Top Cantonese restaurants in London, United Kingdom

Yauatcha City: A Dim Sum Experience That Falls Short

Yauatcha City, owned by the Hakkasan Group, has established itself as a popular dim sum destination in London. However, on my recent visit, the experience left me feeling a little underwhelmed.

Getting to Yauatcha City is easy via public transport. Numerous buses stop nearby, and the venue is a short walk from Liverpool Street Station. Be aware that there is no car parking available. Look for the distinctive blue door and take the elevator to the restaurant floor. They also boast a patisserie downstairs for those with a sweet tooth.

The first thing you might notice upon entering is the limited table space. While the restaurant itself isn't tiny, the tables are quite close together, making it tricky to navigate with a large group and multiple dishes. The decor is also rather plain – not bad, but certainly not opulent.

Thankfully, the service was a bright spot. The staff were friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu. However, the food itself fell short of expectations, especially considering the price point. There are definitely better Asian restaurants offering similar fare for a more reasonable cost in the area.

Let's delve into the specifics:

Wagyu Beef Puff: This is one of Yauatcha's signature dishes, but the Wagyu filling was rather skimpy. The pastry itself was decent, with a nice crunch, but the star of the show was noticeably absent.

Spicy Soft Shell Crab: This dish lived up to its reputation as one of the menu's highlights. The crab was perfectly cooked with a satisfying spice level.

Pan-fried Lamb with Red Pepper and Onion: This felt like a less exciting version of the lamb dishes offered at other restaurants. It wasn't bad, but it lacked any special spark.

Salt and Pepper Lobster Tail, Mooli Cake: Disappointingly, the garlic flakes seemed to be the dominant flavor here, overshadowing the lobster itself. The batter lacked complexity, and the lobster meat portion wasn't particularly generous.

Hand Pulled Noodles: These were a bright spot! The in-house made noodles were springy and delicious, especially when dressed with the provided chili oil and soy sauce.

Overall, Yauatcha City is an average Asian restaurant. While the service is commendable and there are some decent dishes, the high price point paired with the underwhelming food leaves it feeling forgettable. There are better options out there for a truly memorable dim sum experience.

If you cannot to catch glimpse of sunshine this summer in London, just head to this amazing place. Their cheeky carrot cake will brighten your day and new summer collection of desserts not only cute but really tasty.

The place has a great atmosphere, food is plenty and amazing, we had the harmony set menu which in between the two of us was more then enough and we got to taste some of the best dishes. Our waiter Kevin was very knowledgeable and professional. I would really recommend trying out this experience.

Last minute dinner with friends and really wanted to try Yauatcha as had long been recommended. It was a hot sunny evening and the place was busy. It has quite a lot of background noise which I liked as you could chat and not feel you were being listened to. More of a "buzz" I would say. The food is very good. Crispy duck is not the best I've had (Min Jiang is the go to for that) but is good (shredded rather than my preferred sliced!). We all enjoyed the food and the environment. The staff were friendly and we didn't feel rushed even though it was a busy evening.

Everything we ordered was amazing! Delicious and flavourful. Only thing that was slightly interesting was the fried squid as the oatmeal dusting was a bit much but just share it / have a few and it’s ok!

Staff were friendly and attentive

Would definitely come back!

Outstanding food quality, the venison puffs have blown me away at least four times over the course of years on repeated visits. The food has remained consistent and I have never been disappointed by any of my visits here.

We only went for dessert after having dinner elsewhere and we walked in as they had availability (usually need bookings though).
Desserts are more on the interesting and fancy side so I would not recommend if you are looking for a black coffee and slice of cake. I didn't really enjoy the desserts though but definitely an experience.

The lighting of the restaurant was extremely dark. The food was a little bland for my liking and lacked flavour, I would have expected a little more flavour from a restaurant of this calibre. The service was a little too pushy for my liking there were too many waiters and waitresses serving us and forcing us to order drinks. Without even asking they poured our water in one glass and pushed for us to buy another bottle which we had no choice to do so. This place is extremely expensive so be prepared for a hefty bill at the end of the night go in with low expectations.

Set menu selected at a 60th birthday. The food was exceptional as expected for the price and the service was great. The venison puffs get special mention, they were delicious. The only slight downside was the atmosphere, as the restaurant is underground it’s quite dark.

Honest opinion: TLDR - it’s just not the place for me

Hakkasan Hanway Place is recommended by Michelin, but not recommended by me, as a HKer.

Growing up, I have been eating DimSum for years. Hakkasan’s DimSum is more of a “fusion” of Western & Asian cuisine, which tastes alright, but not traditional & authentic. Thus, why it didn’t appeal to me.

