Yauatcha (Chinese) revisited – London, England (8.5/10)
May 26th, 2009 by admin
Background:
Regular readers will know that I adore dim sum! I’m currently updating last year’s post Where To Eat Dim Sum In London, and have created a shortlist of dim sum restaurants to revisit as well as to visit for the first time. Having recently ticked a few new ones off the list – Yum Cha, Golden Palace and Peninsula – I thought I’d return to one of my favourites, Yauatcha. I’ve eaten dim sum there countless times, but I thought a revisit was long overdue as I haven’t been back in a year.
The vegetarian husband (always a challenge at dim sum!) and I joined three friends and Yauatcha regulars for lunch on a Saturday. I’d made sure to reserve a table on the ground floor level, as I didn’t want to sit in the basement and shout over the deafening music to make myself heard. The ground floor level provides a quieter and more serene environment in which to enjoy dim sum and a bit of conversation. After all, dim sum is an opportunity to catch up with friends and family as well as eat good food.
Surprisingly, our friends (who arrived before us) confirmed that they hadn’t been welcomed with the customary greeting of ‘we need the table back in one hour and 45 minutes’. The service was friendly and polite, but a little disorganised (one of the dishes we ordered never arrived, and had to removed from the bill) and it was occasionally difficult to catch the attention of the waitresses. Incidentally, for the first time ever at Yauatcha, I was able to take photos without fear of being stopped.
What we ordered: as we were five, I had to order two portions of some of these dishes, as most dim sum dishes contain three or four pieces that can’t be easily divided.
- chicken feet in chilli black bean sauce (£3.80) – as I don’t like chewing on toes of any description, I gave this a miss, but my Taiwanese friend loves the Yauatcha version. So if you’re a fan of chicken’s feet, order it!
- prawn and gai lan cheung fun (£6.00) – I always order this. It’s prawn cheung fun, but with finely chopped gai lan, which is a lovely touch. Yauatcha’s cheung fun is always excellent, as the rolls are silky and delicate
- three style mushroom cheung fun (vegetarian) (£7.00) – not as good as the prawn cheung fun, and one I probably wouldn’t order again as there are so many other dishes to choose from. If you have vegetarians eating with you though, it’s a good choice
- grilled Shanghai dumpling (£3.50) – rather disappointing and not that special. I used to order this regularly, but I’ll give it a miss next time
- vegetarian grilled Shanghai dumpling £3.00) – the husband thought my home-made ones were better!
- baked venison puff (£4.50) – a twist on the classic char siu puff, but made with venison. The filling is slightly sweet, but delicious, and the pastry was perfectly light and flaky. One of my favourites and highly recommended
- Chinese chive dumpling (vegetarian) (£4.50) – the presentation wasn’t great and the dumplings fell apart easily
- prawn and enoki dumpling (£5.00) – I must remember not to order this again! I keep forgetting that it’s not very nice and for the price, there are much better dishes, such as the fried prawn and date dumplings, which I really recommend!
- bean curd roll with enoki and cloud ear (vegetarian) (£6.50) – this is among the better of Yauatcha’s vegetarian dim sum dishes, but it wasn’t quite as amazing as the version we had a year ago. The outer bean curd layer was slightly overfried and oily, however, it’s still worth ordering if you haven’t had it before and particularly if you have vegetarian friends.
- salted and century egg congee (£6.00) – it may sound pricey, but it’s a large bowl and can be shared between several people. I only had a taste of it, but could tell that it was good. Our Taiwanese friends wolfed this down!
- bamboo mooli dumpling (vegetarian) (£3.50) – again, as with many vegetarian dim sum dishes, somewhat bland and disappointing
- sweet black sesame balls (£3.00) – a lovely way to end the meal with these glutinous balls filled with a warm black sesame paste. I must try making these one day…
The verdict:
The dim sum at Yauatcha isn’t as spectacular as it used to be, so I’m downgrading it one point from 9.5/10 to 8.5/10. When I last visited, Alan Yau still owned the restaurant along with Hakkasan, so I wonder if the sale of his restaurants (and planned expansion of the brands) has affected the quality of the food. I was slightly underwhelmed by this lunch, and a few dishes weren’t as I remembered them. There are some great dishes though, if you know what to order and what to avoid. Yauatcha is a good central location for meeting friends, and tea and cakes in the afternoon is still a special experience. For now, it remains one of my top three dim sum recommendations in London, along with Pearl Liang and Yum Cha. However, as I have many more restaurants to try, this may change by the end of the year, so keep checking the post Where To Eat Dim Sum In London for updates.
Lunch for five people cost just under £95.00.
