Cha Cha Moon

Without doubt the worst meal I've had in London and such a disappointment having heard it was ok and the location and ambience certainly lead us to believe this place although cheap would have potential. Grey greasy noodles tasting worse than a pot noodle, duck had some flavour however seemed like it had been fried a thousand times. Chicken stir fry dish was nondescript. Why you would pay more than Busaba (which in my view is the best food and best value of any asian dining establishment in Soho) for this grey, greasy, tasteless food I do not know. Terribly disappointing and hope they make the most of the location and generally good staff by improving the food.

First time here last week. Been meaning to go for a while. Really enjoyed my experience, but wasn't wowed necessarily. Will definitely go back to try some other things on the menu though. Prices are good as the portions are massive.

It was one of my worst meals in London… yes, it is cheap and I didn't have great expectations but this restaurant made Wagamamma seem the best meal ever!
I ordered a duck roasted duck with noodles. The noodles were sticky and cold. The duck was overcooked. Also, my group's food was cold and not tasty (we were 5 of us and all left very disappointed)
The only good thing in the whole night was my carrot, apple and orange juice… but I could have had that in Crushh, Whole Foods, etc. and save the night!

Our dinner at Cha Cha Moon dinner started rather bizarrely when, despite the restaurant being empty, we were made to move seats to sit right under the freezing air conditioning and beside another pair of diners.

After moving to a warmer zone, we ordered. My friend asked for some udon noodles to be substituted for ramen, which was ‘absolutely impossible’, but no explanation as to why!

Our starters were perfectly fine, but our main courses were awful. My single dish consisted of searing hot fishcakes, slightly congealed cold noodles (but which had been previously burnt!!), greasy room-temp tofu and luke-warm prawns. My friends was more of the same, with fairly ‘gloopy’ drenched udon noodles drenched in the saltiest sauce ever.

There also seemed to be an extraordinary high number of small midgey like flies in the actual restaurant (though I do concede it may be just be the time of year)!!

Even though we had voiced our displeasure, we were offered no compensation and the waitress actually seemed offended when we didn't leave a tip.

The decor and the food concept is great, the execution was pretty awful! In an area with such a fantastic array of inexpensive quality restaurants, Mr Yau should really go and sort this one out!

Alan Yau has built up a fearsome reputation as a man who can, no matter how deep your pockets, create a restaurant experience that delivers innovative menus containing quality dishes in some stunningly funky surroundings. The good news for Alan is that we are all smitten and willing to give anything he does a crack. The bad news, I suppose, is that we're all waiting with baited breath for his rare slip ups, such as Anda, his ill-fated Baker Street Italian.

Cha Cha Moon's set-up has Yau's name written all over it. He opts to shun the light and airy dining room the space could afford, putting the kitchen up front and the trendy, cosmopolitan dining room at the back. The orderly layout of long communal tables and the constant flow of waiting staff and diners makes it feel remarkably like a school dining room. The seats are somewhat uncomfortable. Given a choice, the high benches at the back are preferable. The bathroom is stylish and unique, as has become the hallmark of a Yau restaurant.

When the restaurant opened, all the dishes were £3.50. A price tag that low suggests either very small dishes or inferior ingredients. Thankfully, neither is true but, more recently, the prices have gone up without a change in menu. You can't help but feel a little ripped-off, even though the dishes remain very good value. If you're especially hungry, you may want two dishes but for the most part one each or 3 between 2 is plenty.

The soup noodles are big, hearty, exceptionally flavoursome and are highly recommended. There are lots of exciting dishes with authentic contents: turnip cakes, kway teow with delicious chinese salami, cod with (very) bitter melon. The only disappointment from the menu is that it's not easy to find something that feels light and healthy. The service suits the price tag and the target market of local workers with an hour to take at lunch – quick and efficient.

The drinks selection is small but excellent. There are only 3 cocktails on the menu but you won't need any more – they are all delicious, contain fresh fruit and are pretty punchy. When the restaurant opened, it didn't serve Coca-Cola. Why do some restaurants refuse to give people what they want? They've since given in, hopefully thanks to customer feedback.

When the restaurant opened, the value for money made it unparralled anywhere in London. You could have a large lunch and a drink and, even after paying for service, have change from £10. The price rises (of over 100% in some cases) means the restaurant falls more in line with it's plentiful local competition. Amongst that competition however, it still every bit a contender and well worth a visit.

Alan Yau is the best…who else could put this together? Went soon after opening to Canarby Street branch and couldn't believe the value for money. Prices have since gone up but still great value. Not sure about the branch at Whitelys…but find Whitelys totally bizare! Also not sure about some of the more unusual brands of soft drinks at Cha Cha Moon…Coca Cola just can't be improved on but otherwise all top notch…a ‘Chinese Wagammas’ but better, feels less like a chain.

