Terrible food!!! I ordered Hainan chicken rice, the rice came as plain rice instead of flavored rice. Waitress explained this is how they serve the dish. If you do not have sauce on the rice, then you cannot call it Hainan chicken rice! The chicken was also flavorless and smelled odd like frozen chicken instead of freshly made, I only had half as I was worried it's off. I also ordered pan fried pork buns, they came small and wrinkled, definitely coming from frozen package, and I can tell it was not even good quality frozen pork bun. I paid $8.8 for 4 tiny buns, I expect hot juicy buns, sadly there was none. I could have gone to the supermarket buy the frozen bun, cook at home, and it would taste way better than the one served. Lastly my third dish was stir fry flat beef noodles, once again a disappointing dish, the flat noodles were so pale! And there was no seasoning! I can't believe the owner/chef would let dishes like this to come out from the kitchen, they didn't even look right. This will be my first and last time eating here. Big thumbs down. I'm just glad I didn't get food poisoning.

Coconut chicken hotpot ($73) was tasty and different to anything we've had before - the broth has a slight sweetness from coconut water (?). It comes with raw chicken, lettuce, beef balls, enoki mushrooms and a container of a sweet and spicy sauce mix (chilli, garlic, coriander, shallots, lime, soy, etc.) per person. We also added rice noodles ($6). Pan-fried pork and chive dumplings ($13.9) were good, nothing special. The sweet chilli eggplant ($17.8) is very moreish, a tad sweet and greasy though. The restaurant is unfortunately a bit dirty though - sticky floors, wet cutlery and tables not wiped very thoroughly - just a bit icky.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–40
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 3

Day 6 of zetland spice alley eat out. We hope to go to Japanese accross st but they closed. This place looked inviting with many people inside, great atmosphere and menu. You need to order at counter then sit and be served. We had braised eggplant, Peking sauce crispy pork and salt + pepper prawns. All dishes were great. I have had much better salt & pepper prawns elsewhere - these were ok. Large servings. Took much food home. The staff were nice. Large live tanks for seafood you you want it. Give this place a go. You won’t regret it.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–40
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

The service was horrible. We waited foreverrrr for food to come. And after it finally came, we waited foreverrrr again for drinks to come. When we needed help, we had to walk around the restaurant for to seek staff. We ordered a coconut chicken pot and the soup had run dry. We went into the restaurant and asked for a broth refill, but she never came. The soup didn't taste good either. It had nothing to do with the sweetness and refreshment of the coconut and tasted plastic and artificial. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–40

Great value Chinese Cuisine! Our friend who lives locally introduced us to Zoo Family and we were very happy with our experience. The food was fresh, hot, tasty and great value. As an Aussie born Chinese/Vietnamese, our dining experience reminded me of going to large family banquets at restaurants when I was a child. Traditional, hearty and simply joyful. The staff did forget one of our dishes but was quick to apologise when they realised that we were still waiting. Highly recommend 4+ people in order to be able to try a good variety.

We expected nice warm spicy asian food on a winter night, and it was bummer. Food wasn’t warm or spicy. It was really hard to find any veggies in both dishes we ordered; fried rice and noodles. We got the noodles after we had finished half of the rice and the waitress literally threw the noodles at the table, that was rude at least the lady who took our order was nice. This explains why there aren’t any customers at this restaurant. Only four tables were filled and they still took sometime to serve us.

This a fun and funky place. Its often busy and has a great vibe. The food was average at best even though the service was good. The items we had were lacking in taste, seasoning and the noodle dishes were gluggy. Even the spring rolls were overcooked. I was surprised and not in a good way. I am not sure that I would eat here again. There are several Asian eateries in the area that I would visit over Zoo Family. We did try several dishes. Maybe it was an off night for the chef.

Overly salty inedible noodles, salty broth in the wanton soup, one missed order completely, bbq pork buns (tasted ok) served 25mins after all dishes had come out and when we had finished eating. Server behind the counter on her phone, another server grabbed her by the waist and tried to get her to sit on his lap. Very unprofessional. I wanted to like this place, but this was very, very poor. I won't return in a hurry. Actually, i won't return ever.

