Yauatcha

[endless autumn]

I'm off to Yauatcha tomorrow, Alan Yau's yum cha place.

I think the dumplings are being done by the same chef as at Hakkasan and Fay Maschler gave it two slightly podgy thumbs-up last week.

Does anyone have first-hand experience of the place?

[curlywurlyfi]

no but am keen to hear since a friend is holding her ahemth birthday there in a couple of weeks. anywhere that combines cocktails AND char siu cheong fun can't be that bad (tea-house? pah)

[Izabel_blue]

Hello

I've been walking past the site obsessively for the past few weeks waiting for it to open (I work just down the road, or rather, I work just down the road until Friday when we move...sigh!) and finally had a look at the menu yesterday-- food looks fantastic but the restaurant itself seems to be still finding its feet-- at 1pm there was only one group of punters eating and a whole lot of confused looking staff hanging around in their 'Crouching Tiger' garb.

Hopefully I'll be able to drag my girlfriends there for lunch tomorrow before we abandon Soho.

[Matthew Grant]

If it is the same Dim Sum chef as Hakkasan this will be a winner. Dim Sum in Hakkasan is way ahead of the the competition in London.

[Izabel_blue]

Hi egulleteers,

OK, I just got back from trying out Yauatcha...myself and the two girlfriends wandered down from work at noon. The first floor teahouse part is not open yet but was filled with nice looking sweets under glass and lots of staff waiting around. They showed us downstairs to a near-deserted restaurant while two staff members um'ed and aw'ed over whether or not they could take a walk in, and then gave us a big explanation about only taking 40% walk-ins. Ur, whatever! Finally we asked the right person and she seated us.

Design of the place is fabulous-- long bar with wrap around fish tank, granite round tables seating 8 in the middle, square 2-person tables at the side, so good for couples or groups. Lots of lotus flowers and orchids everywhere, and a ceiling covered with little lights that looked like stars. No music, and lots of staff waiting around looking a bit lost. It was a while before our waiter brought us the menus, but we didn't mind just sitting about drinking in the place.

We ordered two non-alcoholic and one boozy cocktail -- boozy strawberry cocktail (I don't remember the name) very yummy, and the non-alcoholic ones (ur, mandarin sunrise or something like that) were fantastic-- orange, chili, mint and lemongrass, which resulted in a very refreshing and light taste. Couldn't taste the chili though!

Food wise we ordered strictly from the dim sum menu thought there was a nice range of stirfries and noodle dishes as well on offer. First came some very crispy and hot prawn puffs, in a batter that reminded me of a slightly thicker tempura. Lovely hot and fresh with simple flavours. Second came some steamed prawn and enoki mushroom dumplings, which were perfectly nice but not desperately spectacular-- I couldn't really make out the mushroom flavours. Next appeared some gorgeous slithery asparagus chow-fan which was quite divine, and then four little fried shanghai vegetable dumplings, surprisingly complex in flavour and very yummy. Our penultimate treat was Chinese chive and prawn dumplings, much more successful than the enoki mushroom ones with the gentle chive flavour melding nicely with the prawn. Our final dish was the most delicious-- prawn and beancurd chow fan--- the chow fan tubes being filled with crispy fried tofu and then soft flavourful prawn inside-- absolutely delish!

The bill for the three of us came to around £24.00, after a £10 discount that they inexplicably gave us (we didn't question it!), which meant that it was incredibly reasonable (even without the discount) for such glamour and such lovely food. The service still needs to be ironed out a bit, but after getting past the initial 'do you have a reservation' thing they were very nice to us and helpful at explaining how many dishes to order, etc.

I would definitely go back (and am currently cursing my work for moving just after this place opened)-- next time probably order a bit more adventurously and definitely get a noodle dish to offset the dim sum. But all in all a lovely experience -- can't wait till the tea house opens upstairs!

[Suzi Edwards]

oooooh.

that's just rained all over the pret salmon and egg wheat free sandwich i've just scarfed at my desk.

