Mama Yo gets a lot of things right like the dumplings and the décor — but I’d love to see a bit more punch and pungency in the dishes, writes Leslie Williams 

Homemade dumplings and fancy décor, that’s what I hoped for when I visited Mama Yo, the new enormous Chinese restaurant that opened on busy Camden Street earlier this year.

It really shouldn’t matter who owns a restaurant but it is relevant that Mama Yo is yet another Press Up joint: one of 65 restaurants bars and hotels they own — from Wowburger and Captain Americas to the Dean and the Clarence. I admit to being conflicted by Press Up — on the one hand, they have transformed derelict buildings; they saved Tower Records; and brilliantly revamped the Stella Cinema in Rathmines turning it into possibly the most comfortable and stylish cinema in the country. On the other hand, I worry that they are outbidding all the young chefs and entrepreneurs for the best spots and sometimes it feels like the food offerings get less attention than the door handles.

Mama Yo sounded different, however — it opened in February this year with a full Chinese crew in the kitchen under the guidance of head chef, Daming Lu. The restaurant manager is also Chinese as was our charming waitress, Claire — and, unlike many an Asian restaurant in Dublin, this kitchen is making its own dumplings from scratch.

Mama Yo has a rather narrow frontage onto busy Camden Street but the restaurant is enormous with lots of rich red tones softened by wood panelling and a mix of booths and banquette seating — there are even two artfully lit large trees.

The menu has lots of familiar dishes but also some more adventurous options. First to arrive were some prawn crackers and a spicy cucumber salad followed by some steamed Chicken and Prawn Wonton (€11.50). The wontons had been a suggestion from our waiter and were the dish of the night — a delicate satiny exterior and a meaty filling and a properly pungent chilli and soy dip. Steamed Lotus Buns (€11.95) with Tempura Soft-shell Crab were nicely constructed but a little too bland for our taste — happily a slosh of the chilli-soy dip from the wontons made them delicious.

Cheung Fun is perhaps my favourite dim sum dish, luscious silky steamed rice noodle pockets filled with say bbq pork (char-siu) or prawns. Mama Yo’s version is more decorative and comes in flavourful bite-sized pieces filled with crispy prawn and asparagus (€11.50) — the sauce was a little sweet for our taste but these still worked well.

We shared a main course of XO Sauce Red Atlantic Prawns (€24.50) which had lots of fat prawns and a good hit of umami, as you would expect from a sauce made from dried fish. Once again I felt the sauce needed more heat or fermented pungency to lift the flavours. On the side, some Silken Tofu (€8.25) unexpectedly came as a mound of deep-fried nuggets. The contrast between the crisp crumbed exterior and the delicate silken interior was pleasing but I would have preferred the tofu on its own, perhaps with a drizzle of chilli or soy.

The wine list is short and conventional (Pinot Grigio, Marlborough Sauvignon etc) but was saved by the selection of wines from Château La Coste — the fine Provence estate owned by Press Up’s Paddy Mckillen. Our bottle of La Coste Grenache Blanc-Viognier was fragrant and fresh and matched the food well. The Cocktail list is serviceable but the beer and cider offering is utterly dull with only beers made by multinationals — surely there is room for a couple of independent craft beers and ciders?

Desserts of Chocolate Delice (€8.95) had Ice Cream Selection (€6.95) were solid enough although the texture on the delice was too chewy for my taste.

So I realise I have whinged a bit today, but I am not sure Mama Yo is aimed at the guy who orders Husband and Wife Lung Slices and Chicken Feet (i.e. me) — go for the dumplings, the décor and the charming staff. You’ll have fun.

Dinner for 2 including three rounds of dumplings, a shared main course and a side plus two desserts and a bottle of white wine cost a very fair €118.10

Mama Yo gets a lot of things right like the dumplings and the décor — but I’d love to see a bit more punch and pungency in the dishes.

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