Cha Cha Moon

The menu layout and that of the tables is very much like Wagamama. The styling is more Yauatcha and Hakkasan. The prices are unbelievable, all dishes are 3.50. The food was ok, nothing was great, service was nice. I can't decide whether I'd go back, for a quick cheap eat it'd be fine but I'm rarely in the area, and if I was I'd rather just spend more money and go to Yauatcha.

Wagamamas all over london are always packed and Cha Cha Moon is a hell of a lot better than anything they do so good luck.
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NDP
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, May 26, 2008

We went there at 8:30pm, only 10 minutes wait to get a table and about another 10 minutes wait for food.

Many dishes resemble what I had in those noodle shops in small alley ways in Hong Kong. Only £3.5 per item - definitely a bargain in Central London. Do not miss the Taiwan Beef Noodle!
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FineDiningExplorer - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 10
Friday, May 23, 2008

This restaurant offered their customers nothing but frustration on a plate! A long wait to get seated, a long wait to get served, a long wait to get your food and that’s if you even get your food! I thought the concept of these type of restaurants was to offer good food fast but there was nothing good about it and the only thing fast in this place was how fast we left!
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Monica Llupar
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Friday, May 23, 2008

Cha Cha Moon is an excellent idea but we were extremely disappointed. It is currently swamped with customers drawn by the £3.50 per dish offer and frankly it cannot cope. The service is, at best, hurried and frenetic. There is no system in place for ordering food consequently dishes are thrown down haphazardly as and when someone decides to bring them over.

After 40 minutes with no food for two of our four diners, whilst the other dishes had arrived promptly, and with no-one able to answer our query 'When is coming?' we walked out. The staff couldn't have given a toss that we were walking out without paying and certainly weren't about to query why we were leaving.

The 'supervisors' were a joke, most of the waiter's grasp of English was rudimentary at best and completely misunderstood our grievance. After being accused of treating them 'like dogs' we left.

The food that did arrive was tasty enough but as it would appear that we weren't the only diners who left without paying I wonder how long it will last.

A great concept let down by poor basics.
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Madge Dox
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 10
Friday, May 23, 2008

I visited the Cha Cha Moon yesterday and contrary to the previous two reviews I would not reccommend visiting this place.

All the dishes are £3.50 which means that the staff cannot cope with the huge demand. We had to wait an hour to be seated. This is no surprise considering the venue just opened, but after we were seated we had to wait an additional hour for our food.

We were a party of three and each one of us got served 15 minutes after each other. When mine finally arrived after an hour it was something that I did not quite order. I had to wait an additional 20 minutes to get the right dish to realise the noodles were overcooked.

My friend had the stir fried beef which was more sauce than anything else.

I think the resaturant should increase prices so that they can actually have more time to provide clients that is actually worth eating.
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Priscilla
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Friday, May 23, 2008

Yauatcha for the masses! I'm pretty certain the £3.50 portions are purely introductory in nature. If the prices stay that way then it's an absolute no brainer. Food is relatively tasty and way above average, but then again the main chefs of this first joint, I dare say of many more to come are all Chinese. Ambience is the usual stroke of Alan Yau's genius; just hope it doesn't age prematurely. Service is eager and all smiles. The prawn dumplings noodle soup hit the right notes and the choi sum in oyster sauce was spot on. Go before it becomes costly. Well deserved addition all round.
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bellaphon
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, May 21, 2008

We have been looking forward to the opening of Cha Cha Moon - Alan Yau's latest project - for a while now and was really glad when it finally opened its doors last week. I was looking forward to seeing what he could do for Chinese food in light of his success with the Wagamama and Busaba Eat Thai concepts.

A quick eat Chinese noodle bar is not exactly an original offering as there is already a well established noodle & dumpling chain plus lots of other independent noodle bars scattered throughout London. It had to be good to impress a seasoned noodle eater like myself (having slurped and eaten noodles all around asia and HK).

The restaurant itself reminded me of a cross between Busaba and Wagamama. Dark wood fixtures, ambient lighting, but with the return of canteen benches. The exposed brick work was reminiscent Yauatcha, even the restrooms felt very familiar.

The menu was a mix of noodle dishes - in soup/sauce (lao mein) or wok fried and various sides. The drinks list was quite extensive and included HK diner favourites such as HK milk tea and iced lemon tea. Prices were nearly all £3.50 for each noodle and side dish so pretty damn cheap! However, not sure if these prices will stay or if its just a special offer price while the restaurant is in its early stages. We read somewhere there was going to be some kind of self ordering system instead of waiting staff to take orders, however we didn't see anything like this so perhaps it hasn't been rolled out yet and prices might be put up then?

I ordered a XO Prawn vermicelli, pan-fried dumplings(Guotie), HK cold milk tea and also a Taiwan beef soup noodles. My wife had a smoked chicken lao mein, beancurd rolls and an Aloe Vera drink. XO vermcelli was not bad, a good flavour, perhaps a bit watery, Guotie was bland and the pastry and bit turgid and rubbery. HK milk tea had to be remade - 1st attempt had tea leaves floating around and wasn't sweet, 2nd attempt was too milky and not enough tea. It also was served with normal ice cubes and not crushed ice..(a big no no). Taiwan beef noodle was not like what I had in Taiwan, wrong broth, it was more like a normal beef brisket soup noodle to me. My wife thought her smoked chicken noodle was average, chicken didn't taste smoked, the side soup was way too salty. The beancurd rolls were fine.

Our initial verdict? Food wise, what we had was pretty average, you could have most of the noodle dishes just down the road in China Town. Also the portions veered towards the small side, but I guess the as the price is cheap so can't really complain. A new restaurant always has its teething problems so we will be back again to sample more dishes and see if there is any improvement.
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Dezzydezz
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 10
Sunday, May 11, 2008