[endless autumn]

This is what I ate at yauatcha:

Chilean Seabass Mooli Roll

Shiitake and duck roll

Chicken Feet in Chilli Black Bean Sauce

Spinach Cube with Prawn and Waterchestnut

Char Sui Cheung Fun

Scallop Cheung Fun

Crispy Duck Roll

Salt and Pepper Quail

Chicken Taro Croquette

Baked Venison Puff

Pork and century Egg Congee

Shanghai Dumpling

Chinese Chive Dumpling

With three cocktails (Nashi Momo, Chilli Martini, Minnie Mushka) and two bottles of wine, the total bill was £102.70 (though they knocked 50% off the food)

Most things are divided into three, some into four, so it is best to go as a three. The food was uniformly excellent, sometimes superb, with the exception of the gruel-slop congee which I knew I'd hate and did.

You are able to order as you go along, with 3/4 each about the right amount; dishes are brought as and when they are ready and some, such as scallop cheung fun, are completely impossible to eat with chopsticks, but it would seem a little rude to use your hands.

Some highlights: Spinach cube: a ball more than a cube, stuffed with crunchy prawn and waterchestnut and steamed - light, vegetal and extremely clean and fresh; Baked venison puff: a sweetish bread filled with tiny morsels of tender venison; chicken feet: impossible to eat elegantly, full of bones, but soft, sticky, gelatinous, salty and spicy.

It would be possible to eat here for only fifteen pounds per head and you would find it hard to eat better elsewhere. Cocktails were hit and miss and service can be overbearing (they straighten your wine glasses/water glasses for you) but it's a beautiful little place very much the baby brother of Hakkasan in feel, though I've only been for a drink in Hakkasan.

[Spam]

I went with a friend last night.

Things I didn't like:

- crappy scatty service - 3 people wanting to take my ordera at once or none ...

- uncomfortable chairs - inside leg a small 31" but I just didn't know where to put my feet - result: leg cramps ...

- decor - lots of exposed brick work which made the back wall of the basement look like a church hall, not helped by the cross shaped holes with candles in them.

Things I did like:

- delicious, and at time the most delicious food (esp. chinese chive dumplings, scallop cheung fun, spinach cube).

- cheap - under £30 for two - full of food, generous tip but no booze.

- fun atmosphere, and the potential for eternal greatness!

[Suzi Edwards]

and they are fully booked tonight....arrrragh. they were fully booked when i turned up on sunday as well.

looks like it's ramsey's dinners for me then.

[Gavin Convery]

A glowing review from Circeplum in yesterday's Metro...

[Jonathan Day]

On the spur of the moment two of us decided to give this place a try for lunch, without a reservation. It was crowded, but we were seated at a table with two others; the tables were large, and it felt no more crowded than banquette seating in other restaurants.

We had:

Chinese chive dumplings

Prawn and enoki dumplings

Spinach cubes

Crispy duck rolls

Box dumplings

Asparagus cheung fun

Salt-pepper quails

This, plus tomato juice, still water and green tea (drinks came to £10.10) cost £41.70. Service isn't included.

So it wasn't cheap, but the two of us ate a lot -- we could have done with one dish less -- and everything was delicious: fresh, hot, with very good ingredients and clean flavours. The quails were outstanding; we could have made a meal of these alone.

The dessert menu looked good as well, and the upstairs tea house is now open, with some tempting pastries on display. But we had no room and no time.

Service was fine, except that the servers' English (they seemed to be either French or Eastern European) was sometimes hard to understand. But they were knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the food, and very responsive to our requests.

Well worth organising an eGullet outing to this place.

[Hallie]

Sadly, I was planning to eat here for my birthday on Saturday night but they have a very bizarre reservations system. I tried ringing early Thursday evening to make a booking for Saturday night but found that after a certain time of day they no longer take bookings unless its for that evening. I tried back on Friday and still failed to speak with a human being. Finally, Saturday morning came and when I rang they told me they were fully booked for both lunch and dinner. I was heartbroken.

I consoled myself with a dinner at the Sugar Club.

[Ai Leen]

Has everyone but me had a good experience at Yauatcha??

