Cha Cha Moon (Whiteleys)

Everyone in London must have heard of Cha Cha Moon (which I assume is a play on words on chow mein but I could be wrong). Anyway, having failed to get into the original venue in Ganton Street when it first opened my family and I went to the Whiteley's version yesterday afternoon.

It's an interesting space and full of bamboo. Every minute or so a number of dispensers attached to the ceiling send out a fine mist of water which, I was told by a waitress, keep the bamboo from drying out and cracking. Very clever.

But what about the food? Sad to report that the seafood ho fun (which cost £7) that I ordered had very little animal protein -- I counted two scallops and 2 1/2 king prawns but no squid as promised on the menu -- but a large amount of noodles smothered with a black bean sauce. As I said to my wife this was the sort of thing that I too could concoct in my own kitchen from fairly average supermarket ingredients.

On the other hand, my son liked his crispy noodle with shredded chicken although there were no shiitake mushrooms as promised on the menu. Why not? Our knowledgeable waitress informed us that they had been removed because customers had complained that the food was too bland. Enough said.
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Sean
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Mildly interesting interior if you like bamboo. Service was fast and efficient, worth a 15% cash tip. But sadly the food at Cha Cha Moon just isn't good enough. In fact what I had was horrible. Fujian style udon (£6.80), Fried prawn quotie (£4.50) and Spring Onion pancake. All seemed to be cooked too far in advance and reheated, being very oily and greasy, tasting of nothing much (at best) or actively unpleasant (at worst). Only the beer was worth the money. I shan't eat at Cha Cha Moon again.
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4 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Friday, March 20, 2009

This place is truly dire. We were really looking forward to trying the food, but it just wasn't very good. First of all, our waitress brought us sweetened lemon tea when we told her TWICE that we wanted it unsweeted.

The cod and bitter melon vermicelli was so so, and my shiitake yi mien was overly sweet and salty. Couldn't taste anything but the salt.

You're far better off going to any of the other Chinese restaurants in Queensway, where the food is much more authentic, the menu wider, the servers more clued up, and the portions bigger.

The atmosphere was pretty weird too, what with tons of waiters milling around looking bored, but nowhere in sight when you really needed them.
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Catherine B
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Awful. An insult to my taste buds and nothing Asian about it flavour wise. Too salty, too much sauce drenching tiny bits of very hard to find meat. Bland soup noodles and cold tossed chicken. Couldn't taste the actual ingredients through the sauce, but maybe you wouldn't want to then as there was so little of the main 'expensive' ingredient i.e. meat. White coloured soup base (odd) insipid, but won tons themselves ok.

Food - Great idea executed like someone with a hang-over on a Sunday morning

It may be 'reasonably priced' but how far do you go...?

The vegetarian dishes are probably your safest bet like the turnip cake mooli.

If you love the taste of Chinese food this doesn't compare with the worst budget ones in Chinatown (or even modern/fusion) and it'd be unfair to compare with Hong Kong or Singapore's worst. And if you're chinese... you're better off doing 'yum cha', ok la!
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Richard - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Sunday, March 08, 2009

Fantastic restaurant, I can't believe how much Whiteleys has changed in the last couple of years. I came here last night on a date. Had a great meal (and lots of cocktails) in Cha Cha Moon, followed by bowling (and more cocktails) at All Star Lanes. This place is really cool. I'm coming back with friends tonight for Cha Cha Moon and then the cinema for Confessions of a Shopaholic (might drink a few less cocktails though!!!)
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, February 27, 2009