Wednesday, December 22, 2010

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

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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

IMG_7191IMG_7183IMG_7189
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

IMG_7203IMG_7178
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

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Rice Paper Prawn & Mango Roll米通香芒卷

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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

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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

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Pork & Preserved Egg Congee皮蛋瘦肉粥

Claypot

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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


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4 comments:

  1. So you also were not that convinced by Yauatcha. 40pp is really a lot for dim sum! considering that you can get some really decent fare for 10pp. Makes me think that I should give Yauatcha a miss altogether.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Ute,

    For traditional dim sum, I wouldn't recommend Yauatcha as 40pp is a lot!
    But if you are looking for a night out with moolah to spend, possibly. =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I thought that Yauatcha used to be better with a more extensive menu and cheaper prices. And those were the days when it still had macarons. I agree that it has priced itself out these days. The last time I was there, it set us back around 30 quid per person and I had to grab another meal almost immediately after that just to fill up my stomach...

    ReplyDelete
  4. London Chow - Oh dear..having to grab another meal after spending 30 quid is never a good sign! I guess you and I are both not heading back to Yauatcha anytime soon.

    ReplyDelete

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