About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

From the folks who brought you Wagamama, this upscale and sophisticated Chinese restaurant may result in an ATM visit, but your tummy will be thankful for the splurge.

Pros

• Top-rate Chinese food prepared and served with finesse
• Vast menu to satisfy everyone’s tastes
• A fulfilling restaurant experience, not just another meal

Cons

• Pricey
• Wait for a table may be lengthy

Description

• Address:
  8 Hanway Place
  London
  W1T 1HF

• Telephone:
  020 7927 7000
• Nearest tube station:
  Tottenham Court Road

Guide Review - Hakkasan - Restaurant Review

Reader review submitted 2008:
Entering Hakkasan's sub-street digs, you're transported to a mysterious place where dim spaces, frosted glass, and incense are king. Oh yeah, there's some good food on hand too. We arrived around 2pm and noticed the lunch crowd had all but gone. We were given a corner booth and didn't know if this was due to our 2 year old but in fact, the whole restaurant seemed to have a calm buzz about the place. The 25 foot long bar was empty, one could see plenty of hipsters packing the place out on a Friday night.

The food you ask? Friggin' excellent! I'd read about the drinks being exotic and tasty, so I had one of the lychee margarita concoctions. A little too little alcohol for my liking, but the food flavors made up for that. We all looked through the main menu, but then our waiter offered us the dim sum menu and that was more appealing to us. We ordered lots of food – roasted mango duck with lemon sauce, grilled Shanghai dumpling, fried soft-shell crab with red chili (2 orders!), salt and pepper squid, pork buns, various dim sum goodies, and XO sauce that is made to order.

We were so impressed by the expansive menu that the waiter had to stop us from ordering too much food. The soft-shell crab was juicy without being oily and the salt and pepper squid was delicate and not tough. My sister-in-law could not believe how good the XO sauce was, comparing it to be on par with ones she had while living in Hong Kong. As each of our plates was cleared of food, they were efficiently removed from the table and all the necessary water glasses were filled without asking. After all the food, I was as full as a Buddha.

Is Hakkasan the place to go for your weekly dim sum fix? Because of its steep prices, not likely. Have your parents take you there when they come into town or for special occasions.