Saturday 3 December 2022

Good World, Cardiff Chinese restaurant dim sum review


Going out for dim sum as just a pair always feels like a busted flush.

With so many tasty morsels on offer, usually with at least three mouthfuls per portion, having to make do with just two appetites’ worth of food is a missed opportunity.

It was in this sticky situation that Mrs G and I found ourselves on a sunny Sunday at the Good World Chinese restaurant, tucked away above the Les Croupiers Casino in Cardiff’s Leckwith Retail Park.

We’d previously visited for dinner and enjoyed dishes of pan-fried three treasures, king prawns with garlic, and fillet steak with black pepper and macadamia nuts.


Now, we were back to try their dim sum, about which we’d heard good things and which is available every day of the week from 12pm till 5pm.

With an almost full dining room, we were surrounded by large groups of families and friends enjoying basket after basket of dumplings. It was a constant reminder of what we could have won.

With a selection of 70 dishes on offer on their tick list menu, we picked three dim sum and a larger plate to share.


A generous pot of fragrant green tea arrived first and lasted us for the duration of the meal.


Everything else followed in quick succession.

Triple roast meats, one of my all time favourite dishes was a good example and very well sized for £13.90. Better than our last visit, the star of the show was pork belly with hyper crisp crackling and well-rendered fat. Sweet-marinated char sui pork, bronze-skinned bone-in duck, soy-dressed fluffy rice and two token pieces of bok choy completed the delicious plate.


Crispy squid (£5.80) reminded me more of Chinese crispy beef than versions of the dish I’ve eaten elsewhere. It was still tasty. Thin fronds of grease-free crisp-battered squid were accompanied by a reassuringly day-glo sweet and sour dipping sauce.


Shanghai dumplings (£4.40) had sadly lost most of their meaty soup filling (their major selling point) but were still very tasty - the thin dumpling casings containing a well-seasoned pork mince filling.


They were lovely dressed with fiery chilli oil.


Last up were the best of the bunch, grilled pork buns (£4.50); crisp-edged, light, soft and squidgy buns filled with minced pork and chives.


We had a really tasty dim sum lunch at Good World. With fast and friendly service and so many more delicious sounding dishes on offer, we've already booked for a return visit with a large group of mates to do the menu justice.

Update - 01/02/2023

Since the above review I've had a few more meals at Good World and had some cracking dishes. 

A whopping portion of cumin lamb was packed with tender meat that was spiced with earthy cumin and plenty of ferocious chilli heat. 


Uber-crispy prawn dumplings were absolutely stuffed with sweet crustaceans.


So too were king prawn cheung fun. But this time, the crisp exterior was replaced with a soft and glutinous rice noodle coating.


Singapore vermicelli had a really good hit of curry spicing and was flecked with plenty of roast meat, egg and prawns.


Crisp cubes of turnip cake were coated in deliciously savoury XO sauce and dotted with crisp veggies. 


Sizzling fillet steak slices (£14.80) topped with buttery macadamia nuts were bathed in a thick sauce thrumming with black pepper.


Pan fried three treasures (£10.80) lived up to its billing - charred green peppers, soft aubergines, and creamy tofu pieces were each stuffed with sweet minced prawn patties and coated in a thick soy-based sauce with a good hit of black bean and garlic.


The Details:
 
Address - Good World, Capital Retail Shopping Park, 8, Leckwith Rd, Cardiff CF11 8EG
Telephone -  029 2022 8866

5 comments:

  1. Hi there! I’m new to Cardiff having previously lived near London which has a plethora of dim sum restaurants.

    I’ve see that there are 3 restaurants that offers a well sized dim sum menu. Good world, riverside & happy gathering.

    My question is: out of the three, which one do you think offers the best food and which do you think offers the best value for money? - If they differ.

    P.s loving your blog. I stumbled on it tonight and it’s great! Thank you for taking the time.

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    1. Welcome to Cardiff! I'd say Good World is my favourite currently. I'm fan of Happy Gathering but I've heard a few mixed reports lately. I haven't been to Riverside Cantonese in quite a few years but we weren't blown away on our last visit. I hope that helps. Cheers! Ed

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    2. Thank you! That helps a lot.

      I eventually plan to try all 3 but its just been so long since I've last had it I really want a good one first haha.

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  2. Finally made it here today, thanks to your post (and a more recent reminder from Shauna and Sam, with the link back to this post). Had an amazing dim sum lunch (ordered 6 items for 2 greedy people) and a half roast duck to takeaway which I'm going to eat tonight! Excellent dim sum, really really really good!

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    1. Hi Kavey! Oh that's great news - really glad you enjoyed it. We always highly rate their dim sum and roast meats. Zi's Cafe is another good place in Cardiff to try for dim sum - they recruited a dim sum chef a few months ago and we had a very good lunch. Cheers! Ed

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