Yauatcha

Tasty dim sum with different varieties from those found at typical yum cha restaurants.

Prices are bit on the high side.

Attentive service.

food is ok but they gave me a table for two hours then served me so slowly it was ridiculous , then were rude when i pointed it out , it was busy but there is no excuse for that in a michelin one star restaurant , i had gone numerous times but i doubt now i will ever go back .

Great place, specially before an evening out. I have to say I have not been able to go anywhere else for dimsum since going there. Also recommend the claypot veal and cocktails. Deserts looked better than they tasted however, but will definitely keep going for more! All in all, a very swanky place, great venison puffs and lovely atmosphere.

This is the first time I’m writing a review of a restaurant, and is not because the lack of opportunities, but last Thursday I went to Yauatcha to celebrate my friend’s birthday and the whole experience was so good I had to write about it.
I booked the table a week before and the guy I spoke to was very helpful. I explained to him I wanted to surprise my mate on his birthday and he assured me he would take care of us on the day. On the day, we arrived earlier than planned. To my surprise they have created a new bar area, with some cool chairs, where we could have a drink while our table was getting ready. The cocktail menu still a winner and I do recommend the refreshing Lalu. Ten minutes after, we were told by our waitress that the table was ready and she helped us with our drinks.
Again I wasn’t sure how many dishes we should share between four of us so our table waitress came to the rescue, she actually suggested for us which ones to go for and we ended up choosing eleven. The food is amazing, I can definitely recommend the venison puffs and the prawn and bean curd cheung fun. We even felt peckish and had and extra dish of cheung fun. The way the food was brought up to the table was paused and with around three dishes at the time.
The service is attentive but is not intrusive. I don’t like going to restaurants where the waiter is behind every movement you do. At Yauatcha I felt at ease and any time I needed something my trustee waitress was there to help.
At dessert time, for my surprise, the lovely manager had arranged a chocolate pudding with happy birthday written on it and a cute candle. It looked lovely and such a nice touch. My friend was also surprised and half embarrassed. The look on his face made my night.
The bill came and to be honest I was happy with the amount I paid. Some people say is too expensive but for the quality of the food and the amazing service you get, I think is good value for money. I could easily name many places in London where the food and service are forgettable and the bill can easily go over what I paid on Thursday night.
Thank you very much to everyone involved at Yauatcha for making our night so special. I will see you again very soon.

If you’re looking for amazing Chinese food, a great ambience and impeccable service, head to Hakkasan. If you’re happy to eat second rate Chinese food whilst crammed into a table like a battery hen, then try Yauatcha.

Whilst Yauatacha’s decor is achingly hip, it is questionable whether this restaurant is really worthy of a Michelin star. Yes the congee is excellent, but otherwise expect dumplings which fall apart as you lift them out of their basket and vegetables which are soggy and overcooked. Yauatcha lacks the finer touches like ensuring that food ordered is brought to the table at appropriate intervals throughout the meal – something Hakkasan excels at. Instead, expect numerous dishes to arrive in close proximity to one another using up every inch of space on the small dining tables. Think nothing of paying £8 for a small pot of tea which doesn’t come with complimentary refills.

The timing of food is not the only spacing problem, expect to sit cheek by jowl with customers dining at neighbouring tables. One cannot help but hear their conversations and at times I’ve been tempted to dive in to correct an error, only to remember that I’m not part of their conversation. The miniscule space between tables also means you can expect to have your meal interrupted by one or more derrieres in your face as customers on the neighbouring tables make a move to use the toilets or leave the restaurant. The process is repeated as new customers come to sit down at their table.

Service is ok but nothing special and liable to get a little prickly if you question why you have been waiting so long for the first dish to arrive. On a recent visit we had the misfortune to sit next to two rather classless lovebirds who insisted on sitting next to each other and pashing despite there only being room for one person on each side of the table. When staff asked if everything was ok with our meal, they were more interested in avoiding a confrontation than dealing with the invasion of our personal space, leaving us to deal with the now narky lovebirds.

