and content manager. Armed with a Bachelor of Journalism from The University of Queensland, as well as over a decade of tourism marketing experience, Jemma now specialises in freelance travel writing and has a soft spot for the beauty of Queensland. Her expertise has been honed through her previous roles as Chief Editor of Queensland.com and WeekendNotes.com and she is the passionate creator of High Cup of Tea, an online directory celebrating Australia's finest high tea experiences. After growing up in the UK (hence her love for tea and scones) and a delightful chapter in Sydney, Jemma loves to explore quaint towns with a rich history. Also high on her weekend list is tasting the local cafe scene, enjoying charming farm stays with her young family and deciding where her next travel adventure will be (half of the fun is in the planning!)
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What it’s really like to stay on the world’s largest sand island

    Kassia ByrnesBy Kassia Byrnes
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    Exploring the world’s largest sand island starts with the perfect K’gari homebase.

    The morning light is still soft, but it’s already a perfect sunny day. We left our K’gari homebase at Kingfisher Bay Resort  with our guide, Peter Meyer, at 9 am to make the most of our time to explore all that the world’s largest sand island holds. The size of K’gari is hard to grasp until you arrive here. This is no sandbar. Stretching 120 kilometres, unique lakes, mangrove systems, rainforest, 75 Miles of beach, historic shipwrecks, small townships and even one of Queensland’s best bakeries are all hidden within its bounds.

    But first, one of the island’s most iconic sights: the pure silica sand and crystal clear waters of Lake McKenzie.

    Laying eyes on it for the first time, I’m finally able to confirm that the photos don’t lie. The sand is pure white, without the merest hint of yellow. The water fades from a light halo of aqua around the edges to a deeper, royal blue, the deeper it gets (not that it’s particularly deep, six metres at most). The surface remains surprisingly undisturbed, like a mirror.

    Arriving with our guide before 10 am means that no one else is around when we get here. Which means we have the pleasure of breaking the smooth surface with our own ripples as we enter. As a self-confessed wimp with chilly water temperatures, my fears are quickly assuaged. Even in the morning, the water stays around 23 degrees – perfect for lazing about all day. But we have more sights to see.

    Exploring K’gari

    ariel of in lake mckenzie on k'gari fraser island
    Relax in the warm waters of Lake McKenzie. (Image: Ayeisha Sheldon)

    This was the Personalised 4WD tour offered by Kingfisher Bay Resort, and my absolute top pick of experiences. Over the course of the day, we had the freedom to create our own bespoke itinerary (plus a provided picnic lunch along the way), with an expert guide who had plenty of stories and local expertise to give context to what we were looking at. From the history of the SS Maheno shipwreck, which survived the First World War only to be washed ashore by a cyclone in 1935, to a detailed description of how an island made of sand could sustain such diverse flora.

    If it’s your first time to K’gari, the Beauty Spots Tour is another great option. Departing daily from Kingfisher Bay Resort (you’ll start to notice a trend, as many of the tours do start and end here), an air-conditioned, 4WD bus takes guests to the island’s most iconic locations, including the best places to swim, like Lake McKenzie and Eli Creek. The latter offers a gentle current, perfect for riding with a blow-up tyre out towards the ocean.

    The next day, for a look at a completely different side of K’gari, I joined one of Kingfisher Bay Resort’s Immersive Ranger-guided tours to kayak through the mangroves of Dundonga Creek. This long, snake-like stretch of creek winds its way inland from the ocean outlet we entered by, at times too narrow for three kayaks to be side-by-side. Small insects buzz from leaf to leaf, while birds call overhead. Occasional bubbles indicate we’ve passed some fish that call this place home.

    kayak tour through the mangroves at k'gari island
    Learn about the island’s mangroves from your Ranger. (Image: Reuben Nutt/ TEQ)

    If kayaking isn’t for you – or if, like me, you simply want more – other ranger-led experiences include nature walks and a dedicated Junior Eco Ranger Program for kids ages five to 12 (these run every weekend, and daily over the peak December holidays). Just ask for a timetable of upcoming tours when you check in.

    While during whale season, Hervey Bay Whale Watch & Charters operates tours from the hotel’s jetty to get up close to the famous Humpback Highway of Hervey Bay, from 7 November to 31 May, attention turns to the Aqua Oasis Cruise . Departing from the resort every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for resort guests, adventure along the island’s remote western coast, pointing out wildlife like dolphins, turtles, flying fish and eagles along the way.

    The cruise drops anchor so guests can jump into the water using the boat’s equipment – from SUP boards to inflatable slides and jumping platforms. Then refuel with a provided lunch, of course.

    Unwind at sunset

    two people drinking cocktails at sunset bar, kingfisher bay resort
    Unwind at the Sunset Bar. (Image: Sean Scott)

    As much as days on K’gari can be filled with adventure, to me, the afternoons and evenings there are for unwinding. Sunsets on K’gari are absolutely unbelievable, with Kingfisher Bay on the west side being the best spot to catch the colours.

    The Sunset Bar , located at the start of the resort’s jetty and overlooking the beach, is the ultimate location for sundowners. Let chill beats wash over you as you sip on cool wines, beers and cocktails in a relaxed, friendly vibe. Personally, a cheese board was also absolutely called for. As the sun sinks, the sand, sea and horizon turn a vibrant shade of orange, with the jetty casting a dramatic shadow across the water.

    When the show is over, head back to the hotel for dinner at the Asian-fusion Dune restaurant, or the pub-style Sand + Wood. But if your appetite is still whetted for more lights and colours, the evening isn’t over yet.

    Settle into the Illumina stage for Return to Sky, an immersive light and sound show leading viewers on a captivating journey through K’gari’s stories and landscapes.

    Indulge and disconnect

    woman setting up massage room at kingfisher bay resort Island Day Spa
    Find bliss at Island Day Spa. (Image: Jessica Miocevich)

    Of course, there is a type of traveller who knows that balance is important, day or night. While Kingfisher Bay Resort offers more than one pool for guests to spend all day lounging by (they’ll even serve you food and drinks while you do it), you’ll find me at the Island Day Spa.

    The masseuses could match the magic hands of any big city spa, and I felt the warm welcome as I walked into the light, breezy reception. Choose from a range of botanical facials, beauty treatments and soothing massages using traditional techniques (obviously, I couldn’t go past a relaxing massage). All products used contain organic, native botanical ingredients with nutrient-rich plant extracts to soothe skin and mind. To really indulge, try out one of the packages, couples treatment or even a pre-wedding day offering.

    Getting there

    kingfisher bay resort 4wd tour driving passed ss maheno on k'gari island
    The world of K’gari awaits. (Image: Jessica Miocevich)

    Getting to K’gari is shockingly easy. Find daily flights into Hervey Bay from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Kingfisher Bay Resort offers a shuttle bus between the airport, their headquarters in Hervey Bay and the ferry to take you to K’gari.