Hakkasan

I was really looking forward to my first visit to Hakkasan – to try some top notch Chinese food. I wasn't disappointed with the food but overall, the evening did not live up to my expectation.

Hakkasan has a great cocktail list (they don't come cheap at £10 each though) but I had to wait a good few minutes whilst the barmen stopped chatting enough to notice and serve me. When my guest arrived, the hostess advised us not to have another drink in the bar as “it would eat in to the time we had at the table”.
They do say at the time of booking that they may need the table back after two hours which is a bit much when you're paying almost £100 a head. (As it happened, we were at the table for three hours).

The food we had was good but we didn't choose very wisely. For a restaurant with one Michelin star, I would have expected some advice on our selection. The service generally was lacking in warmth and I didn't feel the staff were particularly interested in us – again not what I would expect for the prices they charge. The sommelier on the other hand was great… More

Food and service was fantastic and all staff friendly and welcoming towards us and towards our 2 month old baby. With none of the perceived snobbery of a top restaurant. Dishes were full of flavour favourite starter was jasmine tea smoked pork ribs, the meat fell off the bone, delicious. Silver cod in seafood “hotpot” was wonderful.

I am going to keep this review short, like the restaurants table policy – overated, overpriced and over the hill. £400 for 3 people for a table from 7.30-9.30 that we almost got physiclaly removed from is not good value. With the vast choices available in London nowadays and in the present climate go somewhere else instead.

If your visiting Hakkasan anytime soon then do one thing – catch up with your fellow diner/s beforehand as once you enter the basement restaurant you'll be too busy people watching and being generally astounded to speak to them until the bill arrives. Entering Hakkasan is like entering a secret uber world, with the backstage buzz of a fashion show together with the ambience of a sleek and very exclusive members club. You want to be here and you love every minute, particularly the minutes that fly by as you read the ample menu.

I was glad to see that style (fantastic though it is) is not above substance here and there were a few dilemmas on choosing the right dish and sides, but nothing the friendly and knowledgable waiting staff can't help you out with. On the advice of a friend I went with the infamous silver cod with champagne and honey – what a delight. Interestingly unlike most hyped restautrants at Hakkasan portion size does not have an inverse relationship to price and the cod came as two generous fillets. Vegetarian options were also aplenty with… More

The food was trully delicious, especially the Seabass in black miso. Dim sum however was a bit disappointing and lacked flavour. The place is quite noisy in the evenings,so not the best choice for a romantic dinner. The other inconvenience is that the tables are rather close to each other, so you intimacy is somewhat ruined by people unwillingly able to hear your conversations.