Hakasan Restaurant Review

I had heard good things about this place. Jonny went on a work meal once, and I had hinted very heavily on more than one occasion that I would like to go ever since. I often feel, however, with places that I have quite high expectations of, that I will be disappointed.

You approach the restaurant through a very windy Dickensian street, tucked off Oxford Street. I love this about London. Little roads hidden that you would have no idea were there at all, unless you had reason to go down them. And so different from the crazy business of the main streets.

Our friend had booked weeks in advance, and managed to get the last table. To my surprise there are bouncers on the door. You have to check your booking in before you are even allowed to enter the restaurant. That's a new one on me.

Once you are in, you travel down a dark granite staircase. Again they check the booking. There is a strict 2 hours at the table policy, which can annoy me at expensive places like this. We are reminded again that we need to be off the table by 11. Yes yes I think.

My impression changes once we seated. We have a great circular table in one of the corners. This is perfect for 5 people. The service is fantastic. Just as it should be. The thing about good service is it all "just happens." You only normally notice service when it is bad.

We look down the menu and are all a bit unsure what to have. The waiter is extremely helpful. They offer to create a menu for us. We give a couple of preferences for things we do and don't like, and that is it.

The starters are fantastic. Melt in the mouth. Duck salad, dumplings, squid - all the kinds of things you would expect from a good Asian restaurant - but amazing quality. The mains are also very good. A selection of fish, pork, chicken, prawn and beef dishes. A choice of rice dishes and vegetables. Again, we thoroughly enjoy. What's more I am impressed that they don't select the higher price end of the menu for us. There was large potential for a lobster feast to be presented to us that we then have to cough up for, as we didn't set a price cap with them. Instead we get a great selection of food at the lower end of their prices. This still isn't cheap, but I don't mind paying for great food. And this place really does do great food. I'm not disappointed at all.

So, the 2 hours are up. The great service gets the great food to the table and bill paid just in time. And when that is the case, the imposed time regime is a lot easier to swallow.

In summary: not cheap but worth it for a special meal if you love Chinese food and want something extra special. I certainly enjoyed it very much.