Tea is £4-8 (as of 2023), which is served in one teapot without any tea leaves inside. Personally, the tea tastes quite “watery”, lacking much flavor. Not worth the price for drinking “slightly flavored hot water”.

Below are some dishes we tried + feedback:

Grilled Chilean sea bass in honey (£58) - the sea bass is usually served with sauces still dripping off of it. Yet, the sea bass is rather dry, and there is not enough sauce to give it that extra flavor.

Sweet and sour Dingy dell pork (£32) - no complaints there, pretty well done, would actually recommend

Black truffle roasted duck (£51) - one of my favorites among the rest of the dishes, would recommend

Wok-fried Yorkshire Wagyu beef ho fun noodles (£33) - as someone from HK, I can say that this lacks “wok-hey”, and the beef’s texture is a bit stiff.

Char Siu - this is below average compared to the Char Siu in HK - as the pork is rather lean and the meat is dry. In HK, we usually use a more fatty cut of meat, which gives the Char Siu a more fatty & soft texture. Plus, we serve it with more sauces on the sides, which pairs well with rice.

Tofu claypot (£24) - actually not bad, would recommend

Environment: it seemed more like a club than a YumCha place. The music is loud, and the place is dark. So if you’re genuinely there for traditional YumCha, I don’t think this is a good place.

I’d recommend visiting other YumCha places in Chinatown if you want a more authentic & traditional taste of YumCha for a much cheaper price.

Recommended dishes: Sweet and Sour Dingely dell pork, Black truffle roasted duck, Tofu claypot

I came here with my wife and baby but much to my surprise, there were not really any accommodations for babies for example basic things like there were no baby chairs, changing facilities, etc - slightly disappointing considering the cost of everything but nonetheless the restaurant itself was very nice and clean. The staff were very attentive and looked after us well for the most part but the food was a little bit too bland for my liking, even the 'spicy' options were very quite bland and lacked flavour. Overall, we enjoyed a nice evening out but considering how much we paid for the night, I'm not quite sure I would do it again here for the foreseeable future.

Great dimsum restaurant. The food is beautiful. The dim sum was best of its kind. Main course menu were very westernised and innovative. Thus, if you are looking for traditional high end experience, this is not exactly the right place. This is for more of a new style with international or western twist.
The atmosphere and service is simply five stars. Cocktail and wine selection is also five star.

We ordered the most expensive set menu, starting with dim sum, followed by stir-fried dishes, and Beijing roast duck, and ended with desserts. Halfway through, we expected the dishes to be almost finished. Unexpectedly, four more substantial courses were served, enough for two meals for two people. Despite the generous portions, the overall taste was quite good.

Truly superb Chinese food. Each dish is fresh and flavorful. Fantastic bar - the Golden Empress is a special and shouldn’t be missed. Beats anything in the US without a doubt. A wonderful experience.

We had an outstanding experience here! Our server Maisha was very friendly and on top of it! She asked what our allergies were (lactose intolerant) and handed us a dairy free menu which I thought was super accommodating for a restaurant to have. It took the pressure off us having to ask the server a bunch of times what was dairy free or not. We ordered many things, all of which were great, but the prawns, rabbit dumplings, softshell crab, and crunchy okra were the main highlights that left a lasting impression. The cocktails were also delicious! I forget the names of them but one had tequila, guava, and chili and the other had rum, ginger, and coconut foam. We had such a good time I don’t even want to mention this but the only thing we didn’t like was the vegan brownie. The sizzling chocolate presentation was really cool but to me and my girlfriend it had no flavor. That’s an easy fix and overall it was still a 5 star experience!

4.5⭐️
Great Indo-Chinese food!
Their menu is very diverse and includes something for every taste. The fried spinach appetizer and the brownie desert were particularly decadent, the soft shelled crab dish is very delicious and innovative.
The fried okra is also a great way to start, specially if you’re vegan.
The cocktails were perfectly adequate and the ambiance was nice.
The high tables were a little uncomfortable though.

Great food with lots of options in the middle of China Town. Fish and dumplings were amazing!

Had a wonderful time at Fatt Pundit - excellent food and service! Clayton was wonderful and was so kind to our two year old son. The food is absolutely incredible! One of the best indo Chinese places we have had! Highly recommend!

We had a great post-graduation celebration meal here. All the dishes were delicious (and we had loads). Harshil our waiter took really great care of us and was very attentive and friendly -as well as all the other staff who made sure we were happy at all times!

