A London institution for Chinese food, Hakkasan continues to tickle my palette with every bite and every visit. My latest visit to Hakkasan was with three of my best friends, and we went to the Hanway place restaurant; the original. The vibe of the restaurant is super trendy, chic and glamorous. The icy blue lit restaurant is contemporary in its presentation yet authentic in its cuisine and Chinese accents of the latticed screens that adorn the interior. To start we ordered the dim sum platter, the crispy duck roll and the sesame prawn toast. All came on time, and the dim sum was cooked perfectly with the scallop dumpling being the best one, whereas the chive dimpling, har gau and shimeji dumplings were all good but not exceptional. The crispy ducks rolls and sesame prawn toasts were also good, but not extraordinary in that they did not ignite any sirens. To follow we ordered the Rib Eye Beef, the Lamb Chops, the duck and a side of asparagus. The rib eye beef was perfectly cooked medium well, and had the refreshing zest of black pepper, and the lamb chops were also a delectable choice and were soft and melted in my mouth. Compared to the other dishes the duck was quite underwhelming, but in its own merit it stands to be quite decent, however I wouldn’t recommend it over the lamb chops or rib eye. The asparagus also stood to be quite good and was smothered in black bean and soy sauce. For drinks we ordered the Chinese Mule; it is highly refreshing and recommended. The cucumber martini is also a delight with a twist of ginger. Despite the steep bill, Hakkasan is highly recommended and is a Mecca for Chinese food and comes as no surprise in being the first Chinese restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star.
8 Hanway Place, London W1T 1HD