Having eaten at Yauatcha with a number of Chinese friends, the consensus is that there are much better places for Chinese food in London – at comparable or cheaper prices. This restaurant is more style than substance, more suited to posers than foodies. If you don’t know your har gow from your shumai, you’ll probably love it. Having given it too many tries and been disappointed, I’m giving up on Yauatcha.

Very good food, energetic atmosphere – what one would expect from a top restaurant.

Now come on… how can you eat with the staff / waiters ass right near your food on the table as they serve other diners on the tables next to yours..and then when your next door neighbours want to leave their table a few times either for a smoke or wc use. Its absolutely off putting and believe me, however sexy a ass maybe (keep in mind – if you are a guy then forget it – no more food, no more service, get out – even if you a lady, the waiters are not pretty as the food! one definitely loses their apetite)

Its very disappointing that such a top restaurant crams in diners like passengers travelling in economy class. You have no space to do anything on the table, the furniture needs to improve and start thinking that diners must be seated comfortably.

The waiters are helpful, but they do not stop you from ordering enough food for 5 people when its only you and another eating… then after spending hundreds of pounds, you are told that you cant even take the food home. Sorry we have just paid for the food, which you said 2 people can eat, infact about 5 diners could have eaten now we cant even take it home?!?!?!? We seriously insisted that “please” may we take this food home as its so much and we have not touched it. Eventually wrapped in clingfilm we got our paid food but no bag. ON leaving I asked the lady for a bag who kindly provided a bag for the food.

I love eating quality creatively prepared “tasty” food, it is the most important factor… price does not come in to it, when everything is flawless and deserved… you leave feelin “high” – but when its not, you end up coming home to your pc and writing a review…

Yauatcha – PLEASE do not cram diners into economy seating… all diners pay for good food service and COMFORT. Be generous and provide leg room and get those bad ass's away from the food!

Thank you in advance… though I guess it will never change and people continue to go back for more ass !

I have never been dissapointed by the food here. Always exciting, always fresh and full-filling.
The atmosphere buzzing and giddy.
Service alternates between very bad and very average…
Wish it was more central and parking was easier.
One of my favourites, and the Venison Puff alone makes it well worth while tolerating the poor service.

I recently took my other half to Yauatcha for his birthday. I'd been a couple of times many years ago, and was a bit worried by all the less than glowing reviews.

I needn't have worried. Our experience was wonderful. The service was great, present at all the right times without being overbearing. The food was spectacular, as I remembered. It was brought out at a leisurely pace which allowed us to enjoy each dish fully. The only downer was the very limited beer selection, and the missing beautiful tea cakes I remember (which you can get from the menu but don't seem to be on display any longer).

Overall I would thoroughly recommend to anyone & everyone who is looking for a dim sum experience over and above the usual Gerrard Street fare.

Ok, this is the best dim sum in town… I can tell you that this is one of the best restaurants in London.
Went to many and a few deserve reviewing and Yauatcha is one of them.
If I was you I would book a table and order all dim sum for sharing, and be ready to have a great dinning experience.

Brought a group of very fussy VIP diners there for a VERY quick lunch (they just had 40 min!!), and was really concerned on how this would all go. Firstly, the service at the time of booking was excellent, they really went out of their way to understand our worries, and help create a tailored visit. Secondly, when the group arrived, the service was very quick which helped us run our schedule smoothly. And, finally, the food – fantastic! The group went for Dim Sum group lunch menu, and there was sooooooo much to eat and every little bit was absolutely delicious! Teas were excellent as well. My group are very spoilt diners who dine at world's best restaurants all over the world, and they were really impressed (even with the vegetarian options which are normally not exciting). Overall, a great experience with great service – I'll definitely book the same group back there on their next visit!

I can't count the amount of times I have been to Yauatcha, but it is probably an easy report to pull out of their reservation system. Safe to say that when I or my wife phone to book, they ask if I would like my usual table.