The entire set of Yauatcha photos can be viewed here.
10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average
All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide
Contact Details:
Yauatcha
15 Broadwick Street (on the corner of Berwick Street)
London W1F 0DL
Tel: 020 7287 8484
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
We llove dimsum. We try to go on sunday mornings where ever we are in the world. Looking forward to the complete London guide.
aww…what a shame! I love Yauatcha but haven’t been there recently.
Hi Helen,
I met friends at Yauatcha for dinner on a Saturday evening about a month ago, and they were *definitely* still announcing and enforcing the “you have to give the table back in 90 minutes” rule. I also agree with you on the “some dishes are great and some are just nothing special” review of the food. I still go when other people want to meet there, but generally, I stick with dim sum at Leong’s (where I know you hated the service) or Pearl Liang. I tried Yum Cha two weekends ago and enjoyed it, but while modestly priced, it was still more than I pay at Pearl Liang or Leong’s.
I still have never been to Yauatcha, and it’s been on my list for so long. As has Pearl Liang. Both in your top three, which would you suggest I try first out of interest?
I bet that made your day when your husband said your dumplings were better – brilliant! Any chance of tasting them one day?
The prawn and date dumplings sound very interesting indeed. Even though you’ve docked them a point, I’m still keen to pay them a visit.
What a shame that standards have slipped, but it’s must’ve been pretty good to warrant such a high score. I think for that price they’d have to get everything spot on. I’m yet to try your other recommendations, but Pearl Liang is at the top of that list!
hello, I have been reading your blog for about 8 months now and I love it, especially your photos. You have a really crisp looking blog and it’s quite a resource. I am glad that one of your favourite meals in Edinburgh is my favourite place for a splurge meal-Martin Wishart, I was there this weekend, will write it up soon. I too love roka. Do you have any intention of going to Ping Pong?
Kim – lovely to meet a fellow dim summer. The dim sum guide is updated whenever I find a dim sum restaurant I like enough to add to it! Have a look…
Pigpigscorner – it wasn’t that bad! Just not as good as it used to be…
An American in London – thanks for letting me know! It was the first thing I asked my friends when we arrived, and I was surprised when they said they hadn’t been told. I’m going to try the dim sum at Leong’s next week (hopefully the service won’t be as memorable as on my last visit!). My favourite is still Pearl Liang though. Yum Cha was excellent too, though I’ve only been the once.
Boo – I would go to Pearl Liang first. It’s very pretty inside and yet the dim sum (traditional) is really reasonably priced. It’s a bit of a trek to Paddington, but well worth it. Yauatcha’s dim sum is modern, with unusual ingredient combinations, but they also have classics. It’s much more expensive though. My new third favourite is Yum Cha, which is really basic in terms of decor, but the dim sum surprisingly high quality (read my post on what to try). Enjoy!
Helen – yes, it did make my day! I cook so rarely, so it was a real compliment. I’d love to make dumplings for you one day – the pressure!
Jonathan – prawn and date dumplings are delicious – they’re huge crispy fried things that are tricky to eat, but the combination of flavours is spot on. One point docked, but it’s still a great place for dim sum (you just have to order the right things and avoid the silly overpriced non-dim sum dishes).
Lizzie – you’re right, everything should be spot on, not just some dishes. You must try Pearl Liang soon!
curiouseater – thanks. You went to Martin Wishart recently, lucky you! Re Ping Pong, no, I have no intention of eating there! I always find it quite funny when people rave about Ping Pong and dimt. Enough said!
Helen Yuet Ling
i am so jealous.
Yauatcha been on my list since forever, but have never visited!! I’m going to dim sum tomorrow with cousin for lunch, im craving it since yday night!! and under 95 for fiver ppl, isnt too bad!!!!! But price still too high on my list, since going Hk in under two weeks!!
keep blogging!! ^^
Its tough to go back to a place where you set the bar high and find its not what you remember. I had a favorite restaurant in DC, that in my memory reached near legendary status, but the first time I was able to go back, I was disappointed as everything seemed a pale comparison to what I remembered.
Your restaurant though sounds like it suffers more from inconsistency – some of the dishes you mentioned, I do not think I heard of in dim sum restaurants here in the States: baked venison puffs, or prawn and date dumplings.
Have you had the afternoon tea at Yauatcha Helen? I haven’t but would love to try it.
Is it that bad?! I take your word for it, as you look like you know what you are talking about. What about Hakkasan? Is that on your list? I thought it was decent enough but too noisy to be enjoyable and quite expensive.
I still have never been to Yauatcha, and it’s been on my list for so long. As has Pearl Liang. Both in your top three, which would you suggest I try first out of interest?
