This week is Golden week and you all know what that means right?!! ….. No? Ok, allow me to enlighten you.
October 1st, marks the start of a 7 day national holiday with celebrations and festivals to honour Mao Zedong’s 1949 declaration of independence for the People’s Republic of China. (Yes, here you get food and a history lesson). The cities are decorated with red lanterns (for happiness and fortune) and the day ends with fireworks displays across each of the major cities of China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
If you don’t happen to be casually passing through China during this week, then no other restaurant celebrates this in food & style better than Hakkasan. Fact.
They are running a special menu in their restaurants in London, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai, Las Vegas, Miami, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco and Shanghai.
The Booze:
Lets start with the Ice Tea arrival cocktail or as I have renamed it, the Beautiful Boozy Bombshell. Named so as it is constructed with no less than 6 (Yes 6) spirits.
Belvedere vodka, Tanqueray No. 10 gin, Tapatio Reposado tequila, Diplomatico Reserva rum, Cointreau, orchid tea syrup, peach bitters and Champagne ALL go into this little fireball and it is not a drink for the faint hearted…. luckily, I am nothing if not up for a challenge and so I took on each of these with Gusto.
There was also the option of a similar peachy Mocktail (I am sure delicious), but truthfully when it comes as an alternative to the Booze Bombshell, my decline came so swiftly, that they may as well have offered me a swarm of bees.
The Food:
Here was my dilemma… Hakkasan has the worlds best Roasted Silver Cod (with champagne and honey) …. There I have said it. “The Best”.
So, the thought of going to Hakkasan and NOT partaking in this dish was daunting to say the least.
However, I instantly found something to distract my attention in the form of the Golden Week Dim Sum Platter and specifically, in the Alaskan king crab dumpling. (I mean, how quickly I turned)…
The others consisted of a Lychee and Lobster dumpling (with the addition of a little gold leaf), Abalone shu mai with caviar, and a Dover sole dumpling with black truffle.
Despite a dominating seafood theme, they were not overpowering in terms of their flavour and complimented each other perfectly.
There was also the Sun-dried anchovy & taro salad in pomegranate dressing. If you don’t like Anchovy (because you associate it with a salty taste of the sea), this WILL change your opinion. With a crispy coating and a sticky marinade, this is more-ish and rich in a sweet flavour.
For mains, you will need to be on your concentration A Game… This was a huge platter of food.
This includes the pretty wonderful Stone-bass lion head in royal supreme sauce with golden enoki and dried scallop. The Royal Supreme Sauce had a rich thick stock like quality with just enough of an impact to coat the Stone Bass well. The addition of the Stir-fry of baby broccoli with morel ginkgo nut with lotus seed and Fried rice with diced abalone (form the mussel family) was exactly what you needed to break up the richness of the dish.
However, I may have found another contender for my heart in the shape of the Stir-fried Canadian lobster with dragon well (green tea). While I hate to say it about my beloved Roasted silver cod, this may have level pegged my old hearts desire. The lobster is super soft and incredibly well cooked. Yes. I am a culinary turncoat.
Even more surprising is that it edged it for me against the Wok-fry Angus rib eye beef with baby lotus root and mustard seed. (If you know me at all, you will know that very little beats beef)
Finally, dessert saw me literally devour 3 ridiculously good honeycomb-flavoured golden macaroons covered in gold leaf and filled with a honeycomb ganache. It was pretty frightening to watch actually as I ploughed through all 3 in seconds. It got a little weird for my dining partner I think.
This menu was a DimSum lovers dream, but more to the point, it was a selection of wonderful dishes that were a showcase of Hakkasan’s culinary talents. They are running the Golden Menu through for the next week, so get in fast!
Should you miss it… you should definitely go and try one of their other amazing dishes (the Peking duck with Qiandao finest caviar and the Mongolian style venison are also sensational). The items on the Golden Menu are also available year-round as is the great atmosphere.
I never thought that I would see the day that I didn’t order the cod, but sometimes (only sometimes) it is great to be proved wrong…
Hakkasan – 8 Hanway Pl, London W1T 1HD
Gin & Bone 