Heavenly Dim Sum

Last Thursday, my friend Mike and I had dinner at London hotspot, Hakkasan (Chinese). It was delicious. The ambience, food and service were all great. The vibe is very New York clubby (reminds me of Tao or Kittichai). There's a swank bar where we enjoyed some tasty cocktails while we waited (ahem, 30 minutes) for our table -- but the wait was forgiven after some time spent sipping my lychee martini. The atmosphere is also enhanced by pumping music, loungy decor with lots of blue light eminating from everywhere, and a menu that goes on and on and on. I was impressed by the variety of the menu, especially in regard to price. You can have a very expensive dinner, or something quite reasonable, but still with plenty of options. This was best illustrated by two different beef dishes side by side on the menu, one being a £15 rib-eye, and the other £48 (the latter being Wagyu beef, which we deducted to be an ultra-premium Chinese beef like Kobe in Japan, hence the drastically elevated price).

We started off with a vegetarian Dim Sum platter that came out glistening like a little platter of jewels (see photo above). Every bite was delectable. For the mains, we shared a lovely sea bass steamed in a banana leaf (melted like butter in the mouth), a spicy stir-fry prawn dish, sticky rice, and a side of pak choi (baby bok choi). The menu can best be described as adventurous...browsing it is like taking a journey in itself.

When the dessert menu came, we were way too full to partake, but we did get a giggle from the £11,500 bottle of Dalmore whisky (that would be $23,000 USD). I think it was a 60-year old variety. But we opted to keep our credit cards in our pocket and call it a night....If I have $23K in my pocket, I'm buying a car, not a cocktail!

Posh after-dinner drinks aside, I would definitely recommend Hakkasan and plan to return!