first hand @ cha cha moon 查查月亮

oriental restaurant chain guru Alan Yau has his new chinese fusion chain opening in london this week, and we were lucky enough to attend a special food testing evening a week before the restaurant opens its door to the public.

i say fusion because they serve a wide-ranging food from dan dan mian, to penang prawn noodle; from singapore fried noodle to HK XO cheong fun. i personally recommend pork wonton dumpling in spicy sauce 红油炒手，salt and peppr enoki mushroom and the salty-but-can-be improved cod and bitter melon glass vermicelli in black bean sauce. 9/10 was our feedback.

cocktails were fulled of surpises too, with guava,coconut and limeleaf my favourite. u can find a twist of oriental element in their alcoholic version too, e.g. lychee, sake and martini bianco.

the interior was great, although it resembled too much of a cross btw wagamama and busaba. a safe colour scheme – brown engineering bricks, long wooden tables and boxy lanterns, all too much of an Alan Yau’s chain. pink fritted glass allows u to have a full glance of the kitchen was a surpise, thou i would imagine the chefs should have a hard time trying to keep the kitchen clean n tidy 24/7.

like any of his businesses, i can’t really see this one failing. it’ll probably be very successful in a few months-years time before it’s sold and him moving on to his new Asian empire.