“Plates to be delighted with, not surprised by.”
It’s 8pm on a Monday, so all things considered I’m not expecting Hakkasan to be busy. Somewhat guilty at choosing a restaurant owned by an investment company in times like these, (as opposed to a local eatery,) I’m nonetheless excited to make my way down the all too familiar steps to this all too familiar ever-slightly-too-dark burrow, in an otherwise forgettable corner of Fitzrovia. As the restaurant unfolds, it’s about as busy as you’d expect it to be on any given Monday, and the staff are attentive without being overbearing. Hakkasan is a well-oiled machine, you are in very capable hands.
The Drinks:
My cocktail of choice was the “Mistress of Deception”: This cocktail invites its drinker to pop a bubble of smoke with a ceremonial spear of orange rind, adding some decidedly Instagram-able theatre to what would otherwise be a rather pedestrian (albeit very delicious) champagne cocktail. It’s what a good cocktail should be – creative, fun, and very moreish. I can’t say I could decipher each individual flavour, but together, they made for a tasty glass of sweet and sticky pomegranate- deliciousness, that was good enough for me to order another without hesitation.
The Food:
I’ll admit it – if it were up to me, I would have shrimp tempura, and the “Supreme” dim sum selection every single time, and leave more than happy. However, in celebration of the fact that until recently, restaurants have been out of bounds, my dining partner and I decided on a wider selection of plates.
They were:
Crispy duck salad – one of my favourite plates, the original and the best (The Ivy’s incarnation somewhat misses the mark) and a simple masterclass in what Hakkasan is all about. You can have this plate, or indeed any of these dishes any time, any day, and indeed any year, and be assured the exact same taste and flavour profile as the last time you had it. The cooking is precise, you can see why they once held a Michelin star, but I suppose the surprise is, there are no surprises. The crispy duck salad is mellow, salty, crispy, silky, acidic, and fresh. Little jewels of grapefruit embellish the plate and are an absolute delight with the duck and plum sauce. It’s impossible not to like and a house speciality.
Vegan dim sum selection – My dining partner picked the vegan selection (I had my eye on my usual deluxe selection, featuring lobster and truffle) but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the range and depth of flavours in the vegan selection, and didn’t feel I was missing out. particularly the wild mushroom, which was extremely tasty, and dare I say meaty. This is something Hakkasan does very well. Made to order, hot, fresh, and each with a distinctive flavour and flawless presentation.
Cod with champagne and honey – Like the younger, sweeter cousin of Black Cod. A delicious, honey and champagne sauce is pooled around the cod (you can’t taste the Champagne but it feels decadent for knowing it’s there), and the fish itself is as silky and flaky as you could imagine. The whole thing desperately needs rice – and plenty of it – making me regret my misguided prior decision to go “low carb” for the evening (utterly delusional after 2 cocktails and half a bottle of wine)
Tempura squid – I should start by saying that I sense the dish we had is exactly what it was intended to be. That said – the batter was heavy and thick, an unwelcome contrast to the squid, which was very thinly sliced, perfectly cooked and delicate. A batter – in my opinion – should not be so easy to pull off, and in the event that you can’t, should not exceed the size of the thin it surrounds. This was a dish I wouldn’t repeat. It also came with the exact same chilli sauce as the dim sum – something different would have been welcome.
Stir fried asparagus with lotus root – Does what it says on the tin but in a fabulous and perfectly cooked way. The asparagus has vitality and bite, the lotus root… tastes like lotus root. A few other vegetables are thrown in for good measure. This dish is not a showstopper, but is nonetheless a masterclass of simple deliciousness and quality ingredients that I’ve come to expect form Hakkasan.
Dessert: Strawberry and hibiscus garden – It’s a creamy, strawberry, hibiscus thingy that tastes exactly as it looks (again, a surprising lack of surprise). What it lacks in subtlety, it more than makes up for in sugar. The dish is of a high standard, but a low originality. The highlight of the plate is the strawberry sorbet, which is smooth and acidic, but not the best you’ve ever had. Even as the owner of a decidedly sweet tooth, if I were to leave off a dish from our meal, this would be the one. To clarify – it is very tasty, but not a standout dish.
My parting thoughts:
A cool, established eatery. Suitable for business dinners, catching up with friends, or impressive dates. The people are good looking, the cocktails are pretty, the food is impossible not to like. The menu is one you’d be happy to return to again and again – these plates aren’t the most unusual; but what they lack in surprise, they more than make up for in flavour and precision.
Sabrina Goodlife.