London's Dining Couple Hakkasan Mayfair Review

Firstly, I want to apologise for the hiatus … life got in the way, but not to worry, it’s all good news 😊

Hakkasan is a multi award winning high-end restaurant serving Chinese cuisine. There are several Hakkasan restaurants around the world, and also a couple sister restaurants like Sake No Hana, but the focus of this blog will be the London restaurants (well, obviously lol) and the Mayfair restaurant in particular. The other London location is Hanway Place (very close to Tottenham Court Road Station), which I adore because Shiima took me there for my last birthday dinner 😊.

I’ll focus on Hakkasan Mayfair though, because we dined there last week, but most of what I say about the Mayfair restaurant goes for the Hanway Place restaurant, as there are quite similar, intentionally I’m sure. There are dishes exclusive to both restaurants, but we didn’t have any of them.

Hakkasan Mayfair is about ten minutes walk from Green Park Station, faster if neither of you is in heels (we both were, but to be fair to me, my heels were rather very tall 😂😝). You arrive at the restaurant and are led into a rather narrow hallway by two good-natured doormen. In the middle of the hallway is the “cloak room”, where you can put away your coats and or bags, before you walk through another door to be checked in by the cheery maître ds. There are table upstairs, but this time, and also the last time we dined at Hakkasan Mayfair, we were led downstairs to a below ground level dining area. The décor is somewhat traditional and also really intimate – low lighting and wooden screens that make you feel like you are peeking through at the other dinners.

What we ordered

Our very able and rather jovial waitress attended to us at just the right time, as it took us a bit to decide on our dish. Shiima went for the Vegetarian dim sum platter and the morel mushroom and vegetable spring rolls for her starters, and the Sanpei Chicken claypot and the vegetable fried rice, which was off menu, for her main. I went for the dim sum platter, the salt and pepper squid, and the jasmine tea smoked organic ribs as starters, and the roast chicken in satay sauce for my main.

Review of the food

shiima’s food

Shiima really enjoyed her dim sum platter, we couldn’t really tell which was which although the waitress did point it out lol, but she didn’t like the vegetable beancurd roll and passed that to me, and I duly enjoyed it, although doused in a fair quantity of chilli oil. As always she enjoyed her vegetable spring rolls; there isn’t much else to say about spring rolls as in most restaurants they are really good, but sometimes rather bad. It takes work to mess up vegetable spring rolls.

Her main was delicious. Succulent chicken, seasoned to perfection, and cooked in a claypot with basil, chilli, and spring onions. And it went really well with the vegetable fried rice, which not only looked good but also tasted awesome. I usually avoid rice, but I had two portions with my main.

Amen’s food

I loved my dim sum platter, particularly the scallop shumai. The salt and pepper squid I didn’t enjoy at all, it tasted bland, and Shiima, who’s been eating a good amount of fried squid recently, detested it as it tasted “fishy” lol. But oh my God, the pork ribs were amazing. Really good portion as well. It was fall off the bone juicy and tasted perfect; not too sweet and not too sour.

My main of Roasted Chicken in Satay sauce was good, but Shiima’s main was better lol. Her mains are always better lol. The vegetable fried rice went really well with the satay sauce though. All in all, really ace dining experience.

Dessert?

We did look at the dessert menu, but nothing really grabbed us. We’d had desserts the other times we’ve been to Hakkasan though and weren’t overwhelmed by them, so we gave it a pass this time on a full stomach. But I do recommend the Jivara Bomb, maybe more out of sentiment as that is the dessert that was used to wish me a happy birthday 😊.

Verdict

Hakkasan was a really enjoyable dining experience, both for the food and the atmosphere, and it’s always been enjoyable every time we’ve been. If you’re looking for chinese cuisine done excellently and served with a touch of class, Hakkasan is perfect for you. As you’d expect with excellent cuisine and a touch of class, Hakkasan will cost you. Bare in mind, we don’t drink and we didn’t have any dessert, the price was still upwards of £100. I’d recommend for special occasions, group dining when cost isn’t particularly a concern, and romantic dinners, especially romantic dinners.

Dress Code: Smart Casual
Cuisine: Chinese
Amen’s Star Dish: Jasmine Tea Smoked Organic Ribs
Shiima’s Star Dish: Sanpei Chicken Claypot
Price: £50+ (excluding alcohol)
Rating: 4.7 out of 5