Guess who finally went to Hakkasan? This girl! Yeah, this is pretty much how excited I was all week before I went to the famous Cantonese restaurant. Opened in 2001, Hakkasan Hanway Place is the original birthplace of what has since become an international celebration of oriental fine dining. Alan Yau’s Hakkasan has since become a name spoken in some of the world’s most vibrant cities – New York, Las Vegas, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai to name but a few, and there are now a total of 12 restaurants. Despite having heard brilliant things about the Mayfair restaurant, I felt that my first experience of Hakkasan should be at the original.
Hakkasan Hanway place is located down an otherwise unremarkable slightly seedy Dickensian backstreet, so you’d be forgiven for accusing Citymapper of having led you on a wild goose chase. However, once you pass the doorman and begin the descent into the luxurious subterranean restaurant, the scent of Chinese incense and the stunning interiors, assure you that you’ve come to the right place. Conceptualised by French interior designer Christian Liaigre, the décor beautifully fuses traditional Chinese elements with sleek modern interiors. The dark charcoal coloured slate tiles, and the vast interior compartmentalised into a labyrinth of cosier spaces by intricate oriental screens. The dramatic interiors are further enhanced by equally dramatic lighting creating a moody yet sophisticated nightclub atmosphere (luckily without the hip grinding and white plastic cups). The low-level lighting creates a sophisticated atmosphere and each table is lit overhead to ensure that the food receives the spotlight it deserves.
After perusing the cocktail list we just couldn’t resist, and I went for The Ruby Tang. The Ruby Tang is my kinda cocktail: it’s pink, it has dried rosebuds as a garnish, and it’s sweet and refreshing. Made with Hendrick’s gin, HK Baijiu, lychee, pomegranate and rosewater it was fragrant, refreshing and fruity…dangerous! After gulping down two Ruby Tang’s in quick succession, and having first gone to Hakkasan’s sister restaurant Yauatcha for cocktails…I was a little tipsy, to say the least. Don’t let that undermine my following opinions of the food however, I always remember good food, however many cocktails I’ve had!
The menu at Hakkasan is famed for bringing a modern flair to traditional Cantonese food, and in Hanway Place, this has helped retain a Michelin Star since 2003. So you could say I was expecting big things, Dim Sum with a difference you could say.
Firstly, the menu was overwhelming and I wanted to order everything, but nobody’s stomach (or bank account) could stretch to that. However, I don’t think you can go to Hakkasan and not get Dim Sum of some description, after all, it’s the place that made Dim Sum sexy. So naturally first we went for the Supreme Dim Sum Platter: gold leaf lychee and lobster dumpling, abalone and chicken shui mai with caviar, royal king crab jade dumpling and dover sole dumpling with black truffle. Fun fact: Dim Sum means ‘touch the heart’ in Cantonese, a translation that I can definitely get on board with. The heart touching Dim Sum looked beautiful, like a treasure box full of gems, with beautiful colours and toppings to each dumpling. My favourites were the royal king crab jade dumpling which was filled with succulent and sweet Alaskan crab which made a delicious rich meaty filling, and the king of the dumplings crowned appropriately with gold leaf, the lychee, and lobster dumpling. The beautiful and identifiable flavour of the lobster, also meaty but slightly sweeter and lighter than the crab, paired with the fruity-like twist of the lychee addition.
Next we went for the Salt and Pepper squid which was my least favourite dish that we ordered. The spicy sauces they came with (which I can’t now find on the menu), were delicious but for me the squid was too thickly cut and I prefer my batter to be crispier, the dish was overshadowed by the Dim Sum, but still very tasty.
Finally, we ordered the Peking duck with pancakes, whole duck with 16 pancakes, baby cucumber, and spring onion. Despite costing £100, this dish is an absolute must if you are prepared to go all out. They prepare it for you, in plates of four pancakes each, with a layer of ridiculously crispy and mouth-watering duck, on a bed of (I sound like the Masterchef voiceover), baby cucumber and spring onion. This is all on top of Hakkasan’s version of the traditional pancakes, which are slightly thicker and breadier. These arrived with a dipping bowl of traditional sauce, which suited me perfectly as I like lots and lots! This honestly blew my mind and WHEN I return, I will order it again, one million percent!
By this point in the evening, suffice it to say I was a little tipsy. This is therefore the only excuse I can give (other than my tummy was stuffed to bursting), that I didn’t order a dessert. I’ve lusted over the extraordinary desserts at Hakkasan for ages, so I’m disappointed in myself. I guess that’s just an excuse for another visit (maybe drunk me didn’t get it so wrong after all…)
