Dinner at Hakkasan, Mayfair

You know a restaurant is good when you're still raving about one of their dishes over a year since you last visited (Chilean sea bass...).  So when an invite popped up in my work inbox and I saw the magical word "Hakkasan",  I instantly opened the attached menu, scanned down the set meals and hurrah!  Sea bass!  Invitation accepted!

Hakkasan was founded in London in London in 2001 and there are now 13 locations dotted around the globe (maybe next time we can go to the one in Vegas?!).  I visited the Mayfair restaurant which was opened in 2010 and has been awarded a Michelin star every year since 2012.

These stairs do not bode well for future me after a few cocktails...

A post shared by Laura @ Me & Mr Jones (@lauraeclupton) on Mar 15, 2017 at 12:09pm PDT

Things inside the restaurant hadn't changed since last year - the long corridor with the coat check desk, the musky incense burning at the top of the stairs with the trip water-like projection which leads down to the dark and moody dining room (hence the dark and moody photos)...

Obviously the extensive cocktail menu needed to be tested so I ordered The Hakka.  Very coconutty with a hint of lime and lychee and a refreshing way to start the meal.

Then came the food, oh the food...as there were 5 of us, we ate from their signature menu which is designed for groups of two or more to share.  There are various signature menus which are priced between £58 and £128 per person and have a variety of vegetarian, fish and meat dishes to choose from.

Our meal started with some crispy squid and dim sum.  Aren't the colours just amazing?!  Lychee and lobster, abalone with caviar, King crab, dover sole with black truffle...perfectly steamed and so pretty to look at.  Yes, that's gold leaf.

The meal seamlessly transitioned from dim sum to the main event (the service at Hakkasan is outstanding, by the way).

I love that they bring you several dishes and everyone can help themselves to whatever they fancy.  First to arrive, Mongolian style lamb chops.  I don't think I've ever had lamb so tender and the sticky sauce was smoky and rich.

Right.  Let's just take a moment to gaze adoringly at the sea bass.  It wasn't the same as the one I had last year as this came with a gorgeous buttery honey sauce but look at how beautiful this piece of fish is!  It tasted delicious, had the perfect texture and went really well with the garlicky asparagus we were also served.

Also served (but missing photographic evidence) was a seafood dish (which I gave a miss as I was pretty much done with seafood after the dim sum and bass) and some stunning duck which had strips of crispy skin - amazing!

A chocolate and olive oil ganache finished off the meal.  It was very rich and fudgy so the raspberry sorbet was nice to have on the side.  I'm not sure the candied dried olives were really needed as to me (and most of the other people at the table) they did not taste very nice at all...

Hakkasan delivered everything you would expect from a Michelin starred Cantonese restaurant - quality ingredients, excellent service and a really special atmosphere.  Oh, and the best sea bass in the universe which I will undoubtably be still going on about next year!


Hakkasan
17 Bruton St,
London
W1J 6QB
020 7907 1888

*our meal was paid for in full and I was not asked to review Hakkasan but my opinions of the place are all mine and entirely entirely true!