Sunday lunch is so much tastier when it come in little chinese steamer baskets. They have recently changed their menu and it has to be said that I was more than sad to see a few old favourites lose their pegging in the new print run.

Bye Bye – Baked chicken with Mushroom. We will miss you.
Bye Bye – Steamed Silver Cod – I knew you for only sometime, but what a time we had.

Now I don't want this to turn into anymore of a love-in than it has already become. So lets lay it out, my fave dishes.

Roast Venison Puff – This is the best of the best, soft buttery flaky pastry and sweet and unctuous venison inside there is nothing better to start the meal with, and as everything comes as it is ready this always makesit way to the table first.

Spinach Cubes – These are amazing, steamed parcels of prawn and water chestnut, wrapped in spinach and covered in a spicy black bean sauce. Crunchy, hot and healthy! (PLEASE BRING THESE BACK!!!)

Shanghai Siew Long Bun – WARNING – be careful these are hot! Little dumpling bags filled with meat and soup! You need a bowl, a spoon and a little patience to eat these but they are well worth the wait.

Hand Pulled Mushroom Noodles – Lots of different types of mushrooms and hand made noodles – you can't go wrong. Once in a while they do turn out a little oily – but if you top it up with some greens it is all ok.

Service is sometimes great and sometimes not so great, because I love the food so much I probably do forgive it a little too much sometimes. It can be slow but it is always friendly.

The upstairs is better than the downstairs in my opinion. It is brighter and less nightclubby. Don't get me wrong sometimes the downstairs can be ideal for the situation, but the tables behind the staircase are a bit dingy.

As with all good restaurants you get a bigger bill with the more you drink. However if you are just eating the pricing is UNPARALLELED for the quality of food.

The cake and chocolate counters always make me take home something. The passionella is without doubt the finest piece of patisserie that you will ever taste, and the Assam Praline ain't to bad either.

It is safe to say that I like this restaurant, so much so that my best man started my Stag day with a lunch at Yauatcha. Does this mean that this review is biased? Probably, but just go have some dim sum and see for yourself.

Visited this restaurant a few years ago and had a reasonably good evening so thought it worth another go. Made a reservation for 8-15 on a Friday and received a message the day before confirming the booking for Saturday – not a good sign! This was rectified and I was told to arrive promptly at the restaurant due to time restrictions imposed on each sitting.

On arrival we were told that the table was just being laid up and that we should wait and look at the menu. There is no bar area to wait so you stand awkwardly in the way of the door – no one offered to take coats or provide a drink. Fifteen minutes later I checked with the waitress whether or not the table had been laid and she said that it was still occupied and that people were paying the bill. So previous excuses had been lies…

I was not willing to wait any longer and said that we would be leaving. This caused a smirk coupled with a mumbled sorry … I’m sure they had no trouble filling the table which is why they don’t value their customers whatsoever.

My friends and I visited Yauatcha last Wednesday to discover the menu had undergone a revamp, with the dim sum selection significantly reduced, excising many of our favourites such as the spinach cube, char sui cheung fun and prawn and date dumplings, only to be replaced by a larger selection of starter and main courses. A confusing choice considering its reputation as one of the best restaurants for dim sum in London.

However delving into the menu revealed a number of highlights, with old mainstays like the baked venison puff supplemented by excellent dishes like roast duck and pumpkin dumplings and pear and taro croquettes. Indeed, it would appear that standards, which had slipped of late, are back to form, with everything receiving a bit of a polish, from the inventive ingredient combinations to the new spin on established dishes, notably including the mango spring roll now done in batter rather than pastry. Unfortunately the diver scallops, having had the fortune to eat on only a handful of occasions, remain elusive as ever, and we were informed that a number of our selections were not available either. A shame, but one that I assume to be a result of the relative newness of the menu.

