Yauatcha

I went to Yauatcha four years ago based on the delicious food and recently decided to opt to return for dinner with a group of about a dozen friends. Big mistake! In the intervening years it has become the sort of place where the female clientele look like they tried but failed to get on Footballer’s Wives. There is now a burly bouncer on the door which made me feel like I was going clubbing on Brighton seafront rather than out for a meal. And don’t even get me started on the music. I mean I like house music but, really can you have a chinese meal to house music?? Everything just seems so cold and clinical. Now the prices though were the real clincher. I wouldn’t recommend going here as a group for the £65 a head meal. I actually left hungry, they decided to charge us £100 extra for fish (which if it hadn’t been there we would have got 2 bowls of green beans to share between the twelve of us), and when it came to the payment they clustered the slightly menacing management staff round our table as if they knew that we were being taken for a ride. The only upside was our waitress who seemed like the only decent person in the entire establishment. The only thing I would recommend about this place is giving it a very, very, very wide berth.
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3 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, November 07, 2011

I don't usually post on review sites but since taking me aged parents to Yauatcha last Saturday evening, i feel I ought to warn anyone who likes taking their time over a meal about the incredibly rude way in which we were treated.

The waiters were a morose and charmless bunch, clearly under the kosh to move diners on within a two hour window. Even though I was spending like money was going out of fashion, and half the restaurant was empty, the waiters still thought it acceptable to remove my fathers half-full plate WHILE he was eating!

Many of the dishes were removed half empty too. The soft shell crab is served with a beautiful mix of almonds which was pounced on and whisked away as soon as my wife turned her head to reach for her wine. When she pleaded with the waiter for the return of the prodigal nuts, they were whisked away less than a minute later by another waiter.

Seriously, though the food was excellent, we left with a very sour taste in our mouths. If a restaurant is trying to fit in as many covers as possible, they should at the very least hire waiters with enough charm to difuse the inevitable fallout.
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6 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, July 29, 2011

We went to Yauatcha to celebrate our friend's birthday, and spot on!!!

As soon as we get there we were welcomed by a member of the stuff. He took us to the cocktail bar where we had a great cocktail.

The food was outstanding, We had a variety of dishes to share between all of us.

Very friendly stuff at all the times (service with smile)

Really nice experience. highly recommended place in my opinion.
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Olatz Beitia
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I have been to Yauatcha several times in the last couple of years and I have seen the restaurant going downhill. The food is decent, but one wonders how they can have a Michelin Star. The service and the environment are appalling. The waiters and the kitchen could not keep track of the orders, the service was very slow and at the end they wanted to charge for orders that they had forgotten to deliver. When we asked to be refunded for that part of the bill, they asked whether they could give us something to take out instead. It took them half an hour to refund us and nobody apologize.

NOT ONLY SHOULD NOT THIS RESTAURANT HAVE A STAR, IT SHOULD NOT BE LISTED IN THE MICHELIN GUIDE ROUGE ANY LONGER.
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M. GIANNETTI
0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, May 15, 2011

Yauatcha brings an interesting concept and succeeds in experimenting with traditional Chinese dim sum using different ingredients and presentation styles. While they definitely succeed and the food is good, it is extremely overpriced with portions substantially smaller than what you would get at a upper end traditional dim sum restaurant (e.g. Phoenix Palace).

While the selection of teas is definitely unique, unless you read carefully, tea is per pot. They don't charge per person. While this enables the customer to try different teas, the size of the tea pot at best for a table of 5 was at best 3/4 of a cup. Our group could have easily spent over 30 pounds of tea and I found myself always thirsty. Thank good ness, they served tap water.

The service was attentitive and the wait staff changed our plates on several occassions, which was a welcome change. Again, Yauatcha projects a lounge type of atmosphere for dim sum - I guess this could work, but I think it can be updated, since it really doesn't match the macaroon counter up front.

It's definitely a place to try if you have a steeper wallet. It averaged to about 5 pounds more per person than the other dim sum places, and the food is unique with its presentation but definitely not spectacular and if you want just good dim sum, I probably would not go again.
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Christianne - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Sunday, April 24, 2011

My boss had taken his wife to Yauatcha for their anniversary and had a bad experience (was kept waiting half hour for the table & sat next to a large table that increased in numbers) so he wrote in to complain. By way of a goodwill gesture the manager gave him a voucher which my boss then passed on to me as a treat. Firstly it’s not every day that a restaurant makes such a lovely gesture and secondly they did redeem themselves on my visit.

