Yauatcha

[MobyP]

High point: asparagus cheung fun, Low point some pork and onion thing that was heavy and boring. Undercooked quail, slightly unfresh scallop shu mai .

Had a very large lunch there on Friday. The quail were outstanding, and among the best thing I've ever had at a dim sum place. The cheung fun was pretty good - but for the most part I found everything else passable - not the exceptional I was expecting. And the scallop shiu mai - as balex points out - seemed less than absolutely fresh.

I do like the sharing table idea - if only for unorganised sods like me who would never get in otherwise.

Worth a second trip, I guess, but not in a hurry.

[ainswome]

Things I didn't like:

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

Spam, Why did you leave a generous tip when the service was crappy! ... did you feel they deserved it for have into wear belts round their ass's?

[origamicrane]

hi all

i tried to get a booking for yauatcha yesterday lunch naturally they were fully booked but failing that i went to try the upstair tea room that didn't need a reservation.

As no one written a review of the tea room thought i might add my 2 pence.

Ok design wise i would say its hakkasan lite :) quite nice although the black and white colour scheme the spot lights and the neon hippy takeaway boxs reminded me of the perfume shop Sephora!

any way most alan yau places do have a wow minimal design so very pretty.

They playing the same buddha bar esque soundtrack as in hakkasan but luckily not at the same volume

anyway on to the teas they serve about 20 varieties of tea mostly oriental brew although they had about 6 inidan types mostly darjeelings. The tea are split by type and regions. Although they don;t seem to have the ginseng tea that i like from hakkasan?

I had a pot of taipei green tea and a pot of "water angel" think its spelt tsui xian in english i forget.

I watched them like a hawk to make sure they prepared it properly which is to pour hot water on the tea leaves and then throw away the first pot of water.

Tea arrived and took a sip of the green tea, not bad, the water taste liked it has definately been filterd or are they making it out of mineral water? the second water angel was ok but as i'm a fan of green tea i preferred that one.

The cake counter looks pretty and again i get the Sephora feeling, like i'm looking at bottles of perfume. They serve about 8 different types of cake all look fake for some reason think it might be the way they glaze them. I ordered a chocolate dome chinois this was a coffee sponge base topped with mascapone covered in a syrupy chocolate coating, and topped with a piece of nut brittle.

Now if you ever tried chinese cakes you will realise that thay are usually a poor imitation of a french pattiserie. Chinese cake are always was too sweet and creamy and taste like they been processed rather then made, it was no difference here. ?I didn't like the cake would have preferred a cheescake from patisserie valerie.

But having said that the tea room could turn into a surprise hit as if i had to choose between the tea room and a starbucks the tea room would win hands down. A pot of tea cost about £3.00 which is about the same price as a starbuck frappaccino. They just need to introduce some proper cakes and i will be a permenat fixture in there

ciao

[MobyP]

I don't know if this tip is widely known, but it's possible to show up a few minutes before 12, and they keep some tables aside for sharing - so you don't have to reserve, but you may have to join someone else's table.

There were three of us, and though the restaurant was 'fully booked,' we had no trouble getting a table.

[Andy Lynes]

I suppose its just me that didn't get the punning nature of the name of this restaurant and has been trying to figure out how the hell to say it ?

Yau (as in owner Alan) at Cha (as in tea). Brilliant! Now what was stopping him calling it "Alan's Teashop"? Just as good as Yauatcha and everyone know would know what he's talking about.

[bainesy]

A certain J Rayner reviewed a rather rushed meal there in yesterday's Observer.

Click

Conveys quite nicely that awful restless feeling you get when you know your time is limited so strictly.

[camp_dick]

I suppose its just me that didn't get the punning nature of the name of this restaurant and has been trying to figure out how the hell to say it ?

The name makes more sense if you spell it , 'Yau@Cha'. It's origins are quite bizarre in that the name was actually inspired by Alan Yau's mishearing of a rant by Tupac Shakur, featuring Danny Boy, from the gangsta rapper's seminal album, 'All Eyes On Me'. The track in question is actually called 'I Ain't Mad At Cha', but Alan - jet lagged as usual and listening from his own cultural perspective - heard it as 'Mau At Cha', which conjured visions of the Chairman sipping tea...

Oh, how we laughed

[origamicrane]

I suppose its just me that didn't get the punning nature of the name of this restaurant and has been trying to figure out how the hell to say it ?

