Yauatcha

My favourite, especially the venison puffs. Young and vibrant without trying too hard.

Yauatcha is the best place to relax and eat great food in London. Everything is fantastic, especially the macaroons and fancy pastries.

Loved the food - no complaints. However, it's not the most comfortable restaurant given the atmosphere and service. I'd say Royal China is as good, if not better, but for a better price and better service.

Awful. If you want 'take-away' food with Burger King service in a cramped basement - but with Ramsay prices - you will love this place. I didn't.

For a Michelin-starred restaurant, we thought this was appalling. The food was good, however the standard of service was shocking. The waiters (there were about 15 of them milling around the table like flies) managed to get just about everything wrong. They brought the wrong food/drinks, took away the wine and didn't offer to refill the glasses until asked... the list goes on. The main problem with all this was, however, the attitude to it. No apology = annoyed customers. One Michelin star???

The problem with this restaurant is the service. There are not enough waiters/waitressess and the way the food is served requires a lot of work (many small dishes one after the other). In our case they forgot two of our main courses and took the bill to our table before we asked for it. Further, the lack of wine coolers meant we had to ask someone to refill our glasses every time (don't think we were even once offered).

I have been there once on a Sunday afternoon as well and, as it was not very busy, the service was fine. The food was very good both times. However, overall I don't feel at all tempted to go back to be treated as if I were in a cafe.

It is far beyond funny to read through the comments below. And the stars given by visitors from one to five... thoughtful. I went there a few months ago (the negative comments did not hold me back!), and I loved it. The food was good, as well as the cocktails and the decor. No problem with the staff - especially when I booked my table on the phone - they were patient and helpful. Going to celebrate New Year there tonight! Just can't wait.

I went with 8 friends for a 30th birthday party. We pre-booked a table for 9pm on a Saturday evening and were eventually seated at 10.10pm! While we were waiting for our table we were not offered any drinks and had to ask a number of times for a drink. They eventually gave us a round on the house. The manager was incredibly apologetic but it still didn't excuse over an hour wait for a table.

The food, however, was great (the restaurant's only saving grace). Service was OK. The evening was completely ruined though, by the table next to us deciding to start filming us eating. Completely rude - I couldn't believe it.

Definitely won't be going back here to eat - EVER!

I love my dim sum and have been to lots of dim sum restaurants in London and some of the best in Hong Kong. I'd say some dim sum dishes at Yauatcha are good and some are below par. I love my duck pancakes (the big test for any restaurant) and cooked duck, but it is average in this place. The food here for some reason seems to have lost its authenticity. I was expecting powerful, full-of-taste flavours, which it did not deliver. Decidedly overpriced for what you get. Inside the restaurant is very clean and simple, but once you've seen it once you'd get bored coming back. To sum up, there are definitely better dim sum places to go to in this city.

Went there this Saturday. Table was not ready when we arrived so had to wait 15 minutes before being seated. The food was nice and our waitress was useful. However, the evening was ruined when the staff decided to stop serving us because they needed the table. Even as we were paying our bill, a staff member came along to remind us to "vacate the table". Due to this, I have to say that I would not recommend this place. I would suggest Hakkasan where the food is similar, but the staff don't throw you out as soon as your seating is over!

Went there on Saturday for lunch. Nice food, though the menu descriptions could be clearer and the service was so-so. Decor is simple yet sophisticated and the colour scheme quite soothing. However, one big gaff - they'd run out of jasmine tea (on a Saturday)! Oops!

Yes, it may be expensive but hell, this is a great restaurant in central London. Have been several times now and service has always been great. Staff are polite (no "Have a nice day!" bullshit). I want my wait staff to serve, not start up conversation!

The food is faultless - venison puff is one of my all-time faves! Puddings are utterly to die for, and this is coming from somone who doesn't really like sweet things. Tea selection great too...

The styling is very cool, and what's wrong with wine in tumblers anyways? Just a wine glass without a stem... unfounded snobbery. Bill between three was in the region of £200, but that included a few bottles of very good vino.

Are you sure you went to the same restaurant as us? We were there on Friday 7th Sept. Table was booked for 8:00 but we managed to get squeezed in earlier with no problems. Staff were very attentive and polite at all times. Food was out of this world (yes, wine is expensive... I recommend the cocktails). I had shark fin soup, box dumpling and a prawn dish for my main. No complaints here, that's for sure. Food was cooked to perfection, prices were reasonable (and I'm not used to eating in what many have reviewed below as pretentious or what I consider 4-5 star restaraunts!)

Summary:
cost - bill for 2 came up to under £80 and both of us agreed it was definitely worth it;
location - in Soho so great for drinking etc;
ambience - chilled and very friendly;
decor - amazing (dark, but very cool indeed);
food - delicious;
staff - can't fault them.
As for those who moaned about the 2 hour sit down, what do you expect? - for what you're getting, turnover is going to be high.

Conclusion: if you want good food, definitely visit Yauatcha!

Went on Tuesday 21 August. Had to wait 15 minutes before we were seated in spite of pre-booking. Waitress seemed rushed and had a job trying to get attention. Eventually gave orders. To our horror our wine was served in drinking tumblers and paid £37 for a NZ Chardonnay-rip off. Food ok but ambience souless with uncomfortable seats. Would never go again as too pretentious compared to good ol' China Town.

We waited ten minutes to be given a menu,ordered 2 cocktails to have while deciding what to eat and waited a further 15 minutes before asking when they were coming. After another 5 plus minutes we gave up and left. It was only half full on a Saturday afternoon. I had been so looking forward to trying the food there. If it had not been so noisy and uncomfortable maybe we would have stuck it out for longer.

Just incredibly average. If you want good, affordable dim sum then go to Ping Pong or, for that special occasion, choose Hakkasan. Overpriced and underwhelming.

As many describe, service was very poor. They did not seat us until 20 mins after our allocated time, and then when we asked for dessert they indicated we did not have enough time before the next seating. We pointed out the original delay and they agreed to let us continue with our meal - but we were left with a really bad taste about the overall experience. Food was good but entirely overpriced. This is an example of a place that has got a 'trendy' reputation, and is really taking advantage of this and treating its customers badly.

Haven't actually been there but have booked it a couple of times for my boss and have found the staff unhelpful. You can't book too early, even if you have a large party. You can't request that you don't want to sit under the stairs (even though you give them plenty of notice) - they will allocate the seating on the day. Whatever happened to trying to accommodate your regular customers? They say they are a very popular restaurant - they may not always be so popular, restaurants do go out of fashion. They might learn a bit more about customer service then. Don't think I will be paying them a visit any time soon.

Yes, very hyped, fancy and expensive, but deserves 5 stars soley for the black sesame balls which are from heaven AND only £3.00.

Mediocre food. Totally overpriced. Extremely bad service. Cocky staff. Waitress made mistakes with our order, but when queried she quickly pointed the finger at my fellow diner! When the bill finally came, 3 additional expensive puddings that we didn't have were 'mistakenly' added to our total. No apologies. No "please come again". And for twice-three times the price of normal dim-sum, to eat with disposable chop-sticks?? - how unclassy, not to mention enrivonmentally unfriendly! Heads should roll...

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