If you look at Manchester's hospitality offering then one thing which has exploded in recent years is the number of quality Chinese restaurants, driven largely by the massive influx of wealthy Chinese students who've long started to arrive in the city and yet still want a taste of home. 

Back when I was a student, ironically on the very site which Yum Cha now sits, life as a student was vasty different.  Said overseas students routinely now buy city centre apartments outright to live in for 'free' for 4 years and then sell at a healthy profit, clothes shop in Harvey Nics and cruise down Oxford Road in their F458.  In my day of being a student meant that generally you were extremely broke most of the time, used the bus to get about, shopped in Afflecks and drank £1 pints in the student union.  It was a well appreciated and priceless lesson in hardship which taught me a lot about life in general.  How times change, but such a massive influx of overseas wealth it's a large part of why Manchester is now such a thriving city centre and has become a truly international destination in recent years, now unarguably being the nation's second city.

Now as with anywhere whilst in a new city, as much as visitors want that familiarity of home and what you're used to, there's often also an appetite for something local, different, new.  Such is the very point of travelling in my view; experiencing something that you can't get back home, at least not on the same level.  I don’t imagine that's any different for our studious visitors to be honest.

So seemingly in alignment to that, Yum Cha which sits on the edge of Kampus, aside the area's old warehouse buildings close to student central and Chinatown, no doubt strategically popped up ages ago.  We got wind of it at the time but just never popped in.  On the surface of things, it's not my kind of place to be honest, but when a friend suggested calling in we were happy to agree since dinners are often all about the company not the dinner itself, per se. 

Yum Cha literally translates into 'drink tea' and is an absolute Chinese ritual which usually takes place a bit earlier in the day than evening, which is when we were there.  That was my first ick.  You arrive and there's neon lights all over the shop.  Their power bill must be horrendous.  Second ick.  Then once inside, the aesthetic theme continues with a massive violet mural on the wall with 4 Chinese characters which mean 'business is good', according to Google Translate.  Confident stuff, which was then backed up by hammered dining room as we headed upstairs.

Our group of three took our seats and scanned over the menu which parades Yum Cha's wares; a selection of dim sum also roast meats, two Cantonese culinary cornerstones.  We'd visited Wing's, a Manchester icon, just a few weeks earlier so Yum Cha was going to struggle matching those levels of experience but some pleasant prawn crackers did their job as we finally made our choices.

Food comes out 'as it's ready' which to be fair you're told when ordering, and it wasn’t long before one of our three starters was served; a trio of spring rolls which looked great with their veneer of cooking oil, glistening away under those excessive lights. They were perfectly rolled, filled generously, all identical in size and fried to a wonderful golden hue.  The best things are simple things done well, and these were very good.  Maybe my grumpy middle aged judgementalism was misplaced here? 

The mains all landed close together fortunately, as we waited on those neglected starters.  Off the Big Plates section of the menu, Singapore Vermicelli (£12.95) was first up and our initial impression was that the portion size was massive.  A hefty serve of noods, veggies and also a tons of juicy prawns. Quite a few hadn't been deveined but sadly you expect that at casual dining level in the UK.  It was a bit lacking in both seasoning and the expected curry scent too, but for the amount charged it would be a push to say that this wasn’t good value or generally a success story.

I personally tucked into a selection of four roast meats (£13.95), with fried rice (+£1).  It was another blockbusting portion with no protein scrimping and some well-made rice, along with a side of chippy-esque curry sauce.  Sadly though, the meats were all more than a bit dry.  To be fair, you don’t need us to tell you that, as our photos do the job better than 1000 words could, as the old adage so truly says.  Tasty, enjoyable, a huge portion, but just OK really on the grand scale.  Anybody whos familiar with the Manchester OG that is Happy Seasons, or the best of the city's new wave such as Home or Chef Diao, will know the difference between the good yet still quite average, and the excellent. 

The story, which evidenced the consistency of our opinions, was the same with my dining partner who also went with the four roast meats option, but instead opted with chow mein (+£1) rather than fried rice options, for her chosen carb element.  There's salt and pepper chips on the menu for those who want to fully embrace the non-traditional vibe.

As we'd all but finished our 3 mains our other 2 starters finally showed up, by which time we didn’t really want them anymore to be fair, but hey.  A trio of Xiao Long Bau (£6) were admittedly very good indeed.  Crimped with precision and filled with gusto with that signature broth being loaded with flavour.  Pretty solid work all in all. 

And any Dim Sum order that I'm involved in will include some Siu Mai (£6); one of my very favourite things to eat.  Despite our dreadful photos thanks to a wave of steam, these were neatly formed and cooked really well, made with well-seasoned pork and the plumpness of whole prawn which aways pleases.  This was more evidence of a quality dim sum Chef working away behind the scenes.  If only I was still hungry after that massive roast meat bowl.

Tip; order your starters and then when they arrive, order your mains as to ensure that the whole 'served when ready' schtick doesn’t turn into the extreme.  I love the novelty of being able to order Siu Mai at 9PM, but who really wants to eat their appetisers, as was the intention of the dim sum here, after their mains?

We sat about and chatted post dinner and a Chinese family arrived, sitting on the table opposite to ours. It was the week before fresher's week, so not only were there a lot of new students in town, but a lot of accompanying parents too.  The group comprised of the two parents, a son in his very late teens/very early 20s and a younger daughter.  The son had just moved to Manchester for study and his parents had also flown over to help him settle in/to probably sign the apartment paperwork?

Dad looked bemused by the whole experience to be honest.  You could see 'What's going on here', written all over his face.  As he dug into his boiled rice and roast meats, the expression said it all; it wasn’t for him.  It's not what he's used to eating and isn’t as 'good' as what he eats back home.  And why would it be?  Dare I say it, his dinner probably didn’t even taste truly 'Chinese' to him.  He still polished the lot off to be fair.  I smiled to myself knowingly, moments after forming the same opinion myself.

So for a newer demographic of diners who want to try something new and different it ticks that box.   As a city we've enjoyed Wagamama and Tampopo for a generation, so why not try to appeal to those people with some fancy décor and a westernised spin on things.  And all things considered, it's at a price point which works in 2026.  So sure, Yum Cha isn’t 100% for me but clearly it is for a lot of people, which is all that really matters in a world that's driven by personal taste.  And let's be honest, it is something different and is a bit of fun.