The name makes more sense if you spell it , 'Yau@Cha'. It's origins are quite bizarre in that the name was actually inspired by Alan Yau's mishearing of a rant by Tupac Shakur, featuring Danny Boy, from the gangsta rapper's seminal album, 'All Eyes On Me'. The track in question is actually called 'I Ain't Mad At Cha', but Alan - jet lagged as usual and listening from his own cultural perspective - heard it as 'Mau At Cha', which conjured visions of the Chairman sipping tea...

Oh, how we laughed

←

thats quite amusing

so how about hakkasan and busaba eathai?

[camp_dick]

so how about hakkasan and busaba eathai?

←

Dude, I came here to diss Yau, not discuss him! For information about his various brands, I suggest you consult their respective web sites. Oops, that's right: they don't exist. Because nobody really bothers with the interweb, do they?

Perhaps you could try contacting someone@hakkasan.com for the information you require? Tell them, "Yeah, All the homies that I ain't talked to in a while. I'm a send this out to y'all; know what I mean? Cuz, I ain't mad at cha..."

[origamicrane]

so how about hakkasan and busaba eathai?

←

Dude, I came here to diss Yau, not discuss him! For information about his various brands, I suggest you consult their respective web sites. Oops, that's right: they don't exist. Because nobody really bothers with the interweb, do they?

Perhaps you could try contacting someone@hakkasan.com for the information you require? Tell them, "Yeah, All the homies that I ain't talked to in a while. I'm a send this out to y'all; know what I mean? Cuz, I ain't mad at cha..."

←

dude! diss away! we are listening!

you sound like a man with some stories to tell

[VeryApe77]

I suppose its just me that didn't get the punning nature of the name of this restaurant and has been trying to figure out how the hell to say it ?

The name makes more sense if you spell it , 'Yau@Cha'. It's origins are quite bizarre in that the name was actually inspired by Alan Yau's mishearing of a rant by Tupac Shakur, featuring Danny Boy, from the gangsta rapper's seminal album, 'All Eyes On Me'. The track in question is actually called 'I Ain't Mad At Cha', but Alan - jet lagged as usual and listening from his own cultural perspective - heard it as 'Mau At Cha', which conjured visions of the Chairman sipping tea...

Oh, how we laughed

←

Really? That's really funny, especially as it conjures up the image of Alan Yau intently listening to the works of Tupac (I picture him at a large wooden desk, lost in the gangsta rapture).

Ironically though, you clearly are mad at him.

[camp_dick]

VeryApe77,Feb 24 2005, 05:53 PM said:

>Really? That's really funny, especially as it conjures up the image of Alan Yau

>intently listening to the works of Tupac (I picture him at a large wooden desk, lost

>in the gangsta rapture).

A more accurate image would be Bill Murrary, Lost in Translation. Likesay, he wasn't listening intently. Just flipping channels...

>Ironically though, you clearly ARE mad at him.

But he has insulted me! He has insulted my family!! And he has violated the sanctity of the Shaolin temple!!!

Actually, two of those statements aren't true and I'm working hard on forgiving the other thing, 'cause I realise the conceited git can't help himself.

But what I'd be really MAD about - IF I gave a fart - is having to book weeks in advance to get a table at Yau@Cha. It's like, Yum Cha = Big Deal. But then they limit you to 90 minutes, 'cos it's only dim sum, innit? But you're, like, I waited a fortnight for this table and the salt and pepper quail Jay Rayner raved about cost ten quid and, BTW, what is Wagyu beef?

Why can't you just show up and wait for a table? Because somebody has put a poncey cake shop where the bar/holding area should be! Doesn't it look lovely!! Very, you know, Continental. No doubt that's why Michelin gave it a star within 9 months of opening (I'm not au fait with the mich.symbol for 'serious cake').

Edited February 27, 2005 by camp_dick (log)

[origamicrane]

have to admit the cakes in yauatcha do suck, i'll take patissrie valeries cakes any day

[origamicrane]

oh my god !! they got to revoke this places michelin star!!!

had a party of 16 down there tonight and i can't fault the food, quantity , quality or price.

but my god !!!!! the service!! it made Won Kei's positively luxurious!!!

ok as soon as we sat down the waiter comes along and gives us the drinks menu.

90 seconds later he comes round and ask if we'd like some bellini's to start with.

reponse no thanks give us a few minutes to decide.