[excerpt from something I wrote yesterday]

"The test is in the food and... oh dear. I want to point out that I had only eaten one banana all day - despite that, the food failed to attract. We ordered

- chive dumplings: the best dish by far; as good as Hakkasan's.

- scallop siew mais: definitely not as good as Hakkasan's (see Hakkasan review); it was a tad hard/dry and the poor things looked squashed!

- prawn & beancurd cheong fun: recommended by the waiter. I didn't like it.

- pork and enoki mushroom dumplings: ok, nothing spectacular. If desparately critical, could be considered a lesson in 'how enoki mushrooms can taste like prawns' or a game in 'kids let's see who can find the enoki mushrooms'.

- roast venison puffs: if what attracts you to meat puffs is the cloying sweetness of the usual roast pork puffs, don't order this. Go to Kowloon take-away on Gerrard St instead (they also have very good sesame red bean balls).

- Shanghai xiao long baos: not good at all; the meat was too soft and the taste of the broth slightly sour (as it can get when one tries too hard to achieve richness). The only saving grace was that it had broth at all inside the dumplings - a feat in London chinese restaurants as you already know (see Hakkasan review). The second worse dish tonight.

- turnip cake: by far the most disappointing of all. My expectations were high after the amazing architecture of flavours experienced at Hakkasan. This didn't even come close. The turnip cake was awfully soft and mushy, and there was no complexity in the taste. Very very disappointing indeed.

- sharks fin dumpling consomme: R ate that. I took a sip of the broth. Yew. It was flavourful (the Chinese would say "sweet"), but the consistency was all wrong, not at all light like a clear broth should be.

They were out of mooli.

I frowned quite a lot tonight. Tut, shameful indeed." -AL

[Suzi Edwards]

i have a table for two at 8:30 on friday night here that i can't make. does anyone want it? pm me if you do.

[MobyP]

Going this Friday lunchtime, and more excited than heroin junkie swimming in vat of McDonald's milshakes.

[circeplum]

Has everyone but me had a good experience at Yauatcha??

[excerpt from something I wrote yesterday]

that was really interesting ai leen. what did you write it for?

am also interested in hearing more about the kowloon takeaway - what kind of range does it do, and why is it better than others in chinatown.

thanks.

x

[Suzi Edwards]

my table has been taken now

[balex]

Just had lunch there. Rather disappointing. The same sort of clueless service that you know and love from Hakkasan, but without the food being on the same plain. High point: asparagus cheung fun, Low point some pork and onion thing that was heavy and boring. Undercooked quail, slightly unfresh scallop shu mai . To be fair this is early days and it might settle down-- the kitchen is clearly capable of good things. About £35 with a couple of glasses of wine, so a bit under twice as expensive as the non-Lau places.

[Ai Leen]

am also interested in hearing more about the kowloon takeaway - what kind of range does it do, and why is it better than others in chinatown.

thanks.

x

[Ai Leen]

To be fair this is early days and it might settle down-- the kitchen is clearly capable of good things.

I agree. Am inclined to give them a second chance. Although it does beg the question, why not just go to nearby Hakkasan?

[balex]

My thoughts exactly -- but I think Yauatcha might be more friendly to walk-ins than Hakkasan. No bouncers at the door anyway...

By the way, welcome to eGullet Ai Leen!

[Ai Leen]

By the way, welcome to eGullet Ai Leen!

Great to discover you guys. Looking forward. =)

[circeplum]

why not just go to nearby Hakkasan?

because hakkasan stops serving dim sum at conventional (early evening) times whereas yauatcha just keeps on dumpling.

x

[Ian]

I've been to Yauatcha twice and was impressed with the food on both occasions. I guess it just goes to show you can't please all of the people all of the time...

All the best,

[MobyP]

why not just go to nearby Hakkasan?

because hakkasan stops serving dim sum at conventional (early evening) times whereas yauatcha just keeps on dumpling.

x

dumpling-ing?

Shortened to D-pling! Which is like J-Lo, but tastier.