While at Sake No Hana, Jon and I found ourselves saying things like “the food here isn’t as delicious and exciting as it is at Hakkasan.” And then it occurred to me that I hadn’t been back to Hakkasan in well over a year. (My last two meals at Hakkasan were in November and December 2006).
While both those meals were pricey, I remember thinking at the time that if we ordered a little more carefully (i.e., cut back on the cocktails and £35+ main courses), Hakkasan would still be a great-tasting and far more affordable experience.
So last Sunday, Jon and I took my in-town-for-the-week parents to Hakkasan, hoping the food was still as good as we remembered and looking forward to trying the Sunday dim sum menu.
Of course we ordered up a storm – everything from traditional xiao long bao (with a nice, crab-tinted pork filling) to dishes with a twist, like the prawn and gai lan cheung fun pictured above (£4.50). The crunchy gai lan added contrasting texture to the silky, sticky rice noodle, as well as a pretty green color to go with the pink juiciness of the prawn.
Another standout were the scallop shu mai topped with salty roe (£5.20). The scallops were plump and sweet (and oh, how pretty!). I shouldn’t have been surprised that these were so good, considering how much Jon and I love to order them at Yauatcha, Hakksan’s dim sum-only sibling.
Turnip cake was another example of how Hakkasan takes a classic dish and adds just a little something to make it special. The turnip cake was beautifully pan fried so that it had the nice brown crispy bits on the outside, and then it was topped with a layer of delicate, fragrant, crunchy garlic chive blossoms.
Unable to resist ordering main courses as well as dim sum, Jon and I revisited our favorite, the Duke of Berkshire pork belly clay pot (still deliciously salty and tender), and we enjoyed the garlicky sauteed morning glory and tofu-and-mushroom claypot, too. The tofu was so slinky and rich that at first bite, I thought I’d bitten into a layer of pork belly fat. What a nice surprise to figure out that it was, in fact, tofu.
We ordered a few pots of tea, and the best value one, hands down, was the “four seasons oolong,” which had a tangy, leafy scent.
Service was attentive and helpful, recommending the tasty morning glory after apologizing that the restaurant didn’t have the sauteed snow pea leaves we wanted. Tap water was no problem.
Most of the dim sum were £4-6 each, and we stuck with mains that were £10-15, so six dim sum, three mains and tea totaled £85. Not a bad total for four people dining at a very chic restaurant serving high-quality food. Next time, I won’t wait a year to go back.
Hakkasan, 8 Hanway Place, W1T 1HD, 0207 927 7000; closest Tube station: Tottenham Court Road
I went to Hakkasan last week and it was a shadow of its former self. Steamed dim sum the size of footballs that was overwhelmed with msg. Service was poor too – a colleague suggests that this is because staff have left as they no longer receive bonuses for recommending (and selling) high-value dishes such as Peking Duck.
Unless they’ve changed policy recently, dim sum has always been available at lunch every day – you just have to specifically request the dim sum menu, which I find really sneaky of them! The scallop shumai and cheung funs are definitely my favourites… last time a friend and I easily ate for under £20 a head for lunch by sticking to the dim sum – not bad for a Michelin-starred meal!
I don’t like the way they try to sell you the more expensive items by giving out lots of copies of the main menu and just one of the dim sum, when you’re going for lunch and expecting dim sum! I had to ask for two more dim sum menus. And then I had to avoid ordering dim sum items from the main menu, because they cost double the price listed on the dim sum menu! But I must say, the turnip cake was the BEST I’ve ever had. In my life.
Helen Yuet Ling
Maybe it’s because the restaurant has gotten all this feedback about the availability of the dim sum menu, but we were all provided copies of the dim sum menu as well as of the “regular” menu as soon as we were seated. So for what it’s worth, I didn’t feel steered in the direction of expensive dishes at all (unlike at Sake no hana).
[...] for me to keep my list to five, which I guess is why making lists can be valuable. Pearl Liang, Hakkasan, Le Cafe Anglais, Tayyabs, Tomoe and the Marquess, for example, were places where my money and time [...]
Went to the Hakkasan in Mayfair and was bitterly disappointed…have never spent so much money on such average food. Maybe this is worth a try?