In August, with the help of Rishi Sunak, I finally tried the food at Yauatcha. I have been to Yauatcha Soho a few times for drinks but bizarrely never actually eaten there so I was really excited. I have been to the fantastic sister restaurant Hakkasan and was totally blown away, you can read my fan-girl review here. Both brands are owned by Alan Yau, and Yauatcha Soho was the first of the Yauatcha brand, opening in 2004 and since receiving a Michelin star – Yauatcha City was then opened in 2015.
I visited the Yauatcha City restaurant in Broadgate circle with a lovely group of foodie girls that you should go and follow on Instagram if you don’t already! For those that may not know I’m the one on the left and then from left to right is @EatsLondonLife, @SpicyPrawnxx, @Elj.Eats, @EmilyEatsLondon, @GirlEatsIn.
Yauatcha serves incredible high-end modern Chinese food, and the City restaurant is situated on a large curved balcony on the upper tier of the centre of Broadgate circle. The restaurant is sleek and stylish and overlooks the usually buzzing post-work drinks of Broadgate Circle – when we went it was a lot quieter than usual due to the big C word that I refuse to give any attention in this post.
We went to sample to Taste of Yauatcha menu which is normally only £25 but was made £15 by the Eat Out To Help Out Scheme – which is an incredibly reasonable way to sample the food without breaking the bank. We started with cocktails and I went for the Royal Cha which combines
Earl Grey tea-infused Ketel One with Champagne, Lillet Blanc, grapes, and rosehip cordial. It tasted nice but I wasn’t overwhelmed and I wished I had gone for a slightly prettier one!
The menu starts with this beautiful Dim sum trio: pork and prawn shui mai, crystal jade dumpling, seafood black truffle dumpling. They were so delicious, packed full of flavour, and just made me want about 100 more…when I win the lottery maybe!
You then get a choice of main course and I went for the Stir-Fry Rib Eye Beef and Bell Pepper in Black Bean Sauce. This was DIVINE. The beef was perfectly tender and succulent and covered in a sticky umami-rich aromatic black bean sauce that I could have eaten with a spoon (I know I’m often tempted to do this).
Aside from the tasting menu we also ordered two plates of noodles for the table. We got the Singapore Noodles with Prawn, Squid, and Bell Pepper and the Hand-Pulled Noodles with Shimeji Mushroom, I definitely recommend both they were so so tasty!
The final ‘course’ if you can call it that, was what let the tasting menu down slightly. While delicious, I don’t think a single Macaron each can be construed as a sufficient dessert.
All in all the location was beautiful, the company was fantastic as always and the food was impeccable – however without the noodles to share I may have left feeling slightly dissatisfied especially after ending the meal with a single bite of dessert!
