I finally went to Yauatcha in Soho towards the end of last year. I’d heard good things and I’ve seen the photos of the macarons and stunning deserts so we decided to check it out! Now, I’m going to be completely honest with you – we really weren’t very adventurous with our ordering. Which I fully regretted afterwards. I think because we barely recognised anything on the menu we stuck to what we knew. Because of this I am dying to go back to Yauatcha to explore more of the menu.
The food
The first dish to arrive was the jasmine tea smoked ribs. I love the theatre with these – they are brought to your table and the waiter slices them up for you before you dig in. They were delicious! The meat juicy and tender, it fell right off the bone. I was very glad to see a good sized portion of these were delivered!
Next came the wagyu beef puff. Now, I wanted to order the famous Yauatcha venison puffs but no, the waitress recommended these and the hubby thought we should listen to her… These were not what we were expecting. They tasted very fried. If you know what I mean. Next time I am 100% ordering the venison puffs!
One of my favourites, char siu buns, did not disappoint. I find them quite sweet which I love with the savoury pork filling. Just so soft and fluffy and such a comfort food to me.
So, when I saw prawn and beancurd cheung fun on the menu I thought, what the hell are these! Showing my lack of knowledge of Chinese food. The waitress reccommended these and we loved them. The difference in textures was lovely.
We also ordered the spicy soft shell crab with almond which was nice and spicy, and the crab was tasty but the dish was a little dry. I think this was exaggerated by the fact the stir-fry with prawn and scallops we ordered arrived after we had finished the rest of the meal. Well, we didn’t actually finish the crab because we got a bit bored of it just by itself. And then we had to eat the noodles alone too.
To finish I ordered the Malted Milk dessert: milk chocolate, malt, caramelised honey, Anzac biscuit. The husband is not a desert man, so we decided to share. What was I thinking. When this arrived I wanted it all to myself! And anything malted milk is so moorish to me I never want it to end. I want to come back just for 3 courses of sweet treats here.
We tried some beautiful looking cocktails too. I went for the Cha la lai: Belvedere vodka, black grapes, oolong tea, apple juice and champagne. It was a lovely long fruity cocktail. D went for the Yáng walker: Johnnie Walker Black label, Baijiu, rosemary, grapefruit and lime. This definitely had a tang to it and not overly sweet. Both were delicious! Again there are many more cocktails I want to try at Yauatcha.
I really liked the food we ordered – I definitely think we could have ordered better though. And I think next time I wouldn’t go on a Friday night. The noodles we ordered came way after everything else. We had to eat them alone and it was impossible to get the attention of staff which was frustrating.
Despite that I really want to head back there as soon as I can. I keep spying the Bookatable 9 course taster menu at the City branch of Yauatcha, which is rather close to my office… Who wants to come with me!?
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I think it’s perfectly acceptable to play it safe with ordering if it’s your first time in a restaurant. You’re way less likely to be disappointed to the point of not eating if the food just isn’t your thing and if it is delicious you have a great reason to go back! I am obsessed with that dessert photo OMG x
Yes, you’re right – all the more reason to go back. That malted milk dessert was incredible! All the desserts are beautiful, want to eat them alllll. x
The malted milk dessert looks incroyable! I would be reluctant to share too 😉 xx
Ah, it really was!! What was I thinking when I said I’d share! xx