Service is terrible. Rude! I said excuse me to the staff after patiently waiting 20+ mins for takeaway. She looked at me and walked away. Then the food came and the beef dumplings where pink. So they went in the bin. I’m not sure if they’re supposed to come pink but I Didn’t fancy them.
Service
Take out
Meal type
Dinner
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Pan Fried Dumplings

They have Groupon voucher with great value. Generous food and large portion. Pan-fried buns can be offered in small and large sizes but honestly speaking, they are a little oily and too much flour. Wouldn't recommend. Stir-fried diced chicken with dry chili (LaZiJi) is quite crispy and stir-fried cauliflower with chili (GanGuoHuaCai) is my favorite. Place is clean and welcome with artificial plants and flower decoration.

We were kindly ask the waitress if she could serve us rice when she literally threw two dishes on our table (still waiting for another two dishes), she turned around and said I only have two hands?? First and maybe the last time in this place. I guess the owner wouldn’t care as so many people were complaining about the waitress’s attitude but they still got 4 stars. Good on you.

Food is good, personally I would recommend lobster on rice, it's served very generously with at least 30 small lobsters(red claws) and tastes very nice. Other snacks are worth trying too. Btw if you don't want your food too salty just tell them when you order. I found many local customers not used to traditional Chinese noodles or fried rice due too it's salty taste.

Ordered the clam and tofu soup dish tonight, the chef followed my special instructions and replaced the tofu with some black fungi and julienned ginger!! So tasty! Only one criticism, the salt level could be reduced a tad. Absolutely delicious. Can’t wait to try some other dishes from this restaurant.
Service
Delivery
Meal type
Dinner

Great place to eat.the food is exceptional and friendly service...only thing wrong is the plastic cups and coffee cups which they sent out in a small plastic bag with a handle...so bad for the enviroment guys how about paper cups and no plastic bag so our kids h a ve a future free of plastic rubbish...otherwise this place is fabulous..5 star.Robyn

Amazing... Nice place in a good spot. Good looking, interesting looking food that tasted amazing. Very good dumplings. Good for casual eating with friends or a date night or family. Our order was mixed up but then they gave us extras to take away. ... Otherwise I'd give 5 stars . Or six if I could. Zoo Family. Definately worth trying.

Service is quite average, food isn't spectacular either. Got a couple of dishes that were drenched in chilli flakes. The dumplings are clearly from a frozen packet. Everything just feels very basic. That being said, the food wasn't a complete disaster. I probably won't be going back. Might be more suited to quick and easy takeaway.

Went recently and enjoyed the food. We tried the stir fry (which was nice!) and the spicy chicken hot pot (it took a bit while to have this dish seeved and it was a bit salty). Place is nice and clean and staffs are friendly despite the restaurant’s business. Wifi available in store. Also they have student promotion on WeChat app.

The wait for the food. We waited for 40 mins for our dish to be served. This place is not even crowded. If we didn't ask, the drinks wouldn't be served. Terrible place and would not recommend anyone staying in waterloo or anywhere to come to this place to eat. There are other better places to dine than this sub standard place.

I was extremely happy with the spring onion chicken and the fried rice with Chinese sausage and chilli but the chicken with the szechuan and chilli sauce was God awful. They either put the wrong sauce on or made the sauce with peanuts. Tasted like a weak satay. Such a shame as the other two dishes made me a very happy boy.

Tasty, authentic food and excellent service have made this a local regular for us now. The hand made dumplings are really good, and a great option to have ready to go in the freezer at home. Some really good vegan and vegetarian options, and if you fancy fish, the whole barramundi in all sorts of chilli never disappoints.

Had a takeaway beef noodles for here this week. It was pretty underwhelming. Beef was tough and chewy. My main issue with the place is the number of times I have walked past and seen people smoking in the outdoor eating area. Illegal of course. 95 % of people dining there seem to be students from nearby Taylor's College.