Yesterday (11/10/23) was my first visit to Hakkasan Hanway Place. My Partner I went there for dinner to celebrate our 2nd anniversary.

The staff were warm, professional, attentive and engaging.
The Service was efficient & organised.
The food was delicious on every level and the portions
were surprisingly enough.
The receptionist was welcoming, friendly and professional

I would most definitely be coming back here again to celebrate something special and will recommend for friends and family.

We tried the Taste of Hakkasan menu and it was a great choice. The dim sum is amazing. I'd say order it twice instead of sharing. The salad was okay, but the dim sum was way better.

For the main dishes, we had beef and pork. Both were really good and had a tasty sauce. It was nice to have the real deal that other places try but can't quite get right.

The rice was also great. You get a pot of rice and some asparagus, but I wish there was more rice.

A couple of things to know: the restaurant is in a basement and you have to go down a kind of sketchy alley to find it. At first, I thought we were lost until I saw the menu on the wall. Inside, it's really dark. Each table has a bright light, but the rest is dark. The waiters wear dark clothes and surprised me a couple of times.

Good old Dim Sum place in China town, very good air con, saved me on the hottest day in London this year. Authentic dishes! Not the top notch but decent. Tea was good too. Very friendly service. They don’t rush you to pay or leave. Nice and quiet environment inside the busy China town.

Food tastes pretty good and authentic. The chicken was in my opinion a little overdone. Otherwise the rest were great.

We were here around dinner time, location was busy but spaced out well. In the heart of Chinatown, worth a visit if looking for Chinese food.

This place is outstanding. The food, the cocktails, the service and the atmosphere were all amazing! A few of my faves are the chili prawns, the sticky sesame vegetables and the chili duck! Clayton, the host was super friendly and attentive to our table. This is one of my favorite restaurants of London and I will definitely be back soon!

Fantastic dinner at Fatt Pundit!
My local friend recommended the place and we all loved it so much!
Clayton, our waiter, was super attentive and took great care of us.
The idea for eating here is to share like tapas, therefore most dishes are small aka share-size. It was fun to try so many different dishes. Everything we orders was so so good!!
Especially the crackling spinach blew our minds! We reordered it because we literally inhaled it in a second.
Can’t wait to go back 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Have been coming here for years since a friend recommended this place. Love the authentic Cantonese dim sum selection in the afternoon available until 5pm daily. The price is very reasonable.
The restaurant is clean and comfortable with Chinese deco. Service is prompt and attentive. Love this hidden gem! 👍🏼

Cool little info-Chinese restaurant. The dishes are the right size and amount. Very good if you’re sharing. They have a full dairy-free menu to chose from. Most items are actually pretty much dairy free already.
We sat at the counter but there was plenty of space and the service was pretty quick. Delicious food, right amount of spices. Great presentation and portions.

We came here in-between Harry Potter shows on my birthday and it was amazing. It was 5pm and busy (we pre booked) so had a great atmosphere. The staff were so helpful and attentive, and the food was amazing. We had 5 of the vegetarian options and we're all stunning. Came out quite quickly too which was handy for us. We had cocktails as well which were amazing. Would highly recommend

We've eaten here a fair few times and spent a great deal of money here over the years. While the food is of a good standard, the attitude towards customers is not great. We had a party of FOURTEEN people and we spent £470, and yet, they still had the audacity to tell us that they could only give us one tiny dish of chilli oil for all of us, and that any more would be £1 per dish more. At the end, when we asked for some boxes to take home the rest of the food, they would only give us two boxes (no bag), and said any more would incur £1 more per box. Again, there were 14 people on our table, spending almost £500.

Not to mention that several of the dishes we ordered did not turn up, and no mention was ever made of them. While the food here is good, their attitude very much is not, and this will make me reconsider bringing people to this restaurant in future.

The Imperial China ambience is as chinese as it gets. Cute bridge, check. Koi fish pond, check. Loads of red lanterns, check. The food is touristy chinese, and nothing much to write home about. We had the veg dim sum platter, the skin color was different, the stuffing in all was the same. The lobster noodles were fine. The Singaporean noodles were bland. Tea was fine. Chinatown in London is not for authentic chinese, so all in all an OK experience.

Wonderful dim sum place if you like this kind of food. Beautiful hidden gem with fishpond. Ultimate authentic experience . Very clean! Our tea was constantly filled up. Our service was wonderful and didn’t experience rudeness like other reviewers.

Good address for dim sum, one of our favourites in Leicester Square. I love the fried taro balls, the fried bean curd skin stuffed with prawns and the cheongfun with dough fritter and cuttlefish paste. The cooked dishes were quite nice too.