Hakkasan

My wife ate here shortly after it opened for a work do. She raved about the food and insisted that we both go. Fast forward a few years and finally we nailed a lunch date. A few friends have mentioned how good the food was and a few friends mentioned how awful the service and ‘eat quick because we gonna chuck you out soon’ policy was. Still, I thought if the food is that good I’ll take the more negative aspects. How wrong could I have been!

We arrived at 2pm on a bank holiday Friday and the restaurant was around half full. We were pretty much given the choice of where to sit. We made the mistake to sit on the opposite side to the bar, just in front of the kitchen, the noise from the clattering pans was hellish, we promptly moved table. If the place was more full and we were lumbered next to that kitchen it would have been unbearable.

The place is very dark, not to my taste at all for lunch, maybe dinner is okay but I prefer a fresher ambience on a sunny spring day.

The wine list is absurd, I guess it’s over 20 A4 pages, categorised not by wine but by emotional grouping such as ‘Happy wine’, ‘Sad wine’, ‘Get you in the mood wine’. I finally settled for a Chablis that arrived only just a small degree cooler than room temperature, the waiter insisted on topping me up even though I said I would like small glasses at a time to let the wine cool in the bucket (restaurants love to keep glasses topped up, as we drink much faster from a full glass). The overall service was poor and although the place was half empty and our table was not on a 2hour timer, it seemed that the staff were so used to the conveyer belt mentality they just had to make us feel rushed.

From the menu we asked the waiter to make some suggestions, it was pretty obvious this French guy had no idea but stupidly we went with some of his suggestions.

We had some fried prawns covered in sesame seed that were okay, crab, again fried in some powdery stuff, which was dry and fairly average. Then the main courses arrived, a duck off the bone, very average, prawn and scallop balls in what looked like Bovril gravy. again was just average. When I enquired where our vegetable dishes were the embarrassed French waiter said he’d forgotten them! There were only 4 dishes for the main and he forgot 2? He said that it would take 20 mins to get the vegeatable dishes which seemed pointless.

The manageress came over and apologised then told us the kitchen closes at 3.30 so there’s not a lot she can do. After being thoroughly tired out but such a pointless place we decided to leave, we were charged just for the 50.00 wine.

I can’t think of a worse restaurant experience, I suppose this was compounded by my high expectations. I was so glad the place wasn't full as I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if we were on that infamous 2 hour table timer.

Like a previous review said, there is nothing here that isn’t done better elsewhere. It’s overpriced, overrated and makes a folly of Michelin Stars.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Saturday, March 22, 2008

Had dinner here on a busy Wednesday night. We were given a table adjacent to the bar where a group of suits were celebrating Nigel's retirement/ birthday/promotion* (delete as required)....so along with the music it was very noisy. A buzzy atmosphere can be fun, but when its just plain noisy its not a atmosphere I find conducive to eating really good food and it clashes with the dark Zen style interior. We started with 3 cocktails which were pleasant but at £9.50 each were overpriced.

Male waiting staff were okay despite not being able to smile. The Spanish female sommelier was friendly and helpful and made an excellent choice of wine for us. The food was very good. Three starters; soft shell crab, shanghai dumpling and squid were all delicious. Of the main course dishes the spicy prawn and black pepper beef were excellent. The wok fried turbot was good but at a whacking great £38.00 was not worth the money. The snow pea shoots were delicious and brought the bill to just under £200 for 3. Yes the food was good, but the overall experience was disappointing. Too noisy, too much like you are in a rush (check your watch that your not getting close to the 2hr limit!). Also, is the bouncer really necessary? I felt like I was a student again getting my name ticked off the guest list at the local club! I may return for lunch as the atmosphere may be more conducive to enjoying the good food without the noise and Nigel’s party.
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Ewan
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Thursday, March 20, 2008

Fantastic interior and great food. A bit pricy but worth the experience!
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FineDiningExplorer - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

If you like pretentious restaurants with bouncers outside, then good luck to you. I arrived on my push bike, and the bouncer told me not to chain it to the lamppost on the pavement across the road because that's where the limo's park. Yes, they park on the pavement. Was this their lamppost? No. I was directed instead to a dark alley. Nil points for green credentials, then. And what a great introduction. Not.

Food was excellent on the £60 group tasting menu. Equally the wine selection is not bad. But I didn't see the Sommelier until we'd finished the meal. Staff regularly wondered off as I tried to engage them in conversation over the loud music. Lighting was so dim that I could hardly see what I was drinking or eating.

