After eating at Alan Yau’s Michelin starred Hakkasan, I was yet to eat at his other Michelin starred restaurant, Yauatcha that also recently got purchased by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. That changed this Sunday. Located in the heart of Soho, it’s easy to mistake the iridescent blue corner striping the outside as some sort of club. Certainly the downstairs dining room, a dark room fitted with lights best described as starry, and a fishtank fronting the entire length of the bar certainly make it feel like one. Upstairs is the brighter and more casual feeling dining room that also serves as a tiny store offerings fanciful macaroons, divine chocolates and the unique varieties of tea on offer in the restaurant.

Unlike his other restaurant, the focus of dim sum makes this place slightly more casual and before the crowd rush hit at 1pm, it was easy enough to take pictures with my, rather not obvious, camera. As we entered the restaurant, three people immediately greeted us, one of them politely guiding us to our table downstairs. I’m sure that it’s probably best to book ahead yet Sunday seemed very quiet and arriving early meant we were seated with a wait and without fuss.

We sat directly in front of the bar where three or four men continuously pumped out the exotic drinks offered on the menu. Their comprehensive list of teas form the base for a number of even more unique and further tea-mixers both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. I ordered a lime and passion iced tea that proved refreshingly tart and a great complement to the food ahead (although aptly priced in a place like this at £4).

Most of the food seemed fairly reasonable and not as crazily priced as I thought it would have been, with each plate being about a pound more than you’d pay at other decent Chinese dim sum places in London. We tried a number of new dishes as well seeing as they offered a large number of things you wouldn’t normally have at other places such as an Ostrich dumpling – a gamey ball of meat surrounded by a steamed pastry and enough liquid to rival a well made Xiao Long Bao. Standard dishes such as Siu Mai and Har Gau arrived in cute tiny little baskets both freshly made and extremely tasty. I was slightly disappointed by my favourite BBQ Pork Bun (Cha Xiu Bao) as the bread wasn’t as fluffy and white as other places make it, and the meat mixture inside a little bit too fatty and with an unnaturally overpowering pork taste (my sister was convinced it was the sherry flavour). It still wasn’t too bad although I probably wouldn’t order it there again.

The service throughout the meal was just right, and so it should be for the automatic 12.5% they add to the bill. One waitress in particular had a very enthusiastic, almost over the top, happy approach to serving her customers that it made me chuckle just a little bit. They exchanged our plates once during the meal (though I think it was a bit of a waste) and they presented each dish with its name, whisking away empty baskets and plates shortly after the last piece had been taken. See the rest of the pictures here.

Details: Yauatcha
Found at: 15-17 Broadwick Street, Soho, London, W1F 0DL
Contactable on: +44 20 7494 8888
Highlights: Modern contemporary quality dim sum, lots of tea mixers and a very untraditional dining setting
Room for improvement: Not all of the dim sum had descriptions, making it difficult to choose some more of the exotic dishes as you wouldn’t really know what you’re getting.
The Kua Rating: 7.5 out of 10