90 seconds later he comes round again and asks have we choosen our drinks yet or would we like some bellini's?

again we say no thanks we still looking but could we have some water

and i ask him to add two extra chairs as we had two more guests coming.

he promptly goes and gets the chairs and then

he says "here are the two extra chairs, how many in your party?"

i say "we got two more coming"

he says "there's 7 chairs on each table you asked me to add two more chairs"

i say " yes just leave them there"

he says" you asked me to add two more chairs where are the other two?"

at this point the waiter has managed to piss me and half my table off

and we promptly decide this MoFo is no way going to get a tip!

So after blanking him he walks off.

90 seconds later he comes round and says so, "what drinks would you like would you like some bellini's?"

we respond "no thanks we'll stick with water".

Did you know what this waiter reminded me of?

you know when you walking through camdem market and you get the yardies on the bridge and as you walk pass them they just say "skunk! skunk! skunk!"

yep thats right this waiter reminded me of a hash dealer maybe he is one on his off days as he did act and look like one. Next time you walk pass the drug dealers in Camden ask them if they like a job in Yauatcha as they should fit in perfectly to their work attitude.

This is the second time i've been there, but first time i've been there with a party. Their treatment of large parties is ridiculous its like they trying to see how many customers they can piss off in one night!!

Oh and to top it all off

we ask for the bill, gather the money, check it and give it to the waiter

2 minutes later he comes back and says we are short £19.50???

why are we so surprised ? well the bill was £710 and everyone of my party threw in £50 in cash (notes only) or by credit card.

So if there was any money missing it should have been a round number of either £10, £20 or £50? not some bizarre sum of £19.50 but by now we just couldn't be bothered to argue as they had taken the originally amount of money and it would have been impossible to argue with him on the sum.

So everyone agreed that the food was excellent but the service was so offensive that none of us would ever go back there! and if the old saying of "lose one customer, you lose 10" they just managed to lose 160.

This is the first restaurant in years to piss me off so much.

anyone here know who are alan yau's food suppliers are?

i'm feeling vindictive.

Edited May 1, 2005 by origamicrane (log)

[MobyP]

You should write to the management, Ori. I'm sure they've heard the other side of the story by now.

[origamicrane]

addendum 1:

our party was there at 6pm and the place was only half full

if their treatment of customers is like this when its not busy

god knows what it is like when it is full.

addendum 2: the waiter was not curteous , respectful or even polite, there was no greeting, his tone was totally inappropriate to a customer, no "excuse me are you ready to order", no "thank you","please" or "sir" , no smile, no eye contact except when we left and then all the waiters said "thanks and goodnight" which translated as "thank you for coming now piss off quickly!"

addendum 3: just had a thought maybe the waiter is skimming?

addendum 4: I have to retract the comparison to Won Kei's as its insulting to that culinary institute, at least if i went in there and spent £50 they be like "you go upstair, sir", "you sit here! please" and "you order now, sir"

its the morning after and i am still feeling vindicitve as they spoiled my friends Hag night.

The thought occurs to me apart from writing a complaint to the management has anyone here done more then that? or known a "friend" that did

decided on my course of action moby

i'm going to get all my friends to write a complaint letter

16 complaint letter to yauatcha should at least catch someone attention.

If you have had bad experiences at yauatcha post them here

lets see if we can send yauatcha the way of anda

or elevate it to the status of Won Kei's

Edited May 1, 2005 by origamicrane (log)

[MobyP]

I've only ever had brilliant food and acceptable service at Yauatcha.

[origamicrane]

I've only ever had brilliant food and acceptable service at Yauatcha.

←

i think they might reserve the basil fawlty service for parties only?

thats the painful part moby !!!

the food was more then brilliant!!

the food i cannot fault in anyway whatsoever

we had a party set menu at £35/head

and we had so much food it was impossible to finish it all in 90 minutes

the variety was excellent the quality of the food was amazing the only other place that i had something better was either in hakkasan or in Vancouver.

I like the design and atmosphere of the place

and i would have been happy to pay even more for the meal if we had an extra half an hour to enjoy the food rather then wolfing it down like a pack of dogs and the waiters had at least been curteous.

Everyone in my party said the food was excellent shame about the service.

[camp_dick]

Well, whaddya going to do when someone massively over orders the peach juice;-) Ham fisted up-selling has been a perennial problem @ Hakkasan. I put it down to the charmlessness of the management. That stuff does trickle down

The thing with the bill sounds well dodgy. Obviously, if a big raucous party hands over a huge wedge of cash without one particular 'host' figure taking responsibility for counting it all, a less than scrupulous wait person could be tempted to pocket some of it. Could the confusion be related to a service charge?