Food was delicious and service quite good. Portions are generous. Staff is friendly and kind. The restaurant is a little bit messy though. If you pay your order with cash you get 15% off. Very satisfied overall
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$1–20

Food was not worthy of the prices. The sizzling mongolian beef was not sizzling at all and was more like boiled beef. The fried chilli chicken was small chunks of left over chicken with bones. Good flavour but no chicken meat. Unfortunately had a bad experience for a first time visit.

Food tastes good, one of the affordable authentic Chinese restaurants in Sydney. But we waited for 50 minutes to get fried rice, they need more staffs.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–40
Food: 5
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 3

Coconut chicken hotpot, spicy grilled fish and more. Well priced and good flavour
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–40
Food: 5
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Pan Fried Dumplings, Cumin Lamb Stir Fry

Terrible service. The price for addition mushrooms on the menu show $6 but they charged me $7, said it is on their system. I complained with them and they showed terrible attitude. As a regular, taste was good as usual, just give a 2 star for the awful experience this time.

A good Chinese food option in the area with a great range from Cantonese to Northern Chinese cuisine. We had the steamed chicken and bbq pork on rice $17.80 and beef noodle soup with tomato $13. Both were great. Their dumplings looked great so would come back for that.

I ordered stir fried rice with pork and prawns.the portion of rice was big but was hard to find the pork as the portion was very small and the food wasn’t tasty. I just ate rice for $15.20.
Service
Dine in
Food: 2
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 2

The quality of the dishes is below average and the service is poor too. Chicken is full of small bones that makes it hard to enjoy the food. Veggies are half cooked. Guess they are finishing a dish as fast as possbile to maximize the profit. NOT recommended.

you changed your menu!!! Why No more chillie lotus root and your chillie cabbage. Even your stir fried mushroom dish now only has one type of mushroom. We love those dishes & pretty much had it each weekend. Please bring them back. …

Only had delivery from this place but think the food is really delicious. The hot and sour soup comes in a bucket. So much and packed with flavor! Had the Mongolian beef and the chicken in spring onion sauce and the black fungus. Really delicious!

My kids always want to order dumplings every time we come. Good make and taste nice. We also enjoyed their new Cantonese dishes, will high recommend to try.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$100–120

An hour after ordering via UberEats, Uber called to cancel due to an issue with a delivery partner. I called the restaurant and offered to pick up, as my order was still showing as 'being prepared', only to be hung up on. Don't bother.

Came here at lunch time and it was completely empty. I was welcomed in by friendly staff and the food even though it was just chicken pineapple fried rice was top notch. Can't fault them in any way, good pricing for area as well

Poor service beef dish was nice but pork was very disappointing just bone and fat , also we asked for extra plates as we were sharing dishes waitress didn’t understand English but had no intention of finding out what we wanted

This place has really good Chinese food, guys! There dumplings taste fresh and juicy. We also had a beef dish and a chicken dish both with black beans, and they are tender and delicious. Highly recommend to everyone!

Generous portions and fast service...
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–40
Food: 4
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Thai Fried Rice

Decent portion and many options to choose from. Dimsim is average. Should focus on streamlining the menu and stick with what you do best as the menu book is huge and falling apart. Plenty of seats in and out.

ok. My dish was more chilly hot than expected from similar restaurants
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–40
Food: 3
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 2

We have 4 dishes and 2 plates of dumpling,small kitchen staffed by 2 person so it's rather slow serving. Food mostly hot with heaps of red chillies so you get the message what it's taste going to be.

Come here 3 days a week never once been disappointed, food is always good and staff is so friendly. Tried their soup first time i came here and had it everytime since, 100% recommend this restaurant.

The dumplings taste good but it takes half an hour to cook.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$40–60
Food: 4
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 3

Had lunch here on a Sunday, the food was delicious and very affordable! Great customer service - very polite and efficient. Loved the Sichuan chicken and deep fried eggplant, they’re a must!

