Without a doubt my favourite Chinese meals in London have been at HKK which has sadly recently closed it's doors. Part of the Hakkasan Group, and with its own Michelin star, it was a smart but friendly and very slick Chinese doing fixed menus to die for. Beautiful plates of food each with their own story and history were paired perfectly with drinks, giving you a meal and a night to remember on every visit. So having shed a little tear about its closing, it was time to find my new favourite Hakkasan restaurant. And when I was invited to check out Yauatcha in Soho, my problems were solved!
I'd heard good things, and they too have their own star, so I headed down to Soho, to see if it could live up to my HKK dreams.
I'd heard good things, and they too have their own star, so I headed down to Soho, to see if it could live up to my HKK dreams.
Yauatcha have two sites in London - Soho and Broadgate Circle in the City. The Soho site is vast. A large, bright open ground floor level, with a slightly darker, moodier cavernous sprawling out downstairs. We sat on the ground floor level and kicked things off with tangy, refreshing mocktail (it was pre Kili and I was on a bit of a cleanse!) Closely followed by plate after plate of incredible food. I'd found my "new" HKK!
We started with one of my favorites - the venison puff. I order these whenever I go for dim sum and Yauatcha's were the best I've tried. Light, flaky pastry encased rich, gamey venison meat, so soft it all just melted in the mouth. Dunked in a ludicrous amount of chilli oil I could eat these more often than I should! Whenever I think of dim sum an image of steamed, light dumplings comes to mind, but whenever I get to a dim sum restaurant it's these that are first on the list. The wagyu beef version that Yauatcha do is also excellent - a strong meaty, fatty alternative to the gamey venison.
We started with one of my favorites - the venison puff. I order these whenever I go for dim sum and Yauatcha's were the best I've tried. Light, flaky pastry encased rich, gamey venison meat, so soft it all just melted in the mouth. Dunked in a ludicrous amount of chilli oil I could eat these more often than I should! Whenever I think of dim sum an image of steamed, light dumplings comes to mind, but whenever I get to a dim sum restaurant it's these that are first on the list. The wagyu beef version that Yauatcha do is also excellent - a strong meaty, fatty alternative to the gamey venison.
