Time Out has teamed up with tastelondon to offer you a fantastic one month free trial
-
Cha Cha Moon
-
Budget choice
-
RUNNER-UP - BEST DESIGN
-
-
By Charmaine Mok. Photography Michael Franke
Hong Kong is a city of discerning diners and top-class restaurants. But it’s also where, in a metropolis full of food-loving nomads, a simple bowl of soup noodles is king. It’s a telling sign when some of the most humble street-side mein dong (mein = noodle; dong = stalls) rank alongside glittering fine-dining hotspots in popularity. One of my favourites is my local family-run caff on a side street in Shau Kei Wan, in the Eastern district of the island, that does the best fish ball noodles in town. Likewise, over in the grubby end of the glamorous Central district’s Soho lies a filthy little joint (that nevertheless attracts crowds at all hours of the day) that profits from its legendary beef brisket noodles. All over the city there are hole-in-the-wall noodle shops that only do one dish, but they do it damn well.
Cha Cha Moon is Hong Kong-born restaurateur Alan Yau’s take on a mein dong. But instead of focusing on the myriad of noodle dishes found just in his home town, it’s a culinary journey careening around all corners of China, plus neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia for good measure. There are beef noodles from Taiwan and prawn noodles from Penang, while Sichuan dumplings and Singaporean char kway teow sit alongside spring onion pancakes from the north. To the moon and back, indeed.
Six months ago, Yau claimed that the inspiration behind opening Cha Cha Moon was a lack of decent Chinese soup stocks in London. So, to test the waters, we sampled two classic varieties from the soup noodle category: roast duck, and wonton. The former had an unctuous and flavoursome broth; while not helped by a somewhat ghastly greyish hue, it was full of the umami taste, punctuated by the surprising medicinal aroma of tiny red wolfberries. Fresh, al dente noodles were spot-on, transporting us back to the noodle bars of Hong Kong.
The benchmark dish, wonton noodles, was a let down. Far from the delicate dumplings their name suggests (‘wonton’, in Cantonese, literally means ‘swallowing clouds’), ours were filled with stodgy chicken and had thick, heavy wrappers. If the menu had made the distinction that these were Shanghai-style wontons (which indeed are heavier than their Cantonese-style counterparts), it would have been easier to understand.
Things picked up, though. Zhajiang mian (a northern dry noodle dish) had us picking at every last little morsel of minced pork, mushrooms and bamboo shoots, while the kitchen’s take on chicken fen pi, a Shanghainese cold noodle dish, was inspired by the use of jasmine tea-smoked chicken. The traditional sesame dressing, while slightly too watery, was spiked with hints of wasabi and sweet red onions – elements certainly reminiscent of Yau’s trademark culinary cunning, where the results are neither too shocking nor bastardised, yet different enough to delight.
With all dishes currently priced at a mere £3.50 (Update: the prices have risen at both branches, with dishes averaging around £5), we seemed to be guinea pigs for this new opening. Yau was omnipresent during the first few days; he stuck to the kitchen pass, observing diners and rattling off both compliments and criticisms to his battalion of chefs.
It is certainly admirable of Yau to throw the door wide open on Chinese noodle culture, and he hasn’t merely recreated a quintessential Hong Kong-style caff. That’s fine with us, but we feel the eclectic nature of the menu hinders the restaurant from truly delivering the best of these well-loved classics. There’s a lot of potential in this hip and cheerful operation, but for now, it has nothing on my local mein dong.
FEBRUARY 2009: The second branch of Cha Cha Moon, located in the Whiteleys Shopping Centre, is now open.Time Out Issue 1971: May 29-June 4 2008
Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.
|
|
Advertisement
Details
- 15-21 Ganton St, Soho, W1F 9BN
- Area: Soho
- Tel: 020 7297 9800
- www.chachamoon.com
- Category: Chinese
- Travel: Oxford Circus or Piccadilly Circus tube
- Times: Open Mon-Thur 12noon-11pm; Fri-Sat 12noon-11.30pm; Sun 12noon-10pm
- Price: Meal for two with drinks and service: around £30
- Credit cards: MC, V, AmEx
Map
Most viewed restaurants
Date of the day
bobsprinkle
I'm outgoing, always up for a laugh, but also love a good lazy Sunday reading the paper. I love seeing friends, going to concerts and plays, and...
|
|
More ways to enjoy Time Out
-
Weekly London newsletter
The best of London in your inbox
-
Time Out Widgets
|
|
I'd love to comment but when I got there it was closed on a Sunday. I've never heard of a restaurant closing on a Sunday.
