Yauatcha Reviews

Favourite dim sum in London.

This place never disappoints in quality and in service!

Be sure to try their strawberry vanilla iced tea and prawn toast! Though to be fair all their dim sum is absolutely delicious.

Great food, have been here multiple times however something disappointing is that only on one occasion have I received my dessert with the ice cream and full presentation. All of the other times my dessert has just been the cake without any ice cream or other decoration on the plate and they charge the same price for the dessert regardless if they give it to you with or without the extra components which is disappointing! Either serve the dish to its highest standard at all times or adjust how much you charge for it. Not only this but one time when the dessert arrived with no ice cream etc, we asked a worker if we could have the full presentation. This worker happened to be the manager and LIED and said that was not available on this day. But when we asked another waiter, he gladly took our desserts back to the kitchen and came back with what we had asked for!

Great cocktails and food. Highly recommend. It s pricey though.

I have been to Yauatcha City a few times and absolutely love it. I don't know if it was just the location or an unlucky meal but both my friend and I got the sweet and sour pork. We couldn't eat it all as it was dry and tasted a bit funny - we both had upset stomachs that afternoon! Really disappointing.
In saying that I do recommend the friend rice, it is the best I've ever tried... Perhaps go go the City location to be safe!

Loved the ambience and food. Staff was very helpful as well. Definite visit again

Amazing food, great efficient service. The ambience is perfect either for a quick bite to eat or for dining out for a celebration. Will definitely recommend Yauatcha to everyone wanting to be wined and dined in central London.

Terribly disappointed. We've been waiting for about 10-15 minutes by the dessert counter and nobody approached us. We've been acknowledged by one of the waitresses and then she left serving tables at the restaurant part. A guy in a full suit (must have been the manager) was running around like a headless chicken making staff uncomfortable instead of running the place like a professional and helping organise things, instead he kept on checking some random receipts right next to us while we waited to be served. Terrible. We left after 10 minutes or more and nobody even noticed... shame because desserts looked very nice. Edit: Well we haven't "dined" because nobody was bothered to serve us. Please don't embarrass yourself with copying and pasting your replies.

Cosy restaurant, good food and desserts are very delicious. But a bit more expensive. Need to book a table in advance.

Lovely food with friendly service, great atmosphere too!

Very modern, non-conventional, design. Very tasty Japanese fusion. Also, they have good cocktails.

Great food, even better service! Our waitress Kanitta made the night!

A great experience. I recommend a table in the basement, with lounge music, and a more night out feel. Service was excellent, and the food was divine. Share a menu and share the joy

A great experience to taste the Dim Sum dish prepared on the traditional Chinese of London and the Springing Roll, the delicious desserts .

Really novel and exciting asian food, I very recommend to visit this restaurant, food is a bit expensive, but for the quality you get definitely worth it!

Love this dessert and delicious Yong chow Fried rice

Amazing place! There are great options from their menu. I enjoyed a lot!

Great balance of price and quality. This is part of the Hakkasan group and shares a similar menu to the Mayfair restaurant but has a slightly more laid back atmosphere. Perfect for a date or with friends. Highly recommend the Venison puff.

They have some great cocktails. Definitely try them out.

Have to wait for long time and the food didn t met our expectations (considering it s a Michelin 1 star)

amazing place for food and sweets!, unfortunately we have just sweets, next time i have to eat lunch as well!

The whole experience is essentially dim sum with a really fancy price slapped on. It might have been purely psychological but I found the food to be less oily than usual. Certain things, in particular the siu mai, reminded me of Hakkasan and I suppose it wasn t at all peculiar seeing that I later learned that Yauatcha was opened by Alan Yau, owner of Hakkasan. Both places serve delightful chinese food but if you re a food picture-taking junkie like me, it d probably be best to go with Yauatcha seeing that the latter supposedly doesn t permit it. At least from the last time I was there.

The desserts were very pretty but I wasn t too impressed by the taste, having ordered the Coffee Chocolate and Jasmine Honey but there were other choices I felt I probably should have made that looked more tempting. An assortment of handmade macarons can also be bought at the patisserie counter.