We ordered the pork taro dish, and they added human hair in there, the beef balls taste like 99% flour plus 1% out-of-date beef, the so called “whole prawn dumplings” taste not like prawn.

Unique dishes, glad to have found this place :)
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$60–80
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

so slow and no attitude at all. We took 40mins waiting for our first dish, and another 20mins for the second similar one. Never come to here if you don’t have 90mins spare time.

An insult to chinese food oil and sugar in kungpao chicken also lacking meat in both dishesand blandest fried rice I have ever tasted I dont know how they have 4 stars.

Don't expect too much from this place. I ordered Sichuan style chicken with chili sauce, the chicken is way too dry and tasteless, and the food tastes not fresh at all.

I live in the building, kitchen and back area is very dirty and not hygienic. I would not eat here! no one in the building complex eats there because of the hygiene

Very bad. The waiter is slow and rude. Have to ask him 3 times for literally anything. Found a fly in a water. The waiter just change another one without apology.

Highly recommend the Zoo Family if you are hungry and want some great tasting food to whet the appetite. The egg and chive dumplings are so delicious. A must try!

Nice price and good quality.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$40–60
Food: 5
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 3

Quirky and cute! Deliciously fresh prawn Hargow. Yummy noodles with sichuan soup.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–40

We ordered the coconut chicken hot pot which is $58, it’s include only half chicken, and that chicken is just full of bones, soup is insipid as well.

The chicken and pipi are in good quality but the soup is too salty…
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–40

Horrible service, there is more asian restaurants next to this shop. Long time for the service of Uber/Deliveroo/ Menulog. Really bad opcion

Called the shop right outside of it. Everyone hears the phone but don’t want to answer. Just decline it? Putrid. Get rid off these frauds

We came for family lunch. Chicken szechuan , fried rice and fried eggplant are our favourite. My personal favourite is chicken szechuan

This place does not deserve even 1 star. The staff is very rude and they only serve well to the people of their same nationality.

Best dumpling in Waterloo food is really good. Some English speaker Staff can be more helpful. But as a restaurant very a nice.

This place has no internet and their service is terrible. Table is dirty asf. Btw they also would run out of chicken. =D

I Have come here multiple times. This place is by far the best
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

Lots of variety, locals come everyday and don't get bored with choices. Decent quality and portions, quick service.

Very Delicious and price effective. We visit 2-3 times per week and had an event here. Nice staffs and foods

Fantastic dumplings! As a plus, the interior is very cute too with green plants and art. Would recommend!

I have visited Zoo Family for more than one year, and I really like their good dumpling and good service.

Great food and best value, a male waiter wearing a hat always got an attitude, talks rudely as well.

Super tasty bamboo fungus coconut chicken！！
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

I said medium hot they put more hot chillis on it, Cashier should talk english.. Not just yes.

Order a kungpao chicken take away. Only veggie inside, no meat. Check Ur food before going.

Very authentic Chinese food. Delicious and at a very reasonable price. Highly recommended.

Decent dumplings (had pork and chives) and variety of dishes. Mango green tea is nice too.

Been there many times, tried various dishes. So far not disappointed with any order made!

Chicken wing pot was really good, mapo tofu tasted exactly as it should back in China

You pick the soup ingredients yourself. It's already my fav soup spot in Zetland.

Rice noodles are really good - have come back a number of times this month alone.

Good food, poor service
Food: 4
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 3

The dishes were great but my day was still ruined by the impolite cashier.

Delicious soups & dumplings. My favourite Asian restaurant in Waterloo.

Great service. The Stir Fried Eggplant and Green Bean is top notch!

The dumplings are excellent and so is the braised eggplant dish.

All the meals i had was great. Great value also.

Many items on the menu, big dish

Good food good service and cheap

Love their lunch special menu.

Food quite tasty, good price!

Quality food and nice staff.

Delicious food as always!

Awesome food. So tasty

Great service