Hakkasan Mayfair
17 Bruton Street
Mayfair
London W1J 6QB
Nearest Tube: Green Park/Bond Street/Piccadilly Circus – or would you prefer to arrive in style?
4.5 Yummy Stars
Price £££ Small eats £9-£30; Peking Duck £110+; Mains £15-75 (at time of writing)
Golden Softshell Crab at Hakkasan Mayfair
Buzz Factor 4.9/5 stars
Food 4.6/5 stars
Value for money 3.9/5 stars
Hakkasan Mayfair is the 2nd branch following its flagship restaurant in Hanway Place W1 (first opened in 2001). Both have a Michelin star to its name, serving modern Cantonese cuisine.
You walk into Hakkasan Mayfair and it shouts “designer” to you. The interior design is stylish with clever mood lighting, giving it a mysterious ambience. I just love the staircase, stunningly lit along the sides, leading to another part of the restaurant. In the basement, the theme of latticed wooden screens in dark English oak continues from its mother restaurant in Hanway Place.
We went on a Saturday evening. The place was loud (from the music and people), with a real buzz. It was a generally young well-heeled trendy crowd with a clubby atmosphere.
So, what about the food, you ask? Dimly lit, you might need to take the menu into the kitchen to read it. Great for a first date perhaps, so that you can’t see your date’s blemishes?
The standout savoury dish of the evening was surprisingly the humble-looking Sanpei chicken in claypot. The chicken was really tender and had just the right amount of spice to give it enough of a kick. The soft shell crab had a lovely thin coating and was served with lots of crispy garlic. I was quite excited to try the stir-fry turbot with black truffles, 2 of some of my favourite ingredients. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really taste the truffles. A bit mean with the truffles perhaps that evening, considering it cost just over £40 (including service)?
The food was good overall but I went with high expectations. By far the best dish was their Yuzu and sesame vacherin. The meringue was served with 3 different types of sesame, presented as shards. The sesame flavour (and the smokiness of the sesame) really came through in the meringue. Combined with the ginger ice cream and yuzu, it was just heavenly.
Service was pretty good, as you would expect at an establishment like this one. With service charge at 13.5%, it had better be.
A beautiful place and even the waiters were good looking. Just dress up and party.