We came here during the day when it wasn't very busy, just to have dessert. Service and food was great. The staff are wonderful. Toilet was splendid too.

Great Michelin star place in a great location with excellent food and service.
I've been here for my birthday in may, our waiter in charge on that night was Giorgio from Turin, who assisted us all over the night and we weren't a really quiet party, nothing was too much trouble for him and he accommodated all our different needs without any problems. Great value for money too . A must for the Hakkasan group fans. Thank you!

Good Chinese cuisine, interesting flavors and additions. The restaurant is located on Soho, London.

I went there a few times. The place is elegant and sophisticated, I love dim sum, dumplings and duck, better to leave some space for the desert

Can only be described by ordinary two words. . I don't understand how to judge Michelin. . It may be that there are too few authentic tea restaurants in the UK. From Tokyo, Japan, I feel that there is too much difference from Tokyo s Tian Good Fortune , and that I only got Michelin s recommendation.
First of all, the food is too tired, first succulent to the venison to eat no other, and then the crumbs of the super oily fritters are greasy enough to spit. . The tea restaurant is so oily, is it really ok?
Then, the service really does not have any place worthy of the Michelin star status and the price of your restaurant and 13% of the additional service fee. No one can order a meal, the black clerk, the black clerk said that let us find a clerk wearing another dress, they are not responsible for ordering. . . amount. . So what do you wait for the waiter to order? Then say that you want to pack the dessert, or add water, the action is super slow. OMG first encountered such a level as the Michelin restaurant.

I have been a regular basis visitor over the years and for the first time I left disappointed. It was not any one thing but a combination of little things. The food was mediocre to good. The spicy scallops we're a bit spicy but overall bland. The spicy crab was good but not great. The crispy duck salad met my expectations. Martinis were full bodied and not watered down. Service was mixed as there were a number of different staff serving. I almost asked them to reduce the service charge but couldn't be bothered to wait. I think it is time to find another favorite.

Perfect setting for a date will definitely go back here absolute gorgeous food and amazing setting at affordable prices

The restaurant is located in the basement. The service is impeccable despite the noise because we could not exchange without raising our voices. The dim sum is very good. We favored the menu at 48 euros.
Unfortunately, we didn't like the desserts (too much cream for us) but it's a matter of taste. Too bad the squid donut dough tasted indescribable and unpleasant. The servers responded to our various requests, in particular on the change of dessert and the ingredients of certain dishes.

Dreadful service. Go to Yauatcha City instead. Same food, much better experience.

Probably the best dim sum in London... Creative but not overly so. Leave room for cakes too!

Best dim sum in London? Quite possibly! It's not cheap, but the selection they have is brilliant. From massive Har Gau to Wagyu and Venison puffs, everything is expertly made. I highly recommend visiting, the venue is perfect for special occasions

Firstly, I should mention that I didn t purposely seek out Yauatcha and had no clue the credentials that come with this fine dim sum. I was exploring London s SOHO district, partly following my nose (and stomach) for an place to eat. In SOHO, that s really hard to do not because there isn t any, but because the smorgasbord of choices make it difficult to settle on one. That s when I stumbled across Yauatcha.
On the outside as I passed by, I was actually attracted to the display of macaroons and had thought it was a French patisserie. Only later did I research this and discoverer its pedigree, being a Michelin-starred dim sum restaurant and one of restaurant featured in the 50 Best Restaurants ranking by the Restaurant magazine.

The food was truly awesome and one of the best meals I had in London, and one of the best dim sums I have ever. Of course, the experience is going to cost you but once in awhile, it s nice to indulge while in London.

I gently love this place. Have been coming here for years and never been disappointed. Food is always delicious, service is good and staff does it best.

Dim sum is excellent aswell as the sea bass. The staff are very friendly and professional. Highly recommended.

Fancy chinees restaurant, would recommend the Prawn and beancurd cheung fun.

