Yu & You

Reviews

• Yu and Yu... needs some work

  Yu & Yu is at first blush a highly desirable anglicized Cantonese restaurant in the very pleasant Ribble Valley. On further investigation, the substance is revealed to be far less than the form.Once you are over the exotic cars in the parking lot, ranging from Bentleys to Porsche Cayenne Turbos, the weak service, average food and pretentiousness will be all too clear.I have visited Yu & Yu maybe 5 or 6 times in the last couple of years with an average spend of approximately 60 pounds per person.In the Ribble Valley there truly is no comparison. The interior is like a “W Hotel” on steroids, the music is cool jazz / ambient music and the ikea-esque furniture creates an interior atmosphere that is by any account “cool” for the 20 and 30 somethings, all the way through to my retired parents. The food similarly, has not much to compare to. In my world, compare the food, at a basic level, to that of Guide Village Cantonese from the early 1990s. (Note that it should be pointed out that the food comparison is really only valid for my early visits to Yu and Yu.)Tonight, I have arrived home deeply disappointed. The food was ok. Not exceptional by a long way. The shrimp / prawn dishes contained few prawn, and were more Cho’s Takeaway than an impressive Cantonese restaurant (and 16 pounds for very few small shrimp with ginger borders on the ridiculous). The duck however, remains an impressive dish, though at 21 pounds for a half duck, so it should. (For reference, either branch of the Peking Duck House in New York, considered to be likely the best in New York, charges US$40 for a whole duck).The Vermicelli noodles had the spice of a limp cucumber, and the shrimp tempura batter was like chip shop batter from the Blackpool seafront after it has been regurgitated by a drunk football fan.The biggest disappointment however was the service. From walking up to the bar and asking for a menu, through to the coffees at the end of the meal (we gave up on the coffee: more than15 minutes wait with only approximately 10 other people in the restaurant, and 5 staff at 10.15pm on a Monday is unacceptable) the service was woeful. I spoke to the gentleman who appeared to be in charge after the initial appetizers about the service, but the improvement in service lasted barely a course or so. His father, who I understand maybe the owner, was sat at the bar listened when I cancelled the coffee at the end of the evening and did nothing.My personal viewpoint is that there are enough people with silly money walking into this place that there is a fantastic complacency here and that the management team doesn’t care. I had zero bill credit, left a “standard” tip, and only received a response that my comments were appreciated. For those who wish to flame me, I have lived in Hong Kong, and traveled and worked widely in Asia, and currently live in New York, so I have visited many of the comparable restaurants, in Asia and New York, and understand the balance between service, food quality, experience and price.In summary, in my opinion, Yu and Yu is overpriced mediocrity, with a bent towards miserable service. Management would be well advised to wake up to how much the place has slipped over the last couple of years.

  Foodienyc
  Review Date: 12/09/2008 Report review
• Yu and Yu... needs some work

  Yu & Yu is at first blush a highly desirable anglicized Cantonese restaurant in the very pleasant Ribble Valley. On further investigation, the substance is revealed to be far less than the form. Once you are over the exotic cars in the parking lot, ranging from Bentleys to Porsche Cayenne Turbos, the weak service, average food and pretentiousness will be all too clear. I have visited Yu & Yu maybe 5 or 6 times in the last couple of years with an average spend of approximately 60 pounds per person. In the Ribble Valley there truly is no comparison. The interior is like a “W Hotel” on steroids, the music is cool jazz / ambient music and the ikea-esque furniture creates an interior atmosphere that is by any account “cool” for the 20 and 30 somethings, all the way through to my retired parents. The food similarly, has not much to compare to. In my world, compare the food, at a basic level, to that of Guide Village Cantonese from the early 1990s. (Note that it should be pointed out that the food comparison is really only valid for my early visits to Yu and Yu.) Tonight, I have arrived home deeply disappointed. The food was ok. Not exceptional by a long way. The shrimp / prawn dishes contained few prawn, and were more Cho’s Takeaway than an impressive Cantonese restaurant (and 16 pounds for very few small shrimp with ginger borders on the ridiculous). The duck however, remains an impressive dish, though at 21 pounds for a half duck, so it should. (For reference, either branch of the Peking Duck House in New York, considered to be likely the best in New York, charges US$40 for a whole duck). The Vermicelli noodles had the spice of a limp cucumber, and the shrimp tempura batter was like chip shop batter from the Blackpool seafront after it has been regurgitated by a drunk football fan. The biggest disappointment however was the service. From walking up to the bar and asking for a menu, through to the coffees at the end of the meal (we gave up on the coffee: more than15 minutes wait with only approximately 10 other people in the restaurant, and 5 staff at 10.15pm on a Monday is unacceptable) the service was woeful. I spoke to the gentleman who appeared to be in charge after the initial appetizers about the service, but the improvement in service lasted barely a course or so. His father, who I understand maybe the owner, was sat at the bar listened when I cancelled the coffee at the end of the evening and did nothing. My personal viewpoint is that there are enough people with silly money walking into this place that there is a fantastic complacency here and that the management team doesn’t care. I had zero bill credit, left a “standard” tip, and only received a response that my comments were appreciated. For those who wish to flame me, I have lived in Hong Kong, and traveled and worked widely in Asia, and currently live in New York, so I have visited many of the comparable restaurants, in Asia and New York, and understand the balance between service, food quality, experience and price. In summary, in my opinion, Yu and Yu is overpriced mediocrity, with a bent towards miserable service. Management would be well advised to wake up to how much the place has slipped over the last couple of years.

  10

  Gareth L.
  Review Date: 02/09/2008 Report review