I had a late lunch there with my boyfriend 2pm on Sunday 10th April. We were sat promptly downstairs and seen to quickly, the service was attentive without being overly so. I'll admit I wasn't that impressed by the decor considering its Michelin starred and an expensive restaurant (although the fish tank along the bar was beautiful). The restaurant however redeemed itself in every other way. The cocktails were delicious, we had four different ones, and the food was absolutely delightful. We had prawn shui mai with chicken, venison puff, chicken taro croquette, fried chilli squid, seafood dumpling soup, rice paper prawn & mango roll, three style mushroom cheung fun and King crab Shanghai siew long bun. All of it was truly delicious, every bite left my taste buds tingling with delight, each dish was sublime with the flavours complimenting each other perfectly. I’ll admit that this place is expensive and not the restaurant that you go to when watching the pennies. If you wanted cheaper dim sum then Royal China or Phoenix Palace are better choices, the dim sum there is amazing too. However as a treat Yauatcha is certainly a great place to go.
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Belen - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Monday, April 11, 2011

Went to Yauatcha yesterday for dim sum for about the third or fourth time and I have to say I'm still trying to understand how it achieves Michelin star status. The menu is very uninspiring and the food even less so. It's not terrible but you expect a lot more from a restaurant of this stature and standing. Put it this way, if I want high-end Chinese I'll go to Hakkasan....if I want every day Chinese I'll to Royal China. Yauatcha is somewhere in the middle!
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Deji Fisher - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Monday, April 04, 2011

As a regular customer of Yautcha I found out that the service there was downgrading every time I visit... I remember last time when we visited we ordered something we have never tried before. When the waiter put the dish on table we did not recognise it immediately and he took it back straightaway. Later on we remember we did order that and we asked our waitress who took our order for that dish. (It looked to me that the waiting staff did not have any effective communication with each other.) We explained that we did not recognise the dish because we have never had it before and it is quite different from our imagination as well. Then a very unpleasant man who looks like a senior waitron approached us and asked us in a rude way whether we want the dish or not! We were shocked by his tone and I felt uncomfortable being treated like an idiot who cannot even remember what I ordered….

Today we went there again (just because we were nearby and my boyfriend thought their food is of good quality) and we were hungry so we ordered a bit more. We did not finish the food on table and we asked for the rest being taken away. Then I was told that they do NOT do ‘take-away’ and this is the company’s policy! Shock…again…No one informed me while ordering that if I ordered too many I am not able to take the unfinished food home. Maybe those leftovers contain vital business secrets? I have to admit that I’m much disappointed and even irritated by the way that this company treats their customers. I shall not come back again I think…
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6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Saturday, March 05, 2011

Maybe my expectations were high given the previous reviews but I was very disappointed by this restaurant.

We had been looking forward to visiting for Chinese new year. Our welcome was luke warm and our waiter was okay but seemed fairly stressed which made him come across as a little unfriendly and unhelpful. We were completely ignored by the sommelier which was a shame as I had been looking forward to drinking some nice wines. We had to ask for almost everything and no one offered to top up our waters or to get us any more drinks.

Service was a bit disorganised and haphazard – I have had better service by far in Wagamama and other places which are half the price. I wouldn’t mind as much anywhere else but in a Michelin star restaurant I expected much better. The staff didn’t seem happy to be here, the friendliest face we met was the doorman on the way out who offered to get us a taxi who also seemed quite depressed.

The food was alright but nothing special and definitely not worth the price. We asked our waiter to suggest a couple of our dishes which were ok but nothing different or worth visiting for. Perhaps we just ordered badly or was comparing the food to what we had in Hunan or in other good Chinese restaurants, but I was disappointed.

Perhaps the restaurant was just having an off night but I will definitely not be returning or recommending it.
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Annie - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, February 15, 2011

I went to Yauatcha last night for my mum's birthday and as you do I took a cake with me. I was then told at reception upstairs by a very rude member of staff that I will be charged a fee for the cake. Turns out I get charged £5 per slice cut which is the equivalent of their dessert. I was surprised i wasn't charged for using the toilets. At any other occasion i would not have minded but the member of staff was rude, patronising and unwelcoming. Then we ordered and the food was average and they brought everything together (starters and main) as if to rush us out for the next booking...I was unimpressed and will not be going back....
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2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Friday, February 11, 2011