Excellent place for dim sum - probably one of the best in town. Service has always been really attentive but last time our order was wrong and not so easy to catch the attention, as well as being difficult to get information on the dishes. Food still at high stabdards but a little short from the fifth star due to service little chaotic

I went there. With my family last week. The restaurant is warm and welcome.The staff are very nice and helpful especially Thai lady staff, She's so good at her job ,polite and kind and also gave us advice with the discussion on the menu.Dumplings and Dim sum are all fantastic.You need to try it for yourself.

I expected more from this place. Their dimsum was disappointing except for the scallop siu mai. Their desserts were good they and compensated for the terrible dimsum.

The venison dim sum is delicious, the preserved egg and lean meat porridge is also good, and the ribs are large and delicious. The price of rice is okay.

Amazing place. Equipped with both a dining / dinner room (better to book) and a bar counter. Excellent food (nothing to do with the Chinese food we are used to in Italy) delicious cocktails. Attentive and attentive staff (we have been excellently followed by Chiara, a very good Italian waitress who, with few but careful questions, has been able to accompany us through this sensorial experience). Sublime. Return!

It s in my top ten list of Chinese in London!
The service is great, the food is wonderful and the atmosphere is lovely.
Book before you go

What a great restaurant!

We were 13 people and kind of booked it last minute and they managed to get us a table!

I can say we were not the easiest customers considering we had people that were vegetarian and some that did not eat pork or fish and they managed to satisfy us all!

The food was wonderful and we received more than enough, after the dinner nobody was hungry which can usually happen att dinners.

The price of the dinner was worth every penny and considering the quality of the food it was actually really "cheap".

They had one of the best dumplings I have ever tried and the roasted duck is a big recommend!

For dessert we all got different kinds of desserts which was nice so everybody could try different desserts.

The Location is great and the restaurant is really clean and nice looking!

And lastly the staff was super great!!!!

I recommend everybody to try this restaurant!!

Very dissapointing experience ! My dish arrived after my friends had finished their main course by which time my beer had become warm. The icecream accompanying my desert had almost completely melted when it arrived and I found the bill extremely high.

We were two people and were lucky to get a table without reservation. Great place to come with friends and share all of their amazing dim sum and if you like fruity drinks try the kiwi-lime iced jasmine tea!

Food is good, its a bit overpriced. I strongly suggest them to get rid of the flies in the restaurant.

I live in Hawaii and we have a lot of Chinese restaurants but this one is the best Chinese restaurant I ever visited. I like everything so much. The food, service and amazing atmosphere.

Pricey, but high quality ingredients. Large tea and pastry selection.

Top of the range Michellin stared restaurant loved by custommers. You get the quality experience that you psy for here. The fine fining ecperience from here will be remembered for years to come. I will come back here with clients for business dinners for sure. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.

Yauatcha has got one Michelin star but maybe they were having an off day when I went. The upstairs room was hot and stuffy as the air con wasn t working properly. We had the set lunch menu which included a cocktail off their list but the starters arrived after 10 mins before there was any sign of the cocktails. I know they want to turn the tables but honestly.......

Don't typically write reviews, but here goes....!
This has been one of my wife's favourite restaurants for over a decade, and she wanted to go there last night for her birthday celebrations.
As we walked in, 5-10 minutes early, we were reminded we had to clear the table by 7.30pm, which is no big deal.
As we sat down, and ordered still water, they managed to spill it whilst pouring it, again, no big deal
I'm not sure what happened during the meal, but our waiter went MIA or was rushing around so much that we got ignored. It was the strangest thing. We tried to order dessert from around 6.30pm onward to no avail.
By 7.05pm I had to ask the front desk to send me the bill as we'd decided to go elsewhere for dessert, however, this took a further 10-15 minutes.

On the whole, my take on good/fine dining is that the experience makes up a large part of the meal. Unfortunately, the experience at Yauatcha was not a good one for us, and we won't be returning.
The staff were un-attentive and slow, and in light of that, the food tasted average/overpriced at best, which is a shame.

It s really not good, it s the set meal. The four people are all the same set, but the ones that come up are shared. . . . . Is this a standard of one star? I don t want to say anything about it. It doesn t matter if it tastes good. However, the taste can be described in London's worst and most unpalatable Chinese restaurant. . It can be seen from this that the Michelin scorer is a bit low. . smile

Always a pleasure when in London. Great atmosphere, cocktails. Don't miss tge waggio beef or the venison puff. Better to book a table upfront.
Don't forget to order dessert, its a must!

