With a rich heritage that stretches back as early as the 1880s, when the city’s inaugural Chinatown district was first established, London has long been synonymous with excellent Chinese food. Naturally, this means that fans of Cantonese cuisine are always spoiled for choice when it comes to celebrating Chinese New Year in the capital – whether you want to plump for a tiny authentic dim sum bar or something more high-end.
Hakkasan celebrates Chinese New Year 2019 in style
Words by
Charlotte McManus
14th February 2019
Across both the Hanway Place and Mayfair locations, the Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant offers a number of delightful dishes to mark the Year of the Pig
This being Sphere, we are always taken with contemporary – and exquisite – takes on traditional fare, and somewhere that does that better than most is Hakkasan, an award-winning Michelin Star restaurant located in Mayfair and Hanway Place. In recognition of the Year of the Pig, both locations are offering a dedicated set menu, along with à la carte options.
We dine at Hakkasan Hanway Place. Its set menu is comprised of eight courses, starting with small eats: peking duck with crispy bean curd and mango, and a delectable dim sum duo of shacha chicken puff and a seafood sesame jian dui. Mains arrive in the form of wok-fried lobster with spinach and lily bulb, a tender stir-fried pak choi, and Rhug Estate lamb with shiitake mushrooms, though our favourite was the wonderfully sticky crispy suckling pig. My guest and I decided to forgo wine with our food, instead indulging in an order – alright, two – of Hakkasan’s signature Smoky Negronis, the perfect antidote to chilly winter evenings.
The pièce de résistance arrives in dessert form. Replacing the conventional fortune cookie are fortune macarons, each containing a red paper ribbon with one of 88 (‘8’ being a lucky Chinese number) fortunes specially penned by novelist and journalist Will Self. Some are satirical, some dark, and others surprisingly sweet, each written to relate to modern life in London. Alongside the macarons is a pretty Wealth Pot, with mandarin and hazelnut contained in an edible dark chocolate globe.
The Hakkasan Chinese New Year 2019 offering will run from January 28 to February 24, costing £88 per person for a minimum of two guests. For more details, visit hakkasan.com
