Uncle Wah, North Street: 'A name change to Uncle Wah-gamamas may be apt'

Beware waht you see on the internet

In the same week that we saw the closure of one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Bristol, Willow Garden, another officially opened.

When Willow Garden opened on North Street some 52 years ago, I doubt there was a queue of people looking for free food in exchange for ‘promo’ at their door. Back then, a food business’ longevity was ensured by word of mouth, which could only bought with genuinely good food and service. And evidently Willow Garden’s food was genuinely good.

These days many restaurants are happy to take the shortcut into people’s hearts and minds. If their Instagram page is to be believed, Uncle Wah is already the home of the best dim sum you will eat in your whole life. Having been open for exactly one week, it is mind-blowing. It is a thousand fire emojis. It should be at the top of everyone’s list.

But you shouldn’t believe everything you see on the internet (she writes, also on the internet).

So can Uncle Wah hope to match Willow Garden’s legacy?

Well. The menu sure read like that of an authentic Chinese restaurant, in that it will take you a good twenty minutes to get through it. Oh joy! You get to read it all again when you have to order via the QR code on the table. Grrr. A covid hangover we could all do without.

The payoff was three baskets of perfectly formed dumplings; crystal shrimp, minced pork and crab roe, and glutinous rice siu mai (all £6.49). They were generous with hunks of prawn and the hau gum - mouthfeel - is satisfying chewy and bouncy.

Very decent dim sum

If there’s one thing influencers love, it is portion sizes. I suppose when you’re getting your food for free you do want as much as possible, to last you through the long dark night until your next #invite. So it is no wonder they are so enamoured by Wah, where the portion sizes are generous. Make sure you’re prepped with an elasticated waistband.

A tangle of delicious ho fun

Beef ho fun (£13.99) were commendable, boasting of wok hei and curling round on themselves for extra bite. A ‘roast’ duck noodle salad (£13.99) was also very enjoyable although the duck was seemed much fried and not roasted.

Why is breast always used for chicken katsu? Breast is not best. You could also ask why is katsu curry (£13.99) on the menu in a Cantonese dim sum parlour, but alas I cannot provide the answer. At Wah, a floury sauce did little to rescue dry chicken, and chemical-imbued ginger pickles were the cherry on the cake.

Fresher than your new trainers

In the constant search for post-Woky Ko bao in a baorran lanscape, we were excited by the possibilities Uncle Wah presented.

Unfortunately, here they’d spent slightly too long proving and then had been stuffed with dry prawn (£12.99) and chicken (£10.99), topped with too-sweet chilli sauce. These suggest a name change to Uncle Wah-gamamas may be apt.

I’m optimistic that when Uncle Wah start serving their promised roast meats, a hunk of pork in one of those buns will change things. And how will you know when they start serving meats? You need not worry about missing it - your timeline will be more polluted than Bristol’s rivers.

Bristol is still missing the early days of Woky Ko excellence

Below the katsu on the menu, but miles ahead of it in skill and flavour was pan fried turnip cake in XO sauce (£11.99). Sat atop a just-crisp pancake were generous cubes of turnip, pillowy centred and coated in XO, the umami champion of sauces. This was a dish worth returning for.

This stood out on a very busy table

There are already rumours of a second Uncle Wah site on Gloucester Road, which says a lot about where the ambitions behind this business lie. It is a format that will be easy to roll out and one that is designed to appeal to the masses.

I’ve been criticised before for obfuscating; writing a thousand words and no one knows whether the restaurant is worth visiting or not. What can I say; I’m a diplomat.

But it’s all subjective isn’t it? If you’re looking for a crowd-pleasing, slightly tame dim sum spot where you can get a main and a bamboo steamer for £20, Wah’s is probably just waht you’re after.

But next time I’m on the hunt for dim sum or authentic Cantonese or roast meats, I can count a few places I’d sooner visit. In the ranking of Uncles, Wah comes somewhere between Roger and Ben. But remember - don’t trust everything you see on the internet.

All words and photos by Meg Houghton-Gilmour

Uncle Wah, 240 North St, BS3 1JD

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