Great restaurant. Easy access with doorman helping. Washroom downstairs - quite a few stairs!
With the dimmed lights it was a bit hard to read the menu but my friend has been here before and we just let him choose the plates. All tasted good - sorry no pictures of the plates...
However, just make sure you keep some space for dessert! This is not something you want to miss at all. I think if I ate a bit less I would have had 2 desserts!!
Highly recommend it. Great attention from waitress, serving time normal, with mellow atmosphere.
I'm coming back for sure even if only for desserts!

Super food, great ambience, extremely attentive service. Bit pricey...but an enjoyable experience. Do not leave without trying their exquisite desserts. Will go back

Wonderful. Yuatcha is a very trendy looking restaurant but backs style up with substance by serving some of the most delicious, high-end dim sum I've eaten. Highlights include wagyu beef spring roll, venison 'puff' and edamame and black truffle dumpling. The service is spot on also. It's a great place to leisurely enjoy some dim sum washed down with a pot of one of their many choices of delicious teas. The set menus offer extremely good value for money and are great lunch options.

Absolutely amazing! We first had the hot and soup with shredded chicken. We didn't enjoy it and they took the price off of the check! Kind service and amazing food. I absolutely loved the quarter aromatic duck and finished everything. 100% would recommend!

Fantastic food! Loved the dumplings, and especially loved the Wagyu beef puff! Wow!

Located in Soho, London district. Specialized in oriental cuisine dishes. One of the best in the world. Super recommendable.

some terrific dishes mixed in with mostly ordinary and highly priced dim sum

Delicious food
Lovely staff
Gr8 location and deco

Don't go alone and don't go in large groups...
First off, this was the only Michelin-star restaurant in London so far where I felt that service was clearly below the bar and quality of food was slightly below the bar.
With a reservation and a call that I would be 20 minutes late, I still had to wait for my table being set up when I arrived. The waiting time was short though, only 5 minutes.
Overall, the restaurant is very packed and it is very noisy giving it an atmosphere of a canteen with a very beautiful aquarium. On top of that you have fairly loud music which makes conversations between groups of people harder.
Given that I am a huge fan of discovering new food and restaurants, I most often go for the tasting menu. In this venue though I was being explained that I could not get any (!) menu (there were 3) given that I was dining alone!
So I went for 3 signature dishes/dim-sum, chosen by staff: Scallop shui ma, Wagyu beef puff and Prawn and bean curd cheung fun.
The Wagyu was good, 15/20, the Prawn dim-sum was less good (13/20) and there was just too much of the same (for one single person). The scallop dim-sum was in my opinion below the bar (9/20) and it was served burning hot, making the first dim-sum an unexpected burning surprise.
Overall, I would have strongly preferred a selection of different dishes/dim-sum instead of having to eat 10 of the same (prawn). The menu (for which I cannot comment given that I was dining alone) is probably the better and more fulfilling choice!
For desert I ordered (twice, given that I was asked twice the same question) a glass of Sauterne, White tea and the Tropical dome (12/20). Unfortunately the white tea never arrived.
Overall the service felt rushed and stretched. In my opinion, there are too many customers being serviced by not enough staff. This gives the venue the unfortunate atmosphere of Taylorism (a factory). In order to get attention of the staff (to order or to ask for the desert menu) I always had to pro-actively reach out to someone by calling someone 'running' past the table.
On a side note and not influencing my review: During the entire evening my water glass was just filled once which is odd. I would either don't provide the service at all or for the entire large bottle...
The bill was a surprise given that the white tea I ordered twice but never arrived made its resurrection on the billable items. After providing the feedback that I did not receive the white tea, it was removed without providing an apology or without removing the service charge (13%). At this particular instance, I decided to not pay for the service charge given this little incident, my burned tongue and the service that was below the bar for a Michelin-starred venue in London.
At that moment the manager asked for feedback (the very first and only one that evening) and removed not only the service charge but also gave an additional discount of 10 GBP. Thanks for this!
Overall I am disappointed and would not go back alone.
I might give the restaurant a second chance when trying one of the signature menus (with a maximum of 4 persons) but I am almost certain that this restaurant will never make the top list of my favorite restaurants.
Finally, I ate better Dim-Sum at venues that charge a fraction of the price.

