Yauatcha - The traditional vs non-traditional debate!

Going upscale for my next Dim Sum Marathon Week Post, Day 4 brings me to one of the few Michelin-starred Chinese Restaurants in London.

Dim Sum to me is comfort food, something that brings and binds family and friends with happy times. A meal that can be eaten by all amidst loud background chatter and ladies with trolleys rolling their hidden treasures waiting to be eaten by us.

Hence, am not sure how fine dining Dim Sum will be at Yauatcha.

Surveying my surroundings, I quite like the décor, very clean and soothing and doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable like how some fine dining establishments do. In fact, it was quite inviting and relaxed.

One thing that I have been fore-warned about having tea here is that you are charged by the pot. As in there are no tea leaves in the pot, when you finished the tea in that pot, you get charged for a top-up. That sure is one way of spiking the bill upwards!

Steamed Dim Sum

Sticky rice in lotus leaf with chicken and shrimp荷葉珍珠雞


1st Pic: Can't remember what this was
2nd Pic: Winter melon dumpling,
3rd Pic:Thai winter melon, black fungus, straw mushroom, gong choi翠瓜甘筍餃,
4th Pic: Pork and Prawn Shu Mai豬肉蝦燒賣

1st Pic:Crystal Dumpling Wrap金瓜風車餃

2nd Pic:Prawn Dumpling筍尖鮮蝦餃

3rd Pic: Chinese Chive & Prawn Dumpling 鮮蝦韭菜餃

I was not disappointed by the staples in any dim sum, the prawn dumplings and Shu Mai. Some of the more exotic ones like the winter melon dumpling didn’t work for me.

Baked/Grilled/Pan Fried Dim Sum

1st Pic: Shanghai Dumpling上海煎鍋貼
2nd Pic: Char Siew Puff

I really like the Shanghai Dumpling, fried to just the right crunchy consistency with the meat being succulent and delicious.

Fried Dim Sum

Rice Paper Prawn & Mango Roll米通香芒卷

Chicken Taro Croquette荔茸雞芋盒

The whole combination of the rice paper prawn and mango roll just did not do it for me. I think if it this was not fried, it might have worked better.

Cheung Fun

1st Pic: Char Siew Cheung Fun叉燒滑腸粉
2nd Pic: Prawn & Beancurd Cheung Fun腐皮蝦腸粉

Cheung Fan was good as expected from a restaurant like this.

Congee


Pork & Preserved Egg Congee皮蛋瘦肉粥

Claypot

1st Pic: Berkshire Pork & Mui Choi Claypot梅菜扣肉煲
2nd Pic: Preserved Egg Claypot

The Congee and the Claypot were the last two that we ordered and they were the most disappointing. I wanted congee which had the flavours of the ingredients having seeped into the congee which this was not. The Claypot was more like rice being cooked separately with the pork and Mui Choi piled on top. Bland is all I can say.

Overall, I think that Yauatcha does the traditional dim sum well but miss the mark for most of the dim sum where they decide to make it fusion or by adding a twist to it. Fusion food itself is not easy to make as it takes an incredible palate to know what works and what doesn’t which actually appeals to the customer.

The bill came up to about £40pp. Seriously not cheap and with that kind of prices, I expected not to be charged tea by each pot refill and dim sum that open my eyes and mind going ‘I never knew dim sum could taste like that (in a good way)’.

Sadly It did not hit that level for me and so I turned back to the traditional type of dim sum. £40pp it should not cost me and so Yauatcha is not one I’ll be returning anytime soon.

Yauatcha, 15 Broadwick St, Soho, W1F 0DL

www.yauatcha.com

Related Posts:

Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 1 - Dim Sum at Pearl Liang

Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 2 - Princess Garden of Mayfair

Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 3 - Yum Cha

Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 5 - Imperial China
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 6 - Phoenix Palace
Dim Sum Marathon Week Day 7 - Fu Lin Xuan Shanghai