Cha Cha Moon

[Andy Lynes]

Considering going to Cha Cha Moon on Saturday post Spamalot. I've just checked and they have re-opened following their fire and everything is still £3.50. Has anyone been recently - any good?

[Prawncrackers]

Adrian Gill absolutely murders it in his Sunday Times review. The combinations he describes actually sounds quite tasty to me. Though i have the suspicion that anyone who uses the term "chinese salami" will just not get this type of food. It's like describing it as "Chinese Tapas".

[Paul Reynard]

Went the other week on my own for a quick bite. Seafood Ho Fun was great value with decent prawns, squid and two of the biggest juicy scallops I've had in a while. Also had a roast pork noodle soop which had lovely braised pork. Altogether with a bottle of beer it was just over a tenner which has got to be one of the best value meals I've had especially in London. People have moaned on ques but go off peak and you'll be fine.

[brokentelephone]

I've been twice and have been pretty disappointed both times, as have most of the people I've spoken to. A friend who owns a very famous Chinese restaurant in Seattle has been a number of times and have been similarly disappointed. That being said, it's cheap and passable.

Give me Cafe TPT anytime -- more food and hardly more expensive. Plus, gruff service is strangely appropriate whilst eating HK style food.

[FDE]

I am around that area few times a week and always want something quick and tasty. So, I have been there more than 15 times since their opening week. Since the portion isn't that big and I had friends with me few times, I already tried everything on their menu at least once and most of their drinks too. I have been there so often that I notice some items had slightly deviated already from the first few weeks.

Few items resemble what I had in those noodle shops in small alley ways in Hong Kong. Best items in my opinion are Taiwan Beef noodle (less beef than the first few times) and Crispy Duck lo mein. Beef Ho Fun and Seafood Ho Fun is not bad either. But there are few items that I would never order again.

Service are similar to Wagamama.

But only £3.5 per item - definitely a bargain in Central London.

Edited July 3, 2008 by FDE (log)

[nikkib]

i was incredibly disappointed with cha cha moon, only had the bean curd spring roll and a prawn noodle dish which was billed as spicy but was possibly one of the blandest dishes i have eaten. The noodles were over cooked and all stuck together, sauce was tatseless and prawns were disappointing too. I will go back and give it another go at a later date as maybe i just ordered badly but i was expecting better.

[muichoi]

V. poor.Clearly can't get the staff.

[Andy Lynes]

But there are few items that I would never order again.

←

Can you tell us what they are?

[Gary Marshall]

slagged off by giles coren today. concept sounds absolutley bang on for these wallet tightening times but it appears to be what i had suspected at a flat 3.50 some are complete rip offs others are bargains, got to pick carefully i suspect. but what about corens hypothesis that different food was served to critics in the first weeks?

[Jon Tseng]

I've been a few times - not in recent weeks as theres always a massive sodding queue. But I have positive opinions of the place.

The food is generally tasty, noodle based. Yes its not "authentic" hk noodle bar (or taiwanese snack joint for that matter) but to be frank it was never going to be, given mr yaus penchant for putting his spin on things. I've been pleasantly impressed by the stuff I've had there - noodles, dumplings etc.

I noticed mr coren takes a bit of a crack at the guotie dumplings. I was actually quite impressed - you will notice (well he doesn't seem to) that they take the care to cook them with water in the frying pan, which then boils off and lets the bottoms pan fry. This gives you crispy bottoms and chewy dough on the top, which is as it should be. That contrasts with virtually every other asian fast food joint I know (Wagamamas being the obvious offender) where they just deep fry the "gyoza" whole, which leaves them dried out and leathery. Am actually quietly amused that the first time mr coren actually writes about food in one of his reviews he merely highlights his own limitations.

Also good they have maintained the 3.50 price point. The cynics (and I admit I was one of them) were muttering they would dump that after the first few weeks (a la gordon ramsay joints opening at suspiciously low prices) but actually they still seem to be holding the price point for the time being. Good for them.

Worth going if you can be fagged to wait for the queue and if you accept it for what it is - tasty-asian-canteen, not hakkasan-on-the-cheap.

J

PS am also slightly puzzled why mr coren seems so pleased to have spotted that on a fixed price menu some items are loss leaders and some items are cash cows. clearly his sort have never have to encounter pound shops...

Edited July 6, 2008 by Jon Tseng (log)

[Roger le goéland]

Went today, waited 10 min in queue in which the people moved a whooping 0.5 metre. We went elsewhere. By the look of this thread we should have stayed.

On the upside we did go to Milk & Honey and had fantastically well-made cocktails.

[nikkib]

id still rather go to busaba/wagamama

[Andy Lynes]

My son and I arrived at 5.30pm on Saturday and were seated immeadiately in a room that was around half full. Its a great room, like Wagamama with a very stylish facelift.

We ordered four main dishes plates and one side and would have ordered more but were advised against it by our waitress.

Crispy duck lo mein was probably the best balanced dish in terms of other-ingredients-to-noodle-ratio; Seafood Ho Fun was excellent value and included 2 or three whole scallops, some prawns and pieces of squid (although I only got to taste one scallop as my son cherry picked all the other seafood before we swapped plates). The chicken wanton was OK but not my favourite - quite a weak flavoured stock, a few bits of spring onion, enough noodles to sink a battleship and four under powered chicken wantons. Curried prawns was delicious but only a couple of prawns, some spring onion, and a whole load of noodles.

Guotie dumplings were the best thing we ordered and fantastic for all the reasons Jon Tseng says.

With a beer, coke and service, we paid £25 and were out of the door 45 minutes after we arrived. Overall, enjoyable but I would have been far happier to pay a fiver a plate and have more protien and less starch on my plate .

[Time]

And how was Spamalot?

[Andy Lynes]

Off topic!

[Matthew Grant]

Surely Spam is food related (only just admittedly)?

[apshelbourne]

I notice that the Blessed Giles has delivered what I think is the most unfavourable review I've read so far.

[Andy Lynes]

I notice that the Blessed Giles has delivered what I think is the most unfavourable review I've read so far.

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The degree of vitriol, coupled with the fact that he dubbed Alan Yau's last effort Sake No Hana "an insult to the city" and gave Yauatcha 5 out of 10 makes me wonder if Coren and Yau have had some sort of falling out.

[Paul Reynard]

Andy Hayler has surprisingly given quite a good review for Cha Cha in the last few days:

http://www.andyhayler.com/show_restaurant....ha%20Cha%20Moon

[lettezilla]

does anyone know if everything is still 3.50? i've heard that it is, and need to find somewhere close to shopping that's kid/baby friendly and not too expensive, and figure it may be a decent option, as long as it's cheap enough for an experiment.

[Roger le goéland]

Noodles were barely edible. Dumplings were ok. I won't go back (despite the price). Better value to be had in an escalope sandwich, in my humble, non-Chinese cuisine educated opinion.

Everything was still £3.50 when we went last week. Remember to factor in half an hour of queuing in the actual price of the evening

Edited August 20, 2008 by Roger le goéland (log)

[UkFoodie]

does anyone know if everything is still 3.50? i've heard that it is, and need to find somewhere close to shopping that's kid/baby friendly and not too expensive, and figure it may be a decent option, as long as it's cheap enough for an experiment.

←

Everything is still £3.50.. Went today and enjoyed it.

No wait at lunchtime and pretty good service. Food was good considering the both of ate for £23 (2 Mains, 3 Sides, and 3 drinks)

Loved the Salted Lemon Sprite.

Looking forward to going back and sampling more of the menu.