I second Moby's advice to write to the management, although I strongly disagree when he says, "I'm sure they've heard the other side of the story by now". I'm certain they won't have heard about it and that's a large part of the problem. It will be interesting to hear if 'the management' manage to respond to your written complaints.

I recommend that you and all your mates write out your grievances, including as much detail as possible and that you keep copies. Rather than send them to Yau@Cha, phone the reservations line or 020 7907 0700 on Tuesday to ask who and where to complain to, so that you can direct your letters to a named person at head office.

If you don't get a response within a fortnight (or whatever you consider to be a reasonable period), or if you're not satisfied with the response, send copies of your complaints to Michelin, Hardens', Time Out and any other restaurant reviewing org you can think of. Of course, you and your web literate mates can also blacken the name of the place at the various online review sites...

BTW: what's a Hag night? A stag night for gay men? Chinese halloween?

[origamicrane]

BTW: what's a Hag night? A stag night for gay men? Chinese halloween?

←

I checked the bill and service was included into the final total, it's possible but looking at how the maths added up and the fact no one put down coins can't see how a sum of £19.50 could have been missing.

Normally I would have complained on the spot but we were actually in a rush too

yep will see how they respond to my complaint once i organised my letter writing troops.

Hen night +stAG night = Hag night

A Gay stag night = Gag night

I hope ping pong when it open has better service

Edited May 2, 2005 by origamicrane (log)

[origamicrane]

I am not a happy bunny right now

if you read my previous posts you know I wasn't happy with the waiter that served us he was incompetent, rude, a moron

well there is more.

THEY OVERCHARGED ME £240!!!!!!

Here's whats happened on the night we had dinner there we paid for the bill in cash.

Well last week my credit card bill comes through and guess what?

there is a charge of £240 from yauatcha!!!

It seems that when I originally made the booking they wanted a credit card to confirm the booking. Well i'm not sure about other restaurants but I usually don't deduct money from the credit card unless the party is a no-show.

Well Yauatcha took the money out on the very day I made the booking.

On the night of the dinner we paid for the entire bill in cash!!

So I was thinking why the hell is there a £240 charge on my bill and imagine if i hadn't checked my credit card bill, i would have lost £240!!!!

I called up on saturday at noon and spoke to Jade who said a manager would call me in 30 minutes. 2 hours later no call, so i call again. Jade picks up and says they are probably locating the bill and would get back to me.

3pm a Michelle calls and says the manager that deals with the money didn't get in till 4pm but that he would call me as soon as he does.

5pm comes and goes no call.

Sunday noon i call and jade answers again and this time with a rather sneering tone of voice say "yes! yes! they will call you when they get the details".

"Hello??!! look you THUNDERCAT!! i'm out £240!!! don't you yes! yes! me !" ( i didn't say that but that was what i was thinking )

Ok Monday noon i call again and this time i ask for the direct line to a manager

"i'm sorry there is no direct line to a manager, but i will get him to call you straight away".

At this point i have had enough and decide to become unreasonable and told the girl ( sorry! whoever you are as you were much nicer then jade) that if a manager doesn't call me today I would be calling the police and reporting the charge as credit card fraud.

10 minutes later Ritchie ( the guy i originally made the table booking through last month) calls me and says the manager Mark Woods would definitely call me by 5pm.

5pm Mark calls and after asking me to clarify my story. He agrees that the waiter and the cashier had not communicated with each other and that the mistake was an error, he apologies, refunds my money and offers to send a receipt to my house.

ok so i got my money back in the end but this is ridiculous, why does it take 3 days for a manager to call a customer after they have made a complaint? especially as it a complaint about an overcharge. This isn't just an irate customer being unreasonable about a rude waiter!! this is a customer that has been ripped off half a monkey!!!!

Imagine the number of people that have lost money to yauatcha because they didn't or don't check their credit card bill properly! I think I might have to call up the inland revenue about this as this would be an excellent scam!! you can deduct the credit card booking fee from the main bill, skim the remaining overcharge and not put it in the books!!!

yauatcha michelin star restaurant

great food! cool interior!

offensive service, incompetent managers

[camp_dick]

Blimey!

Of course, angry Chinese men with lethal choppers are an every day phenomenon @ Hakkasan.

But they tend to work for the organisation

Have you had any response to the complaint letters you sent before?

If not, or anyway, try calling 020 7907 0700 and demand to speak to Linda Yau in person.

