Yauatcha Soho - the home of dim sum in London: Review

Yauatcha has two restaurants in London, one in the heart of Soho and another in the City, along with its international locations.

It’s an all-day dim sum tea house celebrating authentic Cantonese cuisine with a modern influence.

I went on a Wednesday night and it was absolutely buzzing, which I always think is a good sign considering a Wednesday might not be as common to go out as a Thursday or the weekend.

The restaurant is big and spans across two floors, with a small outdoor space as well.

The upstairs has a light, airy, modern feel and the downstairs has more of a dark vibe with a star-light ceiling and modern bright blue fish tank spanning the bar.

We sat downstairs, and the restaurant filled out as the evening went on.

I started with a cocktail which was the Lychee Ginger Collins – it had gin, lychee, cranberry, lemon, ginger and tonic water and it was suitably sweet with a dominant lychee taste which I absolutely love, especially when paired with Asian-style foods.

We ordered a large selection of dishes from the menu, with my boyfriend’s choices focussing on meatier and seafood options, and mine more vegetarian.

Among our order was the duck spring rolls, prawn dumplings, XO dumpling, crispy wild mushroom and bean curd, edamame puff, egg fried rice, baby pak choi and crispy salted okra.

Rice, okra, pak choi and one last mushroom and bean curd (Image: Immy Share, Newsquest)

We really didn’t hold back and the portions were really generous, so its safe to say we came out with full stomachs as well as full hearts from what had been a lovely evening.

Although I liked how everything had its own unique flavouring, among my absolute favourites was the edamame puff, XO dumpling and crispy wild mushroom and bean curd.

The flavours are not necessarily something I would usually go for but I really enjoyed them – they went together well, the ingredients tasted fresh and really complemented eachother.

We went mad with our savoury that we didn’t have room for anything sweet, but I’d definitely have gone for the coconut and chocolate petits gateaux along with a pina colada macaron.

I’m a sucker for chocolate and a sucker for a pina colada, and so the variation of desserts offered on the menu isn’t one to be frowned at, and I do regret getting way too carried away with the irresistible savoury options.

I like how the menu is varied, big and there’s pretty much something for everyone on there.

My last cocktail was the Watermelon Mule which was made with Ketel One, MUYU Chinotto, watermelon and raspberry.

I absolutely love a sweet drink, and to be fair this is where I got my sweet fix.

You could taste the alcohol, but not too much, and I felt slightly happier after it.

A night in Soho is always a good one – with great vibes, great food and a buzz that you can’t get anywhere else.