I've been to this place 3 times now and I can't get enought of it. It's my fave place to eat in London at the moment. Great value and awesome food. The staff need to learn to smile a bit more though. Tip: Come with no more than one other person - that way you don't have to wait for too long as they fast track you to the front!
Excellent food & definitely value for money. We didn't have to wait for long to be seated. Our food came pretty quickly, and almost at the same time. Really satisfied with my experience at Cha Cha Moon. I think it depends on your luck. The customers sitting next to us weren't so lucky. They didn't get their drink until they reminded the staffs 3x & since they confused the poor waitress with their order (they wanted to share a dish and then decided not to share & going back & forth), they only got 1 meal in the end. If you want something tastey, cheap & quick, Cha Cha Moon is the place to go. If you're looking to dine with a group of mates, this is not the place to go. I know for a fact it will take a while to be seated & the food will be guaranteed to arrive at different times. I think everyone should give it a try!
Great value at £3.50 per dish. Nice atmosphere and tasty food. Only complaint would be the salty tequila-free Sprite concoction that came as my drink. Oh, the other downside was the person sitting at my table that had two mains and didn’t even offer to share one because he is a greedy and selfish lover of sheep. But that’s not really Cha Cha Moon’s fault. I will definitely give this restaurant a try again.
absolutely bad service and horrible food.
REAl Chinese/Hong Kong food, it's the best Chinese dining exp I've ever had in Europe, and it's cheap! The beef noodles, the seafood ho fun, the Szechuan Wanton & the Dian dian miao was real good, I wish I could have a bigger stomach!
A friend and I decided to give Cha Cha Moon a try, even with the mixed reviews. It was hot last night and we managed to secure a table outside in the courtyard thankfully. To my surprise they had jasine iced tea so I thought that was a good sign. We both thought the menu was a bit limited but had no problem in finding a few things we wanted to try. I was of the impression from comments made that this was sort of a Chinese tapas bar, small plates to sample and share. That said, we ordered 4 noodle dishes and two sides. The sides came and were small as expected. The first noodle dish arrived and it too was smallish and to share. We thought we were on the right track until the next two noddle dishes arrived, and were truly mains - at this point more than enough food. From that came the last dish and it too was large. All that said, the flavours were great and we were happy with choices, albeit it was too much food for the two of us. When our waiter came back I asked to take the remaining food home with me only to be told there was no way to do so. I said I found it hard to believe that a sheet of kitchen foil could not be used to wrap it up so as not to waste it. We were told there was no way to accommodate us and the manager was brought to our table. He again stated nothing could be done so I replied that I expected him to deduct the £7 from the bill if I could not take what I paid for. He replied he couldn't do either and I replied that I couldn't pay the bill as it was. With much attitude he left the table and brought back the reworked bill saying nothing else. I would have expected better from customer service and will not be returning, even though the food was worth it.
Don't expect great service as you pay for what you get (£3.50 for any dish, bargain!) The food was tasty, and having been to Wagamamas, we expected the food to come at different times, but they did explain this also. It's also very busy so expect to wait for seats and the bill. Lovely interior decoration, feels like you're somewhere tropical, but sophisticated. Recommended for lunchtime eating or a quick bite after work. Not for romantic meal or quiet, relaxing eating experience.
In regards to Helen's comment "cheap, no frills Chinese nosh" she obviously was expecting WESTERN Chinese food which Cha Cha Moons i found quite authentic. As from my point of view, a native of Hong Kong, my brother and i were both pleasently suprised with how good the food was, as many westen chinese restaurants produce food that is nothing like what we would eat in Hong Kong. No where else offers this kind of traditional/simple food in this side of the World.
When we got there the waiter explained that the food could come at different time, what I didn't expect was that my friend would get hers and mine would follow 25 minutes later plus I had to ask for the bill 3 times. The food was nice but pretty average, I appreciate that its cheap but I think you can find equally as cheap food which is nicer with better service. I won't be returning here again.