I love dim sum… but sometimes finding a good place to eat it can be hit and miss (don’t get me started on Ping Pong). Thankfully Yauatcha is on hand to provide some decent dim sum. Yauatcha is known for blending tradition and innovation and creating tasty morsels. It was opened a few years back by the man behind Wagama, Busaba and Hakkasan. Apparently he’s sold up. Coincidentally… whilst good, this experience wasn’t as good as before… just an observation shared by a couple of other bloggers that I’d agree with.
As you enter the clean, bright and very blue inside you are greeted by the lady with her clipboard at the door. When I went the other day, it was the first time ever I got a smile and a pleasant helpful response compared to the usual stroppiness from the pious ladies in blue on previous visits. However the rest of the staff are great. We were lead downstairs to a dimly lit elegant brickwork room. The only problem is that the tables are low as are the chairs. If you are tall, like me, its not comfortable. Enough of the moans… on to the food.
We sat down and ordered some tea. We got a flower tea – the Orchid Pao Chung Cha. This was really soft and fragrant and good way to cleanse the palette. Soon after they brought some chilli sauces and cucumber pickles. I love pickles and these were pretty nice.
Yauatcha - Cucumber Pickle
If you are vegetarian then there is a good selection of things for you to eat – so don’t worry.
We then ordered the following:
Scallop Shiu Mai
Yauatcha - Scallop Shiu Mai
I liked these. They were fresh, soft and juicy. The wrapping wasn’t overcooked and claggy, it was nice and ‘al-dente’. The tobiko on top was a nice addition. They looked like jewels.
Wild Mushroom Dumplings
Yauatcha - Wild mushroom dumpling
When these arrived, I was pretty impressed with the presentation. They looked really good. The filling was oyster, shimeji and shiitake mushrooms. These were pretty tasty though perhaps the dough wrapping was a little too thick… but none the less I liked these.
King Crab Shanghai Siew Long Bun
Yauatcha - King crab Shanghai siew long bun
This was a tradtional dumpling which had soup in it. It was filled with crab and pork. I love king crab, though despite the name of the dish, it disappointingly had more pork than crab. The soup however was tasty.
Chicken Feet in Black Bean Sauce
Yauatcha - Chicken feet in chilli black bean
I love eating all the parts of the chicken at yakitori bars – the tail, the oysters, the breast bone etc. I’d never tried the feet. Being someone who’ll try everything at least once, I ordered them as an experiment. I won’t be ordering them again. I just don’t like the texture… too too fatty / squidgy for me. I don’t like having to remove small bones from my mouth every two seconds. It was a little weird, even for me. The sauce was tasty though. I’m sure if you like chicken feet – then you’ll like these but not for me ta very much.
Sesame Prawn Toast
Yauatcha - Sesame Prawn Toast
On to something a little more usual. These were huge! like mini-cakes. I really liked these. Perhaps not the most adventurous of the things we ordered, but my friend wanted them. They were coated in black and white sesame seeds, loaded with a LOT of prawn and really really juicy.
Singapore Fried Noodles
Yauatcha - Singapore fried noodle
Perhaps not a dish I would have ordinarily ordered in a dim sum place but my friend wanted it. I was glad I ordered this. Lots of soft squid and prawns plus nicely spiced.
Desserts
Yauatcha - Stunning desserts
Unfortunately we were too full by this point so no dessert but I had to take a picture of the dessert counter upstairs as it looked stunning. I have had their macaroons before and they are pretty good.
There are plenty of things on the menu I want to still try so I will go back, don’t know when, but I’ll go back. All in all a good meal.
Yauatcha is located at 15 Broadwick St, London, W1F 0DL
Tel: 020 7494 8888 Web: www.yauatcha.com
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