I am so pleased to hear that the venison puff is still good! I’ve not been there for 6 months or so, but that has always been my favourite dish! Another great post, although its a shame to hear it wasn’t quite so impressive.
http://thislittleladywenttolondon.wordpress.com/
vivi – there’s no need to have dim sum in London when you’re going to HK so soon! So envious of you! You’ll write to blog all about it…
OysterCulture – this is a modern Chinese restaurant with very creative and unusual dim sum items. Baked venison puff is their adaption of the classic baked BBQ pork puff, which you’ll find on most dim sum menus. But prawn and date dumplings are their ‘invention’ – the way it’s presented anyway!
Gourmet Chick – I’ve had the scones there and they are incredible, but not the full blown afternoon tea! I’d also love to try it one day. Let me know if you want to go together!
curiouseater – Perhaps I’ll go to Ping Pong and then let you know what I think about the dim sum there! Hakkasan I’ve been to, and it’s only not on my list because I prefer the dim sum (mostly quite similar) at Yauatcha and I like sitting in the tea house area.
LW – Pearl Liang first, I guess, followed by Yauatcha then Yum Cha. Let me know what your thoughts are!
JJ – I guess standards go up and down. I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t as amazing as I remembered, but it’s still amongst my top three in London…
Helen Yuet Ling
Hello Helen, I’ve been enjoying your dim sum (re)visitation series, partly because I’ve been doing a similar exercise over the last few weeks. I’m adding Golden Palace and Peninsula to my to-try list and I would recommend you try both Princess Garden of Mayfair and Wing Tai (attached to Wing Yip superstore in Cricklewood). At the former, the Peking ravioli with chilli sauce stood out, the ho fun with beef in XO sauce was good and the fried turnip cakes were lousy; at the latter, the taro croquettes stood out, the other dim sum items were all decent and the hand pulled noodles with shredded pork were tasty, nice vibe and spacing of tables as well.
Glad you’ve discovered Yum Cha, it’s local to me, I’ve been there 3 times, the veg cheung fun and mandarin spare ribs impressed most. Word of warning though, the one time I went in the evening, quality was way off the 2 lunchtime experiences. Also good to take advantage of the 25% @ lunchtimes, it’s great value overall.
I know that Pearl Liang is one of your favourites but my one dim sum experience there was only so so. That said my one evening a la carte experience there was much better so I’m keen to give their dim sum another go. I will reread your post but just wondering which 3 to 4 items you would recommend most strongly from their dim sum list?
Also curious about your home made dim sum, do you make your own wrappers/casings or do you buy these in (like I do)?
I’m planning to try Phoenix Palace later this week, never been there.
Happy munching!!
Oonth – thanks! Princess Garden is on my list, but I don’t know if I’ll get to Cricklewood any time soon. I’m going to Min Jiang in a few weeks to see what the dim sum is like there. At Yum Cha, I wonder if they make everything during the day, so that come evening, they’re serving the rest of the daytime stuff? Shame about Pearl Liang. I’m planning a revisit as I haven’t been back in ages for dim sum, only dinner (which wasn’t as brilliant as last year). Can I let you know my recs after my next trip?
Finally, re making dim sum, I’ve only made steamed and pan-fried dumplings (recipes under Chinese recipes), and I’ve bought the wrappers mostly, but have made them myself as well. They’re so time-consuming to fill and wrap that shop-bought saves some time. Although I was very proud of my homemade wrappers too!
Helen Yuet Ling
Helen, we re-visited Yauatcha on Saturday for yum cha. Most dishes were good, but the Venison Puffs were so bad I sent them back. They tasted like left over sausage rolls from last nights party, quite stale and dry. They took them back, apologised profusely, and replaced them quickly; so no complaints about the service. However, they should never have left the kitchen in the state…more signs of a slide in standards?
PhilD – what a shame! The venison puffs were one of the better dishes I had, but others werent’ so great, and the presentation of some of the dumplings was terrible (dumplings thrown in upside down etc without being laid out properly). Have you tried Yum Cha on Chalk Farm Road (recent review) or Leong’s Legend (post coming shortly)? Not everything is amazing, but some things were very good. I’m also going to Min Jiang in a couple of weeks to try their dim sum.
Helen Yuet Ling
Princess Gardens is amazing! Just went there this afternoon, and I must say it was one of the better dim sum’s I have had in London, although I have not tried Yauatcha yet, so I guess I have no authority to comment yet :p
admin Reply:
July 12th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Boon – Princess Garden is on my list of dim sum restaurants to visit. I still have so many to go to and so many to revisit!