Alan Yau has reason to remember the last recession with more fondness than most. While others were struggling to survive in straitened times, he was launching his biggest and most successful restaurant concept - Wagamama.

So now, amid a new slump and a probably steeper downturn, he is at it again, only more so. He is about to open the second outlet of his new Cha Cha Moon noodle bar - and this hard on the heels of launching Princi, an Italian bakery and bar.

“I think the set of economic circumstances are very similar to where we are now,” he said of the time he opened the first Wagamama in Bloomsbury, Central London, in 1992. And similar times call for similar approaches: Cha Cha Moon is Mr Yau's self-confessed attempt to reinvent Wagamama, in which he was forced to sell his stake in 1998 after being bought out by a private equity partner.

“Good budget restaurants tend to thrive in times of recession, so you could say that this is actually an opportune moment for a brand like Cha Cha Moon,” Mr Yau said. “An economic slowdown could be simply interpreted as an opportunity for a new creative challenge.

“Of course, there will be added pressure to deliver and perhaps funding will become harder to come by, but, as a consequence, you just have to be that much more focused and determined. To me, a good idea will always transcend such circumstances, as long as you stick to your guns.”

Mr Yau opened the first Cha Cha Moon in Soho in May and a second is set to open in Whiteley's in West London next month. The concept is “still in development phase” and another two outlets will open next year if the right sites can be found. His aim is to have between ten and twenty in the capital within three to five years.

Yet Cha Cha Moon has yet to make money. Mr Yau has priced every dish at £3.50, an introductory offer that he would like to keep in place until next year. “Certain things are still not working for the consumer, so I am hoping that the pricing is the trade off for them,” he said.

It is working for the lunchtime punters in Soho, who queue out of the door on most days, much to the ire of one or two restaurant reviewers perhaps more used to being swept to a table at Mr Yau's Michelin-starred Hakkasan or Yauatcha restaurants.

Princi, his other new concept, which opened its doors in October, is proving equally as popular. Unlike most bakeries, this joint venture with Rocco Princi, the Milanese master baker, has an alcohol licence and opens late in the evenings offering hot snacks alongside the cakes, pastries and cocktails. Mr Yau wants ten Princis around London in the medium term, targeting areas such as Covent Garden.

The expansion of these two chains comes on top of plans to open 50 more of his upmarket Hakkasan and Yauatcha restaurants worldwide after securing $120 million (£81.1million) in funding from Tasameem, the property unit of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, this year. He also plans to open 30 more Busaba Eathai, his mid-market Thai chain, with the backing of a new partner, Phoenix Equity Partners, which is putting £21.5 million into the project.

Mr Yau said that his network of restaurants in London makes him similar to a boutique hotelier. He told this month's Palladium magazine: “Anyone can do a boutique hotel and these concepts are extremely boutique. I just want an entity that can be truly world class and iconic and from a political standpoint can touch everyone around the globe - that to me is exciting.”

He compares his ambitions to Steve Jobs, of Apple, whose company was taken to a new level by the development of the iPod. “The iPod is extremely egalitarian, capable of reaching out to the masses, and has become a truly iconic and world-class product. That for me is important in terms of defining success. What I would like to do is really have a product that defines itself beyond the straightforward definition of a restaurant.”

CV

Born 1962, Hong Kong

Education Studied politics and philosophy at London Metropolitan University

Career Returned to Hong Kong (had moved to King's Lynn, Norfolk, with family when aged 12) to train as McDonald's franchisee, before moving to London to open the first Wagamama restaurant in 1992. In 1998 he was forced out of Wagamama by a private equity partner. He opened the first Busaba Eathai in 2000, then followed with Hakkasan in 2001 and Yauatcha in 2004

What they say about Yauatcha

“However good the food was, this is the sort of restaurant that makes me want to saw off my foot and leave it on the table until it goes green, just to slap the punters and the staff out of their dopey minimalist trance.” - Giles Coren, The Times restaurant critic, in 2004

Times Recommends

• Minister in talks with Saudis to protect creditors
• Premier Inn hits back in £29-a-room row
• Bankers hit back at 'populist' bonus supertax