Food was a disappointment... This is our second visit to Yauatcha. The first was very good (around 3 months ago), but the second (Feb 4th 2011) was a major disappointment:
FOOD: The food was only bearly above the level of quality expected from a Chinatown restaurant, which given the price premium, is unacceptable. The starters arrived after the main course - Shanghai dumplings (which had to be sent back as there was a hair embedded in one of the dumplings) and Spicy soft shell crab (which was limp, hidden among a lot of dried fodder and is still repeating on me). The mains were tasty, but nothing special - the twice cooked pork belly with chilli had lots of flavour, but the pork was very thin, over-cooked, and therefore dry; The rib eye beef with black bean sauce wasaverage, and the french beans with dried shrimp have been cooked with more flavour in my own kitchen.
DRINKS: The cocktails turned up 20 mins later with the main meal, which meant we had three different drinks in front of us. Both cocktails were hastily prepared (despite being late), and not overly exciting. Sake and beer was good.
SERVICE: The service was refreshingly friendly (which seemed to vary widely depending on which waiter you got), although the knowledge of food was average, and the speed of service was very slow (in fairness it was a Friday night and Chinese New Year, only an excuse in London seemingly).

Overall, it is unlikely I will return here which is unfortunate, as the concept of a trendy, up-market and contempory dim sum / cantonese is a good one.

I always like Yauhatca. Easy going, cozy place, excellent food... This time, however, it was like a lunch restaurant. I don t know why there was a rush, service was almast pushing you to eat fast and leave. Personnel looked exhausted. Food was still very good.

Excellent dim sum. Wide choice. Unmissable steamed dumplings.

Oh my... get it spent! Nicest Chinese food I've ever had.

The afternoon tea here is incredible and such good value - dim sum (or sandwiches if you prefer), macarons, cookies and warm scones were all included. The service was a little sniffy but then seriously gorgeous restaurant made up for it.

Impeccable service. Excellent cocktails and wine. Recommend the Shanghai dumplings, crispy duck salad.

Have been there for lunch. If you like dimsum, this place is perfect. Very nice setting and spaced tables. Reasonably priced for a Michelin star.

Probably the best dim sum in the world :-) exceptional steamed starters! Go for it.

Delicious but not suitable for everyone. Eating a bit too authentic and unbalanced. The atmosphere in the restaurant is too noisy and a lot of mess. No luxury feeling.

One of the best foods I've had in London so far! So freaking good!

Best dim sum restaurant hands down!! Everything from the food, to the service and decor is attentive and immaculate. Make sure you order truffle mushroom spring rolls, Shanghai dumplings, cheung fun and save your stomach for their mouth watering desserts.

If you want nice Chinese food, particularly a good selection of tasty dim sums and tea, this is the place! Nice modern deco and attentive service. The food is just incredible and the prices aren't too steep.

It was my birthday night, a friend suggested that we try this place instead of another restaurant we had planned for. He really talked it up, and we believe he has great taste in food. We quickly took a cab, and arrived before 10pm to find it closed! The security guard stood there inside the glass unmoved, and offered no explanation or interest in explaining what had happened. I had to have a burger for my first birthday in London because everything was closed. Very disappointed.

Posh dim sum
Pricey but you pay for the place the service the brand the decorative food

I never leave restaurant feedback, but this was disappointing! I took my mum for her birthday and we decided to treat ourselves to a vegetarian set menu. The food was fine, but not incredible considering the price. The portions were massive, and half of the meal ended up being thrown away. Most restaurants now pack leftover food for customers to take-away, but the staff was pretty rude when we asked. I'm pregnant, so would rather avoid overeating and feeling sick! But the staff showed no understanding. They did end up giving us the cakes to take away, but these took forever to be packaged and we had no choice over the selection. Basically, take your stomachs elsewhere! :)