London's Dining Couple Yauatcha Soho Review

Hello foodies, Shiima here, this is my first post as we thought its best I write about Yauatcha Soho as I found the place and its my favourite restaurant! I found Yauatcha last year May – I remember this because I was looking for a restaurant for Amen’s birthday – one that we haven’t been too, which was quite hard as we’ve been to a lot of places. Yauatcha is a Chinese and dim sum cuisine and I have to be honest and say I did not like Dim Sum at first – I first tried Ping Pong after being forced to go there *side eyes Amen* – I didn’t enjoy it. But after a few times going there I grew to like it and other Dim Sum restaurants. But the reason I booked Yauatcha and why I love it so much is that the Dim Sum selection is amazing and has a variety, as well as fantastic large/main dishes.

I’ll focus on our last dine at Yauatcha which was this past Bank Holiday Monday. This was a last minute plan as I felt like we should do something instead of lazying around at home – which is one of my favourite things to do but sometimes I get the urge to do something. I tried to book on OpenTable as that’s what we usually do but Yauatcha doesn’t take same day bookings so we had to call – I didn’t expect to get a table at such short notice and on a bank holiday but surprisingly they had a reservation for 8:30pm – perfect!

The Restaurant

Getting to Yauatcha is fairly easy – if you are using the tube you can either get off at Oxford circus or Tottenham Court Road (Central Line) then walk for about 7-8 minutes. You can’t miss the restaurant when you get to the street; it’s on the corner – fairly big with a dark blue light. Once inside, you’ll be greeted by the lovely maître d’, check you in and will be directed to your table. They have two floors – we are usually seated downstairs. Its low lit – but not overly dark.

The Food

Now, lets talk about the menu and food. The menu caters for the meat and fish lovers as well as the veggies. The dim sum is available for steamed, cheung fun, baked/grilled/pan fried and fried, and a section for Fish, seafood, meat & poultry and Tofu & vegetable dishes. There are also soups, salads, rice and noodles. Sounds great so far? It really is.The waiter/waitress always say we have ordered too much food but to us its not as I don’t eat the fish or the meat stuff Amen gets, but yes, of course he eats my vegetarian and chicken dishes! *rolls eyes* lol.

What we ordered

Shiima’s food

I usually go for about 3 Dim Sum – Steamed Vegetable dumpling, Garden Dumpling, Vegetable or Chicken Shanghai dumpling (the vegetable one is much better) and the Mushroom spring roll with black truffle. I much prefer the vegetable dim sum instead of chicken; it just has a little bit more taste and flavour. For my mains – yup still have room for more – The Thai style chicken with onion, mango, papaya, chilli and coriander with Vegetable fried rice. The Thai Style chicken is amazing! Its sweet but not overly sweet. One of the best dishes by far – Amen loves it too – well I think he does since he eats a fair bit of it.

Amen’s food

For Amen, it’s the soft shell crab with almonds, which is perfect for him, as he loves almonds and it’s perfectly spicy – just the way he likes it. The duck salad is another favourite of his – it also seems to be a winner for the other diners too. The Dim Sum Amen likes are the scallop shui mai and the Pork and prawn shui mai. Also, the prawn cheung fun – I’ve also had the chicken cheung fun which is quite good too. For his mains he’s had the crispy sweet and sour seabass that wasn’t memorable enough for him, the truffle pork belly rib was succulent and slightly sweet – he prefers his food spicy but still found it tasty, and the Steamed wild prawn with home made chilli sauce which didn’t have enough prawns for him lol but had a good amount of spice.

Dessert

And now for the best part of any meal – DESSERT! At this dinner we didn’t have dessert, but last time we have had the chocolate pebble – which is really good – the waiter told us its one of the favourites.

Verdict

If you’re looking for a dim sum/Chinese restaurant or just something new to try then this is a good place to go to – might be good to go as group too as you can try a lot more on the menu and they also have signature menus. If you do go, or if you’ve been drop us a comment on what you thought of Yautacha and your favourites. We spend approximately £140 altogether – but remember we don’t drink alcohol (just non-alcoholics, juices and water).

Dress Code: Smart casual
Cuisine: Chinese, Dim Sum
Amen’s Star Dish: Duck Salad
Shiima’s Star Dish: Thai Style Chicken
Price: £30 – £40
Rating: 4.7 out of 5