Located on that trendoid patch of Weinbergsweg next to Galão coffee bar, the year-and-half-old Yumcha Heroes simply oozes designer sensibilities, from the push-button sliding glass door to the multimedia toilet experience. The place brags about its tiny portions as if they were a superior selling claim.
The food itself is presented as something precious and exclusive – and the prices on the menu really boost your expectations. Here, down-to-earth, lovingly-prepared-from-scratch Chinese steamed dumplings have been pimped up for the Mitte after-work crowd and transformed into a kind of Asian tapas. The portions are, at any rate, suited to light snacking: the rather small steamed dumplings arrive in a bamboo basket (unless you like them knusprig – pan-fried), four per serving for an average of €5. Clearly the customers at Yumcha aren’t there to stuff their faces, but to sip wine (priced according to a “Good”, “Better” and “Best” scale) while nibbling on some exotic delights.
And what of the food? We were a little underwhelmed: obviously the creative team in the kitchen made a point of experimenting with new flavours – adding ginger and cinnamon here or there, shrouding their cute creations in pretty shades of orange. Originality is good, but we felt the Preis-Leistung, as they say in Germany, wasn’t quite up to par, considering Wok Show (an ‘authentic’ family-run joint on Greifenhagener Straße in northern Prenzlauer Berg whose interior doesn’t stand much chance of a Wallpaper magazine write-up) gives you five times as many dumplings for the same price… and you know what? They’re twice as tasty!