[IanT]

My Dad was in London for the weekend so I decided to make my first visit to Yauatcha.

We started with a couple of very good cocktails in the tea room upstairs. This is such a beautiful room and the pastries looked very tempting. I will definitely return for afternoon tea. One small complaint is that the chairs upstairs (and the non banquette chairs downstairs) are designed for individuals of a smaller stature and were not very comfortable for my Dad or I (both of us are 6'2").

The restaurant downstairs is much less inspiring from a design perspective, its an informal, modern room of the type that semms to be rigeur for most modern oriental restaurants.

Overall I thought the dim sum was excellent, on a par with Hakkasan. The dumplings are amazing; clean, clear flavours and visually stunning. I was almost reluctant to eat some of them... The other items are good but it seems that this restaurant has earned its acclaim (and its Michelin star) on the strength of the dumplings.

We ate:

Chinese Chive Dumplings - Absolutley beautiful. The translucent green wrappers enclosing plump, sweet shrimp.

Scallop shu mai - Another very alluring dumpling topped with a perfectly cooked scallop and some orange roe.

Crystal prawn dumplings - Vied with the chive offering for most beautiful dumpling award. Delicious.

Salt and pepper quail - A generous serving but a little too greasy. Could have been better.

Sesame prawn toast - A world away from the sesame toast at your local chinese. Fantastic fusion of toast, sesame seeds and toast but I'm not sure about the use of garlic butter.

Jasmine tea smoked organic ribs - Good flavour but a little dry.

Char sui cheung fun - A good rendition of a dim sum classic, perfectly cooked noodle casing and flavoursome pork.

Lemon souffle with hot chocolate sauce - We were both stuffed by now but we saw this souffle being served to another table and could not resist. A beautiful tangy souffle into which you pour a jug of rich chocolate sauce. Excellent.

With 2 cocktails and a bottle of wine the bill came to £100 which, depending on your perspective, is either:

(i) very expensive dim sum; or

(ii) an incredibly cheap Michelin starred dinner.

Personally I'd go with (ii). I'll be back.

Edited May 25, 2005 by IanT (log)

[IanT]

I felt like some dim sum as a restorative supper after an afternoon's shopping yesterday. I was walking towards Ping Pong and decided that I'd try Yauatcha, just in case they had a table. I was quite surprised to be seated immediately (and upstairs too ). Perhaps Ping Pong has taken some of their business?

I ignored my own advice and decided to try a few of the non-dumpling offerings. I had:

Baked Venison puffs - Good buttery pastry but the filling tasted the same as in every other dim sum place in London.

Chickens' feet in black bean and chilli sauce - This order was a bit unfair on the restaurant. I am not a big fan of chickens feet but given the setting I was hoping for a conversion of Damascene proportions...nope, I still don't like chickens' feet.

Steamed sticky rice with ginko nut, chestnut and shrimp - This did not particularly appeal to me, quite ordinary.

Chinese chive dumpling - Still beautiful and delicious. I had to get some dumpling action!

Ginger and lemon souffle with ginger ice cream and milk chocolate sauce - I love this desert. Delicate, starch-free, tangy souffle into which you pour rich chocolate sauce. A real winner.

Espresso with a lychee and raspberry macaroon - Fantastic macaroon, presumably inspired by Herme's Istaphan. Great mixture of textures and flavours.

I did not enjoy the food as much as on my last visit but I'll put this down to:

(i) not ordering dumplings/cheung fun; and

(ii) eating on my own. Dim sum is not well suited to the solitary diner. By the third venison puff/second rice parcel my palate was bored.

Overall, £31 including service for all of the above plus a delicious orange/lime iced tea represents excellent value for money for cooking of this calibre.

[camp_dick]

Popbitch gossips:

>> Donatella's toilet troubles <<

Versace matriarch gets a bit stuck

Honeysuckler writes:

"I dined next to Donatella Versace at Yauatcha

recently. She was very orange, very thin and

wearing a bleached wig. She was surrounded by

male hangers on and had a security guard, complete

with earpiece, follow her wherever she went,

including standing guard outside the toilets. I

was in the bogs and found her desperately

grappling to open the cubicle door so

helped her with it. Then I went in, snorted my

lines of coke, reapplied my make-up and

came out, only to find that she was still

in the cubicle as she couldn't get out. After

yanking the door open for her, she smiled her

thanks, and returned to her table. She ate

nothing but visited the loo three times."