I should probably start by firstly apologising for my appalling photos. As much as I’d like to think of myself a budding photographer, quite frankly that’s never going to happen to me or my right arm – that is the mobile phone. Armed with a 13 mega pixel camera, who needs an SLR – well maybe I do if below is anything to go by. Cha Cha Moon, located just off Carnaby Street is probably now a well-known institution in this part of town. Inside the restaurant is absolutely huge, always packed and always has a great atmosphere.
Food wise the focus here is on fast-casual, Pan-Asian cuisine. They’ve launched a new menu, which quite frankly all sounds delicious, and much more concise than their previous offerings. They’ve reduced the size of the menu and instead of serving a dish from just about every corner of Asia, they’ve decided to focus on more well-known specialities covering a smaller area. I really had no idea what to expect from Cha Cha Moon but was worried that the food would be a little chain like, or a carbon copy of Busaba. I couldn’t have been more wrong. To put us in the mood, a couple of cocktails went down a treat and so did the refreshing Thai crunch salad. Grilled chicken, fried wonton strips, shelled edamame, cucumber, carrot, lime, avocado and a peanut dressing. Presentation wise it didn’t exactly leave us salivating, but the flavour did all the talking.
Grilled chicken on sticks with a spicy satay sauce was the perfect appetiser to help wash down a few more of those delicious cocktails. Juicy chicken, utilising the brown meat which is a much better alternative as it retains juiciness and has much more flavour than the breast. The £6.50 price tag wasn’t bad too, in fact everything here was very well priced and considering its location (the heart of London) I couldn’t think of a better place to put my money for a good meal before a night out on the town.
I’m a huge fan of a laksa and if you keep an eye on my Twitter you’ll have probably noticed photos popping up now and again. My current obsession has been with Phat Phuc on the King’s Road. They serve a huge laksa filled with fresh prawns, a deep, spicy coconut curry based broth and very good noodles. Cha Cha Moon on the other hand go all out when it comes to their version, and fill the bowl with just about everything. King prawns, chicken, tofu, boiled egg, green beans, vermicelli noodles – all swimming in an intense coconut curry broth. It was good, but it just needed an extra hit of sambal chilli paste and a little more depth. For £8.50 you can hardly complain, and for what it’s worth I actually loved the tofu in it, the juices get absorbed and let loose once in the mouth. Heaven.
And then there was this. Easily the best thing we ate here, and a reason to come back alone. For £25 you’ll have the pleasure of eating this gigantic Singapore chilli crab served in a wok the size of our table. Filled with a huge mud crab (maybe even two I couldn’t work it out) and sweet chilli sauce which wasn’t sickly and very moorish. Made up with shallots, red chillies, ginger, garlic and guess what, even more crab. All those white – there is no shortage or holding back here. Get your bib on and dig in – because this is extremely messy business. It’s accompanied by a plate full of sweet, glazed fluffy buns to use for mopping up all the crabby mess. If you find yourself here at Cha Cha Moon do not leave without eating this dish, and make sure you bring friends – lots of them.
Dessert was a let down, but in fact not really much fault of Cha Cha Moon. Out of experience (lots of eating) Asia isn’t really known for their sweet tooth. We had a couple of different desserts, and out of all of them the mango pudding was the best. Sweet, creamy and with a fresh mango flavour. Despite my original reservations about Cha Cha Moon I was pleasantly surprised. Relaxed attentive service, consistent cooking and affordable prices to match. There isn’t much not to like about Cha Cha Moon, and I for one can’t wait to come back.
7/10