The service has been variable in the past, but on this occasion the staff were pleasant and accommodating, offering up alternatives to the unavailable dishes. All in all, this still remains one of the go-to places for dim sum. However, if anybody at the restaurant does read this, I have one request: please bring back the char sui cheung fun.

I can't believe I continue to recommend this place…everytime I go I'm kept waiting for the table and then they ask for it back after two hours or less if you are kept waiting but love the food and the ambience…also much better value than Hakassan (although I'm also a fan for a special occassion). It's a shame that they changed the tea room upstairs into an extension of the restaurant…I know they kept the patisserie but its just not the same, it was just so ‘beautiful’. Definitely ask to sit downstairs when you make your booking.

Wonderful dim sum – reasonably priced considering their quality and taste. Cakes of extraordinary beauty. The tea is quite delicious, especially the Oolongs.

Excellent food and solid service.

A step up from most Chinese restaurants – worth dabbling in from time to time.

The setting reminds me of the stars – far away from London for a little while.

I took clients here for lunch and the service was just appalling, when the prices are that high I do not expect to have to wave like a drowning woman to get a drink.

Disappointing and I will not be going back.

The food here is consistenly amazing but the food less so. On some occassions it has been fine – on one occassion I was served a fly in my dim sum, when I pointed it out the waitress stormed off without a word…

This place is awful.

While waiting for your table and/or your dinner companions, better not be thirsty because there is no bar. Then, once seated, better not be claustraphobic as they have crammed as many tables as is physically possible into both upstairs and downstairs dining room. Finally, better not be too hungry, the service is incredibly slow and awkward, after which we were told we had no time to even be shown the desert menu before being turfed out – but not before paying an absolutely wapping bill with a 12.5% service charge pre-added.

Not to be repeated.

This is one of my favourite places in London and I keep coming back. The food is simply great, as are the exotic cocktails that I tend to, in the American fashion, drink through-out the meals. I definitely suggest booking downstairs as I once ended up on the ground floor which feels less exciting.

Now, in spite of all the positives surrounding the food and drinks, the one major flaw about Yauatcha is the service. I dare to say that I have never experienced a more un-even service in any restaurant in London. Sometimes average or even ok, and sometimes appalling. The sad thing is, and the reason for my high overall rating, that one gets used to it when having gone a few times.

I have loved and loathed Yautacha and have considered it one of my favourite places to indulge.

The food is excellent and i always come away thinking i've had something very special. Im not a huge dim sum lover myself but the selection on offer changed my thoughts on this. I've tended to go for the crispy lamb in the past but companions have loved the venison dim sum with a passion. I also love how they have the tea house link to it so i can also indulge in a lovely beautifully presented cake on show in the window. In the past, i've always neglected desserts at Chinese restaurants but Yautacha is somewhere where you can't say no. Ill certainly be giving vouchers to friends for afternoon tea there, just to experience the indulgence on offer!

Decor should be mentioned as the downstairs is stunning – like Busaba Ethai but more moody lighting. I'd never sat downstairs before but i realise now it's the place to be if you have a few friends with you.

The only big point i have to make is the service – aside from maybe one person ive been served by, the service has been very poor. I've had the same feedback from several friends who have been completely put off by table turning or rude snobbish staff. I haven't had such a worst case scenario but i have had offhandish people serving who do make you feel very unimportant and do tend to put you off rebooking and on one occasion has tended to demand the service charge be paid when the service was pretty poor.

At the moment though, im in a ‘love it’ stage and as with most people in love, a bit of a sucker for it so will still go back – certainly very highly recommended!

One of my favourites in town I find Yauatcha to be excellent and always a place to visit with friends from out of town. Food is superb and consistent – the selection on the menu means there is always plenty to choose from. Service can very occasionally be an issue however at the worst I'd say it's passable and have had more instances of excellent service than not so good. I never find the turn times to be a problem and If I need longer I'll book late as tables are often not required back. I have had lunch, afternoon tea and dinner there and think this restaurant offers the best value Michelin Starred food in town.