I'd read all the hype about this fabulous cheap noodle bar by Alan Yau of Hakkasan and Yauatcha fame and having eaten many times at the latter, I was quite excited. My credit has been well and trully crunched this year, so the prospect of eating a more affordable meal at one of Mr Yau's restaurants was an opportunity not to pass up. When we arrived there was a queue that snaked the length of the restaurant entrance and way out into the steet, so although the thought of queuing wasn't ideal we figured this was a good sign. Luckily the queue moved quickly and we managed to get inside only to join another really long queue, but this was next to the glass fronted open plan kitchen so we were kept amused by the super-fast chefs with their bamboo steamers and searing hot woks. When we eventually made our way into the restaurant proper, we were surprised at how big it was. It looked like a posh Wagamama's or not-so-posh Yauatcha. The seating was main ly bench style and you share tables with complete strangers which you don't mind when no dish exceeds £6.50. The menu was noodles in any which way: steamed and hand pulled, boiled, stir fried… I opted for a chicken and vegetable stir-fry dish and my friend had a beef ho fun dish. Both were fresh, light and tasty. My friend is allergic to shellfish, so we had a little trouble choosing side dishes as we were only left with two options, some veg and chicken dumplings. It's not a great menu if you're vegetarian or if you can't eat shellfish, but other than that, it does what it says on the tin. The portions were on the small side though and we did come out a little hungry. Probably best for lunchtime rather than a leisurely evening meal.

As one of the most talked about restaurants in London, Cha Cha Moon did not disappoint on Saturday night. We had heard tales of long queues but some of the hype seems to have died down and we were seated immediately. Although canteen style seating, the low lighting and dark interior is much more sophisticated and intimate than Wagamama and more like Busaba. Both our mains were of a very high standard; Jasmine tea smoked chicken was delicately flavoured and Jia Xing Beef incredibly tasty. A side of spring rolls came hot and fresh (albeit some time after the mains had arrived) and a server was quickly reprimanded by the manager for trying to remove the dish before we had completely finished. From our experience, the food was on a par with the dishes you find at Wagamana or Busaba but the prices (in the region of £3 – £5) are outstanding and the menu is a little more unusual. We are keen to return, if only to sample more of what's on offer.

This was generally good quality, canteen style dining. It was difficult to draw a distinction between this and one of Alan Yau's previous ventures Wagamama, with the same stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap approach. The food is very good value, no doubt. The four sides we had – wonton, fried dumplings, mooli and spring rolls – were all delicious and, thankfully, the price tag did not mean that we got small portions. The larger dishes were a slightly more mixed bag. The roasted duck was satisfyingly tasty and, again, there was enough of it although the soup that came with the dish was nondescript. The prawn roe fried noodles with shredded chicken was a little bland and dry. The fujian style noodles with prawns was, apparently, very tasty and had a kick to it.

For £3.50 per dish it seems churlish to nitpick and overall we were happy with the food and left satisfied. We also did not experience any of the reported problems with service – it was straightforward, polite and quick without being hurried.

I'd go back to Cha Cha Moons but only if I didn't have to suffer the 30+ minute wait for a table as it certainly isn't worth the wait. I go back to the example of Wagamama – if I walked in and was told that we would have to wait 30 minutes I would go elsewhere.

Alan Yau just keeps getting it right!

Cha Cha moon has become a Carnaby St staple! It’s perfect for the W1 workers on a budget looking for a hot meal in a buzzing place as well as the boutique shoppers on the weekend sauntering through Kingly Court. I recommend everything on the menu, we are slowly but surely making our rounds and so far we haven’t found anything we don’t like…well actually the Salty 7up is a bit strange and so are a few of the juices, but to each his own! They only thing it really needs to work on is the service…it may be an Alan Yau institution but the service fails to always reflect that.

With most things on the menu for £3.50, its the perfect value-for-money eatery!

This was my favourite new place for cheap eats in central London until the standard of service slipped. Dishes such as the turnip cake familiar from the dim sum lists at Hakkasan and Yauatcha are re-produced here for a fraction of the price, plus there are great-value noodle dishes that come in cheaper than the supermarket ready-meal version and are ten times better. It’s also excellent for soft drinks: the cold tea made with condensed milk (rarely seen outside south-east Asia) and a tartly refreshing cherryade are both worth trying. And it’s great for solo dining, especially if you sit at the raised seating, which offers a view of the entire restaurant. However the whole point of somewhere like this is to get in and out as quickly as possible and on my last visit it took an age for anyone to take my order and for the bill to be delivered: doubly annoying when the restaurant was half empty. Newcomer Baozi Inn is also excellent for cheap, nutritious Chinese food in nicely designed surroundings.