A Fancy Pants Double Trip to Hakkasan, London

My now London lovelies were the instigators for my first trip to Hakkasan this weekend as I headed on down to Landan Town for a girly catch up and festive time with friends I used to work with.

I read a bit about it prior to our trip at the weekend and knew it was a bit of a celebrity haunt too, so I was intrigued as to what was in store.

We booked the "modern Chinese" Mayfair restaurant as a pre Christmas treat  for five of us and met in the bar. Three of our friends had already arrived and were sampling the cocktail menu. I had the Kumquatcha, a Kumquat based drink with rum and fizz, whilst my friends had various lovely drinks, a Strawberry and Ginger Bellini and Black Forest Martini to name a few.

Kumquatcha - Hakkasan

We were seated in the ground floor section of the restaurant, a dimly light area with modern decor, smack bang in front of Nicola Roberts ala Girls Aloud, which was funny when we were told off for using the flash on our phones *celeb hang out alert*. The mood in Hakkasan was fairly funky, great music and a buzz of people chattering on dates or in groups of friends.

We ordered a selection of the dim sum and salt & pepper squid to start, which were both perfect as well as a couple of bottles of white wine. Not to be tight but we ordered the cheapest at £28 a bottle, the Sauvignon Blanc, but it was so worth it. For main I opted for the Chicken Satay, whilst two of my friends had the Pipa Duck and my other friends had the  Stir Fry Peppered Beef with Merlot.

Mixed Dim Sum

Satay Chicken and Broccoli

Stir Fry Peppered Beef with Merlot, & the broccoli sneaking in!

The presentation of the food was beautiful and me oh my the taste! Wow! In our haste to stuff down the gorgeous food, we were gutted to realise the next day that we hadn't even shared, not one little taste! The only sharing going on was the rice (we ordered a boiled and egg fried) and the pak choi and broccoli, which were also delicious! The portion sizes are more than ample too, sharing two rice and two vegetables worked well between the five of us, we were stuffed by the end.

The price may have seemed steep at the time, but actually it worked out really well for a cocktail each, wine, sharing starters and mains, a grand total of £60 each. Great for London and bloody lovely!


AND as it is Christmas I was lucky enough to be treated to my second Hakkasan visit in four days by our PR agency and friends. This time on Hanway Place, right round the corner from Tottenham Court Road Tube station.


Hakkasan was tucked away around the corner on a quiet street, filled with people on pre-Christmas lunches (although our own party hats and crackers were frowned upon) I enjoyed my second feast, this time from their special lunch menu.

Lunch Special Dim Sum

Sea Bass

Stir Fry Beef

Asparagus & Lily Bulb

Spicy Prawns with Almonds & Lily Bulbs

Pipa Duck

It was sharing from the off on this trip, a mix of vegetarian and meat dim sum to start, and for mains, Pipa Duck (favourite) Sea Bass in chinese honey, the Stir Fry peppered Beef in merlot, Spicy Prawns (perfectly cooked) with lily bulbs and almonds, Chicken Satay and a combination of egg fried rice and asparagus, lotus root and lily bulbs. Then came the pudding, the Pièce de résistance ! All five us went for the chocolate orange pot... Described by Hakkasan as "bitter chocolate mousse, spiced oranges, orange sorbet and salted chocolate cardamom sauce" it was served with hot chocolate being poured into the top and looked like a piece of art. Could not get enough of this! Not to sound super cheesy but the combination of all the flavours and textures was so good and the popping candy took us all to our slightly less glam school days.

Chocolate Orange Pot - the melting chocolate lid

Heaven in a bowl/vase!

Booking is essential for this sort after restaurant and it's not cheap, but you can also not go crazy too.

We ate: Modern chinese, see above (yum!)
We Drank: Cocktails & Wine
We Talked about: Nicola Roberts, Festive Plans, Food
Selling point: Although it may seem prestentious to the outside, its really not, all the staff were lovely and attentive, the service was great and we couldn't rate the food enough. The only downside was not having a bigger bar in the Mayfair restaurant to be able to continue drinking there, but apparently the Hanway Place restaurant turns into a lounge after hours.

Here a few pics of festive frolics from my trip around London... just to get you in the mood!

Merry Christmas! 

The ice rink and Christmas tree at Somerset House

Big disco baubles in Covent Garden

Giant Reindeer Covent Garden

Giant Christmas Tree - Covent Garden

Candy Cane Lane at Covent Garden

It was on a Starry Night - Oxford Street