15-21 Ganton Street, W1F 9BN. Nearest tube: Oxford Circus.
Meals served 11.30am-11pm Mon-Thur; 11.30am-11.30pm Fri, Sat; noon-10.30pm Sun
Main courses £7-£8
Telephone: 020 7297 9800
On Thursday night we headed to Cha Cha Moon. A Chinese restaurant right in the heart of trendy Soho. The first thing that strikes me about Cha Cha Moon is the decor: it is incredibly stylish with an open kitchen and a bar at the back. The tables are long benches and there is also a good garden space. Of course the decor is not the main thing you want in a restaurant, that’s the food and the service. Both of which are first-class here. The atmosphere was buzzing and very much in keeping with the Soho surroundings.
I have to admit that I love chinese food. We started with the chicken dumplings and Cha cha mooli. The dumplings were excellent. They were crispy and tasted divine when dipped in the perfectly seasoned garlic chilli sauce. The Cha cha mooli was something I’d never had before, but it looked very interesting on the menu. It was Turnip cake, dried shrimp, Chinese chive, Chinese salami beansprout, spring onion, egg. It didn’t disappoint, everything somehow came together in a dish that was delightfully different.
We also had the Seafood ho fun which is Scallop, prawn, squid, red and green pepper, onion, black bean, ho fun. It tasted superb and the portion was very generous. Everything, particularly the seafood, was perfectly cooked. We also had Crispy duck lao mian: Crispy duck, cucumber, cū mian, we really enjoyed this classic chinese dish with the noodles Cha Cha Moon specialises in.
For dessert we had Banana and melon fritters. I had never had melon fritters before and they tasted just as good as the banana fritters. The fritters came in a deliciously warm sugary syrup. The cool vanilla cream on the side was the perfect contrast and when it was all combined with the crispy fritters it was a simply fantastic dessert.
Cha Cha Moon also does very good drinks. An expert cocktail maker is constantly at work behind the bar and there is a good selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails. We had the Golden Sunrise (Peach, mango, mint, goji berry), Chan Chan Tei (Beetroot, spinach, pear, apple), Pina Colada (White rum, pineapple, coconut, cream) and Mango Juice.
I loved my Pina Colada. It was superbly made. The Chan Chan Tei was a great savoury drink and very healthy.
The service was excellent. The food came extremely quickly and everyone was very warm and friendly. Highly recommended.