Yauatcha Soho

Food & Drink: 5.0

Service: 5.0

Atmosphere: 5.0

Value: 5.0

Nina K. 08 June 2017

We decided to try the 'taste of Yauatcha' menu before a night at the theatre as it seemed very good value for money in a sea of good value pre theatre menus in the area. The setting is stunning with a dark interior flickering with candles and a twinkling night sky. The fish tank bar gives the restaurant a young, modern vibe. The service was impeccable, the kind of service you would get in a stuffy, Michelin starred restaurant, but with a friendly smile. The dim sum is to die for. Steamed to perfection, there is a lovely variety included in the deal with prawns, scallops, pumpkin and mushrooms. The venison puff is the sweetest, most crumbly piece of heaven! Definitely the best value for money at £30 for two people. I would highly recommend it!

Food & Drink: 4.0

Service: 1.0

Atmosphere: 1.0

Value: 3.0

Gill S. 13 February 2017

Smart, snappy modern décor. Noisy. Low-level seats and tables a novelty. Great fishtank - gives you something to watch while you wait and wait. Food good, when and if you get it. Plenty of staff, but not sure what was going on. They seemed sullen, inattentive, avoiding eye contact. Waited five minutes for a menu, listening to the manager offering apologies to the complaining couple at the next table. After 15 minutes, a waiter appeared to take our order, then rushed off before we could order drinks. The dim sum we ordered turned up spasmodically - the last of them an hour and fifteen minutes after we had started. Our main course order was delivered to the next table, who fell on it and started eating. Replacement main courses weren't delivered together. We ate looking at the food debris on the next table, uncleared for 20 minutes. The bill was wrong and we refused to pay the 13% service charge. To be fair, the manager apologised, then knocked the drinks off the bill and confessed that they were having a "Basil Fawlty day".

Food & Drink: 5.0

Service: 4.0

Atmosphere: 3.0

Value: 5.0

Siri S. 24 January 2016

Food and drinks amazing, but overflowing paper baskets in bathrooms let restaurant down. Also not best place for people with long legs like us, as the chairs/sofas are very short. Kept having to rearrange legs sideways under table.

Food & Drink: 4.0

Service: 4.0

Atmosphere: 4.0

Value: 4.0

Gourmand Gunno 15 December 2015

With the spate of new London restaurant openings almost reaching a level of frenzy, it is reassuring to return to old favourites which remain consistently good even having been open for over a decade. Yautcha is one of such location, and based on how busy the place was on a recent lunchtime visit, still very much on-trend. The restaurant still ‘feels’ very cool, with its atmospheric lighting and lively atmosphere, but there is also a clear element of refinement, expressed not simply via the food, but also via the ability to purchase teas and macaroons from an in-restaurant patisserie at the front. Put another way, dining here feels more like an experience rather than just a means to an end. My comrade and I went for a selection of dim sum (small steamed dishes) and cheung fun (rice noodle rolls), with all prepared to perfection, both from an aesthetic and taste-sensation perspective. Yautcha’s USP is that all dishes are prepared freshly in-house on a daily basis and this commitment to quality is evident. We also appreciated the originality of the options available and particularly enjoyed the spinach ball with prawn and cuttlefish in a black bean sauce combination as well as the more fiery spicy pork Szechuan wonton with peanut. With just tea to drink, we ended up paying around £35/head all-in, well worth it, in my opinion. Final note: for non-meat/-fish eaters there is an impressive array of options here too, rather than it just being an after-thought, as in many other locations.

Food & Drink: 4.0

Service: 4.0

Atmosphere: 5.0

Value: 3.0

Hollie F. 26 October 2015

Firm favourite of my bosses, it never fails he loves entertaining here!

Food & Drink: 3.0

Service: 0.0

Atmosphere: 2.0

Value: 2.0

graham B. 16 December 2014

Went for a meal on late Saturday afternoon. The restaurant was busy but not overly. The service was terrible and the staff had to be prompted several times to do things. The food came in a disorganised sequence with conflicting excuses as to why and was very delayed. The only time the service was speedy was when asking for the bill the manager could hardly get his card machine out quickly enough. This restaurant is a money processing machine with no thought or care for its' customers. I will never go again and I will tell as many people as possible not to waste their time or money going to this place................

Food & Drink: 4.0

Service: 3.0

Atmosphere: 3.0

Value: 3.0

Mimina 31 March 2014

The second time that I've been back to Yauatcha in as many years and sadly, I have to say that it's lost its glamorous appeal. The food was still great but the decor (particularly noticeable in the daytime when we visited for dim sum) is a little tired looking and scruffy. As well as the traditional dim sum menu, they have some original and exciting items like lobster dumplings with tobiko and wagyu beef puffs – both of which were absolutely delicious. The service was haphazard – the waitress who served us in particular was incredibly friendly but had to be reminded about our orders a couple of times. The maitre d' was a mixture of terrifying and charming (terrifarming?) – alternately barking orders at our hapless waitress, and oozing compliments and charm upon the “beautiful ladies” dining at our table. We ordered dessert to take home and Yauatcha still has some of the best-looking (and tasting) puds in the business – a giant macaroon flavoured with cassis, violets and chocolate and a matcha green tea cheesecake to name but a few. If you want dim sum of equal quality but with slicker service, I would visit Min Jiang in Kensington instead.

Food & Drink: 4.0

Service: 4.0

Atmosphere: 5.0

Value: 4.0

Manuel M. 13 January 2014

Eaten here a number of times, we always eat in the bar as it has a great buzz. Food is always great, from the prawn toasts to the steamed bass, all dim sum knock out, portions are great size as well – which can be a down side to dim sum. Always happy with my experience.

Food & Drink: 5.0

Service: 5.0

Atmosphere: 5.0

Value: 5.0

Emma S. 26 November 2013

A very enjoyable evening. We asked for them to choose a menu for us and we could not have been more pleased, the food was delicious. Prompt service and very helpful staff. Will definitely come again.

Food & Drink: 4.0

Service: 4.0

Atmosphere: 4.0

Value: 4.0

JUNKO H. 18 October 2013

very nice time and cost and taste dim sum enjoyed a lot ,we ll go back same menu soon