We could well be mistaken, but the ginormous, two-storey building in Albany that houses Sum Made looks every bit as if it were designed as a corporate office block. The whole thing is predominantly glass-faced and exceptionally modern, with a central bronze elevator connecting the levels. What might have been meeting rooms and open-plan office spaces are instead private dining nooks and huge round-table-filled rooms. 

Sum Made operates like a well-oiled machine. During the day, it serves yum cha, offering baskets of delicately presented dim sum. By night, the menu transforms, presenting a mélange of Cantonese dishes — some are perfectly executed standards and others, intricate special-occasion dishes, all served with the best kind of attentive, no-fuss service. 

The dishes don’t all arrive as fantastically presented as they appear in the menu photographs, dressed with fresh flowers and jaunty sugar decorations, but they do taste fantastic. The portions are generous and perfect for sharing. For that reason, and for the fun that comes with lazy Susans, which many of the tables are equipped with, it’s an ideal place to dine with a large group. 

On this varied menu, the signature stir-fry of delicately cut green beans, dried radish and clam meat is a very good place to start. We especially like the razor clams, which show up imbued with wok hei and cloaked in a black-bean sauce, and the secret-recipe black BBQ pork — which is so beloved it makes an appearance on almost every table. There are more luxurious dishes, too, like chilled abalone from the Marlborough Sounds, crispy roast duck, or live rock lobster from either the South or North Islands, which can be prepared nine different ways. Whether you’re in for a fancy night or a relaxed dinner, you won’t leave Sum Made disappointed.