• Added: 8th of November 2007
• Area: Soho
• Category: Restaurants

London W1F 0DL
020 7494 8888

nikosk said
Excellent food at reasonable prices
I was surprised to see people suggest Yauatcha was expensive for what it is...sure, prices are higher than most Chinese restaurants in China Town, but then again none of the restaurants in China Town have a Michelin star... When compared to other places in its league, I would say that, if anything, Yauatcha is quite reasonable. And with pots of tea starting at £3-4, one could get away with less than £30 a head without wine, for fine dining quality food.

As far as the food is concerned, Yauatcha is excellent. The traditional dim sum dishes are made to perfection, and the menu features a wide range of more unusual options that are well worth trying. I would recommend trying the following dumplings:

steamed plain prawn
fried prawn and date
some of the cheong fun
venison puff
crispy duck roll
the one with lobster and something else

I would normally not bother with the noodle dishes. Not that they were bad, but they never impressed (and were always far inferior to the dim sum).

Also, the cocktails are very good. Try the kumquatcha (there's another really good one but can't remember the name...something with "lai" in it).

Finally, the cakes at the tea room upstairs taste nearly as good as they look. Although not for daily consumption (due to their price being somewhat higher than a block of cadbury's), the chocolates and truffles are also really good.

Table-turning can be a bit annoying, service is sometimes on the cold side, the basement can sometimes be a bit noisy and I still don't get why they insist on not serving the upstairs cakes in the basement. The quality of the food though in my opinion more than compensates these relatively minor problems. Have been there numerous times and I expect I will continue to visit yauatcha semi-regularly.

• Added: 8th of November 2007
• Area: Soho
• Category: Restaurants

London W1F 7JB
020 7437 5280

nikosk said
Bloated prices for average food.
I'm happy to pay a premium for freshly prepared food made using decent quality ingredients, but £6.30 to take-away three small pieces of "sweet potato falafel", one small tub of coleslaw and a tub of hummus is pusshing it... "Falafels" were nice but did not in any way resemble actual falafels; they were more like sweet potato cakes. Coleslaw was pretty good and a refreshing escape from the typical mayo drenched rubbish you get in most places (by the way, coleslaw does not necessarily have mayonaise). The hummus was somewhere between mediocre and rubbish. The texture was too coarse and it was not seasoned enough. It is true that ready-made food tends to contain too much salt and MSG and it's great to avoid these, but reaching the other extreme is equally bad (at least as far as taste goes). The "free" flatbread was a bit dry.

Been there a couple of other times (I work round the corner)and the patern tends to be similar - food is ok but quantity/price and quality/price ratios poor. I'm probably not gonna go for a while (until I foget what the food's like and get drawn by the, admittedly, inviting facade of the place).

On a positive note, the staff have always been very friendly.

• Added: 13th of July 2007
• Area: Finsbury
• Category: Cafes and Coffee Shops

London EC1V 1NY
020 7278 9368

nikosk said

Excellent place for a chilled coffee or a quick bite. Great decor, relaxed vibe and nice and friendly staff.

As it's hidden away from the high street, it generally eludes the crowds that often frequent upper street, which is a plus in my book.

One minor criticism is that you can't get an alcoholic drink unless you eat.