Apparently they have a policy of no jeans and no phtography. If you really like frequenting places that are well and truly up themselves, then this is the place for you.
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Howard Long
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Myself and 5 friends went to Hakkasan for my birthday last Saturday and we were all really looking forward to it. We had a table booked for 9pm and were already told that they would require the table back after 2 hours. We arrived at 9pm and were told out table was not ready and to have a drink the bar. So we had some cocktails which were very good. It has a nice atmosphere very buzzy and trendy, the music is loud but not so much to distract you was enjoyable to listen too. We were shown to our table at 9.30pm which is were the fun began! We ordered our starters and the waiter told us he would come back and take the order for out mains shortly So the starters arrived we had Dim Sum, Pork Ribs which were excellent and Salt and Pepper Squid and Schezuan Dumplings all was fantatstic. Although half way through eating our starter our waiter told us we had to order our mains becasue of the time limit on the table so we felt a bit rushed to say the least. Our mains arrived most of the dishes were banged down on the table hurriedly. They were all excellent though we had Satay Chicken, Crab Claws , Seabass and Ribeye of Beef in Black Bean Sauce. although we did order noodles they never arrived. We finished our mains our waiter asked us if we would like coffee we told him we would like to see the dessert menu but were told that there was not time as we had to vacate out table!! We pointed out to our waiter that we were seated at 9.30pm and it was now 11.10pm so we till had 20mins left to dine. He brought the menus over and waited by our table, three of us asked for Chocolate Fondant but were swiftly told they had sold out. I did not believe that a resturant of this kind and size would sell out. So we said forget it we would have another bottle of wine instead and the Sommelier said he would have to check with out waiter to see if it was ok!! Anyway it was but we were told that the wine we had previously been drinking had sold out too so we chose another. We asked a different waiter about the Chocolate fondant and he went and spoke to our waiter and came back with the same reply sold out. So one of my friends went and spoke to the floor manager and within 10 mins a 1 Chocolate fondant turned up on our table. We were also told our table time had been extended. We felt reasonably happy with that but while we were all sharing the 1 dessert we spotted a waitress go past with 3 chocolate fondants on her tray taking them to another table!! That was the icing on the cake for us. So another friend went and complained and find out what was going on she was told it was because we were over the time limit on our table. We would understand normally but the section we were in was more than half empty and even when we did vacate the table after we paid our bill of nearly 700 pounds this included 4 bottles of wine at about 40 pounds each we went to the bar to finish our drinks. Nobody was seated at our table. Even when we left the resturant at 12.30am our table and the section was empty. The food there is great and would tempt me to go back in the hope our waiter was having a bad night but the service is poor and when your paying nearly 700.00 for a meal you expect good service and not to be lied too or rushed in such a way that makes you feel unable to relax and enjoy the evening. The chefs deserve all the praise for cooking wonderful food but I am afraid the service lets it down and spoiled our evening.
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Ella Jiggins
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Monday, March 17, 2008

I took my lass here for a belated valetine's/anniversary meal.

We were running a little late and although they are sniffy about having 2 hour eating windows, we were quickly escorted to a little corner table.

It is a busy tightly packed noisy place, but it has a fairly interesting menu.

The service was very good and our starters appeared with perfect timing.

Main courses were good (I enjoyed the ostrich in yellow bean) and this is where it got fun.

A waiter politely came up and told us we had to evacuate! Fortunately we had finished our mains and most of the wine.

On the way out we had a surprisingly pleasant chat with Graham Norton.

So all in all I'd say 10 for value for money as it was free!

Don't know why we were evacuated (they said flooding) but it saved us over £100 so mustn't complain.

Would definitely go again.
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Chris Sudall
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Sunday, March 09, 2008

I visited Hakkasan on a Friday evening for early dinner and was one of the most enjoyable meals I have had! Staff were attentive and recommended great dishes.

It wasn't cheap but well worth the money!
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Laura
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, March 06, 2008

We booked a table for a few Fridays ago at 8pm. I did not get asked for CC details.

We thought the place was a bit dark, it was very noisy and has the feel of a chain restaurant, However the service for us was really good. The guy that was serving us was cheerful and nice.

We had the dim sum and lamb for starter. The dim sum was very fresh and sooo nice. Lamb was fatty and heavy.. however he did tell us it was this way. For mains we had the silver cod in champayne sauce .. i can only describe this as one of the best fisch dish i have tried and the Pi Pa Duck which was ok. We had 2 desserts which were ok and the amazing cocktails - try the Hakka!!

With Service the bill was £120. We chose a couple of expensive mains hence the price. But there are cheaper dishes which also sounded nice where yout bill could be under £100

Worth it for the food and cocktails and will definetely go again
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Kevin and Magoo
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Friday, February 22, 2008

This is a lovely restaurant. My partner and I went on Sunday for lunch and ordered from the dim sum menu. The food is exquisite and very fresh. Not having eaten there before I asked the waiter how many dishes he would recommend for two reasonably hungry people and he advised 6-8 dishes. We ordered 6 dishes which was more than plenty. The presentation is first class and we spent over an hour and a half dining so were in no way rushed. The service was attentive and extremely friendly and helpful. For 6 dimsum dishes and soft drinks our bill came to £45 which I found very reasonable. Hakkasan is a very special dining experience and I'm sure that I will return.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Thursday, February 21, 2008

The best bit was the interior. Fantastic. The rest of it was a 'no frills' experience. I would only go back to see that birdcage again, if only to have a drink.

Loved the ambience but it had an unfriendly, chainy atmosphere and the tables were too close to the next table for the money you pay and total lack of intimacy. You would have thought that if you became a regular here, the staff would still ignore you! Despite many reviews saying the price were reasonable, I saw bottles of whisky £11,500 and main courses of £450. A waste of money and it showed pure greed by the restaurant (and cheek). I don't think anything is worth that kind of money unless it's put towards a house or towards a medical operation. Sometimes I wonder if the staff think that too.

Though it was a chinese restaurant, it played Western Music. There were Western clientele mostly. The Chinese go elsewhere. Its a bit of a gimmick.
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travelbabe - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, February 16, 2008