Alan Yau’s latest incarnation of Asian fast food (he was the creator of Wagamama and Busaba Eathai, after all) is quick and friendly, but despite the low prices you shouldn’t expect miracles of the food.

The Venue
Cha Cha Moon is located on Ganton Street in Soho, steps away from Carnaby Street – you’ll know you’re there when you see the square, blue plexiglass windows and immense red door. Walk down the entranceway and peer into the kitchen through another sheet of plexiglass – pink this time – before entering the restaurant area.

The decor is basic, and unfortunately dark and almost cave-like thanks to the low, boxy, rectangular lamps that make you feel like the ceiling is inches away from your head. The light fixtures also block the actual ceiling, which is made of bamboo poles. Like Wagamama, the seats come in the form of long, communal tables, but these are a bit more upscale, with thick wooden tops and cushy one- and two-seater stools instead of benches. Also like Wagamama, there’s an open plan kitchen so you can have a peek at the chefs. Alongside the wall is a stretch of a high table with bar-style seats that overlook the other diners. All in all, aside from the little bird cartoons on the menus and placemats, there’s not too much to look at, and if you’re sitting at one end of the restaurant the endless view of rows and rows of tables can feel a bit monotonous.

The Atmosphere
The restaurant soaks up much of the din you’d expect to find in other restaurants with communal tables, and the seats are well spaced so you won’t have to worry about knocking elbows, feet and bags with the strangers next to you. Service is cheerful and helpful as well, with uniforms that consist of Henry Holland-style purple t-shirts that ask ‘Are you going to the moon?’ with a silvery crescent where the moon should be. Customers mainly seem like local Soho media workers, and there are a few solo diners as well as small groups.

The Food
Cha Cha Moon is a Chinese noodle bar, and it does what it says on the tin, serving noodles, noodles and more noodles – lo mein, cold noodles, soup noodles and wok noodles, to be precise. The restaurant looks like it’s trying to aim at Chinese foodies and Chinese food experts, as the menu is in two languages and doesn’t go into too much detail about what the dishes are made of. Prices at the moment are extraordinarily low at just £3.50 per dish (and they’re quite large portions as well), but this is a promotional offer that’s scheduled to last anywhere between a few more weeks and a few more months. Once the promotion is over, though, the dishes are scheduled to be no more than £7 max.

Although there are lots of interesting choices on the menu, the food is pretty much hit and miss. The crispy duck lao mian is duck served with noodles and slices of cucumber, but the duck meat tastes dry and crumbly and the skin is anything but crispy. The noodles are almost curly, like they’ve been crimped, but although it’s an interesting texture the sauce is a bit too salty and the noodles have been unevenly heated so that the ones on the bottom are cold. It comes with miso soup, which is subtle without the usual sharp taste, but a piece or two of tofu wouldn’t go amiss.

The Taiwan beef noodle soup is decent at first, with chunks of tender meat braised in a sweet sauce nestled amongst a tangle of noodles in the soup. However, a few turns of the spoon and you’ll uncover cubes of fat, almost as big as the chunks of beef – it might be good for flavouring the soup but it’s not the best for inspiring the appetite. Side dishes include some very good Schezuan chicken wontons, four little dim sum-sized steamed wontons filled with meaty chunks of chicken. The spicy and tangy sauce the wontons are sitting in fills up half the bowl and you can see the chopped chilli peppers that they’ve used to give it its kick.

The Drink
No long wine list here: like the food, the drinks are fast, fast, fast. Three cocktails are available for £5, whilst 250ml of wine (one red, one white, one ‘pink’) will only run you £4.90. Harbin, a Chinese beer, is on offer for £3.30 or £6 depending on size, and there three choices of juice as well. The Holy Vaasna, made of apple, carrot, cucumber and orange (£2.90), is freshly pressed, with a layer of froth on top. Although the bright orange colour might put you off, it’s worth a try – sweet but not sugary and refreshing after the heavy flavours of the food.

The Last Word
With tourist-magnet Piccadilly Circus a couple of streets away you could certainly do worse for your money. And if you couldn’t afford Yauatcha or Sake No Hana, this latest Alan Yau venture is definitely wallet-friendly. Just come expecting Wagamama, not Kai Mayfair.

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