to the moon and back

For me, Alan Yau’s latest opening was perhaps the most exciting one because it’s based on the concept of a Chinese (mostly Hong Kong-style) noodle bar, something I’m more than familiar with. I also felt like there was a lack of decent noodle bars here in London (which is why every time I go back home to HK, one of the first things I always have is a big steaming bowl of wonton or ngau lam – beef brisket – noodles), and with the success of Yauatcha and Hakkasan, I couldn’t wait to see how he interpreted this classic streetfood.

A more general overview of my thoughts on Cha Cha Moon are already outlined in my review in Time Out, but in reality I tried far more dishes than what were mentioned (I wanted to try so many dishes, I went back 3 more times), so this is an ‘extended’ review if you will!

I was pleasantly surprised to see Taiwanese beef noodles on the menu. I’ve always felt that there was a distinct lack of Taiwanese food in London, and after two visits to Taipei in the past 2-3 years I wish the restaurant scene would hurry up and recognise this wonderful national dish of tender beef, fragrant broth and chewy noodles (on a side note: when you put it like that, it sounds a lot like Vietnamese pho, but they couldn’t be more different!).

I was only slightly disappointed that they had chosen to go the route of the more boisterous, ‘red sauce’ version instead of the noodles with a clearer, delicate broth. Coupled with wonton egg noodles, and the use of beef brisket instead of the more usual beef shank, the dish resembled more like Cantonese-style beef brisket noodles rather than the Taiwanese version. With that said, it was easily one of the more delicious things on the menu – I particularly liked the tender chunks of mooli and pickled cabbage (a must for Taiwanese beef noodles!).

There were also plenty of chunks of beef tendon in the soup, which unfortunately those not so familiar with Chinese soup noodles, including a reviewer at viewlondon, may misinterpret as inedible chunks of fat – while I’m not a fan myself, people rave about the mouth-feel of beef tendon, and in the case of my mother, its benefits for health! I have to say though, that viewlondon reviewer’s ignorance was already exposed when she thought that her ‘miso soup’ (really a duck consommé), served with the crispy duck la mian, lacked the usual sharpness (not unusual since it wasn’t miso soup in the first place) would have benefited by the addition of some tofu… But I digress. The broth didn’t have as much flavour as I’d expected, but then I’d probably put that up to the amount of time they probably simmered the stock for (ie not very long, considering I went on opening night).

One of my favourites, as outlined in the review, was the chicken fen pi. The jolt of wasabi was an unusual, yet welcome surprise – and I couldn’t help but be reminded of Jacky Yu’s famous ‘greenhouse tomatoes with sesame wasabi dressing’ at XiYan in Hong Kong. The fen pi could have been a bit more tender, however. The presentation wasn’t great, and the first time I had the dish, it was served appetiser-sized; the next time, it was more of a main course. A light and tasty dish, perfect for summer.

Jasmine tea-smoked chicken la mian was a somewhat average dish, with the shrimp roe noodles not really tasting of shrimp roe (the quality ones I buy from See Wo are better), but it was quickly remedied with a generous sprinkling of the Sichuan salt and pepper mixture (salt with ground Sichuan peppercorns) and the ginger and spring onion oil. The accompanying broth was also a bit lacklustre, lacking any distinct ’sweetness and freshness’ we Chinese look for in a good clear soup.

Some other things we had were:

• dan dan noodles, which had a curiously tasteless soup despite the nature of the dish.
• guo tie (pan-fried dumplings), in the thicker Shanghai style, which were nice and perfectly crisp and crunchy on the bottom, and the chicken filling was deliciously tender.
• spring onion pancake, which was slightly greasy the second time I had it, and there wasn’t enough spring onion or seasoning in the filling.
• Shibuya Casual cocktail (lychee, sake, martini bianco, raspberries) which were amazing – a perfect summer cocktail if I ever saw one.
• HK-style milk tea – was very excited about this too, and it delivered completely. Very smooth, thanks to evaporated milk (Fay Maschler take note – though I guess she wanted a pun in there about John Prescott and condensed milk) . The hot version was definitely better than the cold one
• XO cheung fun – this was decent but somewhat flavourless despite the XO sauce on top. The cheung fun was also curiously dry and not silky smooth as expected.
• Garlic Chinese chives – my dining companion J was positively raving over this simple dish, but I had to admit that it was very tasty indeed (though I would have wanted more of the chive flowers!). A very generous serving, as well.
• Choi sum with oyster sauce – topped with fried garlic, but overall too greasy.

Service was brilliant, and I really enjoyed eating there even if every dish wasn’t a home run. The staff are friendly and efficient (maybe too efficient in getting diners out the door, though, but then what did we expect?) and dear god, I really want on of those ‘Are you going to the moon?’ t-shirts.

As mentioned in my review, Alan Yau was there on two of my visits; on my second one I was seated close enough to shamelessly eavesdrop – I admire how he truly gives his chefs constructive criticism. I’m sure that after a few weeks, many of the little things myself and other diners/reviewers have found fault with will be corrected. Hopefully, considering the imminent price increases.

Cha Cha Moon
15-21 Ganton St
Soho, London
W1F 9BN
020 7297 9800