Celebrating the Year of the Monkey at Hakkasan

Name: Hakkasan (Chinese New Year Menu)

Where: 8 Hanway Place, London, W1T 1HD, http://hakkasan.com

Cost: Hakkasan’s Chinese New Year menu consists of 4 courses, or 9 dishes, costs a lucky £88.88 per person, and includes a cocktail each.

About: Opened in 2001, Hakkasan has long been a favourite of mine for its exquisite dim sum and Chinese food and is one of the few places in London I return to often. Hakkasan is the jewel in the crown of its group, which also includes two other Michelin-starred restaurants – Yauatcha and HKK.

Celebrating the Year of the Monkey at Hakkasan

I visited Hakkasan recently to experience their Dim Sum Sunday Menu (see review here). I believe this is still one of the best and most reasonably priced lunch menus in London right now – for £58 per person, guests can enjoy a 4 course lunch, ½ bottle of Champagne (or a full bottle between 2 people) and 2 cocktails each.

Chinese New Year is a great time to visit Chinese restaurants of this calibre as many will have specially designed menus for the occasion. So I hurried along to Hakkasan Hanway Place to try their Year of the Monkey menu which is available from 22 January until 22 February 2016 only.

What We Ate: The CNY menu is divided into 4 courses – soup, dim sum, mains & accompaniments and dessert. 

Course 1 - Soup of double-boiled fresh ginseng and chicken with bamboo pith and wolfberry

The broth had an intense chicken flavour with fresh ginseng root, which with its earthy, burdock-like flavour, was for me the highlight of the dish. I also enjoyed the gossamer-like texture of the bamboo pith. 

Course 2 - Japanese Wagyu beef with pine nuts in a crispy golden cup and a selection of dim sum

With little pieces of Wagyu beef, stir-fried with tiny cubes of Chinese chives, peppers and onion served on crispy pastry cups, this had a delectable crunchiness, wok-breath and richly flavoured beef.

The dim sum arrived in a platter of four. The har gau were well presented and delicate, while the scallop shumai had a thick slice of plump scallop, with a scattering of tobiko eggs – the pastry was ethereally light and so fresh it melted in the mouth. The Chinese chive dumpling with prawn was also good, and the duck and yam bean dumpling had a great hit of cracked black pepper.

Course 3 - Selection of 4 main dishes plus 1 rice

The wok-fried lobster in a spicy truffle sauce had chunky nuggets of tender lobster that tasted deliciously buttery and were topped with slices of aromatic fresh black truffles, Chinese black fungus, choy sum and tiny pieces of crispy deep-fried pastry which added an extra layer of texture to the dish. This was without a doubt the highlight of our meal, and one of the best lobster dishes I have eaten recently.

The Pipa duck is a regular favourite at Hakkasan, with its lovely crispy caramel-like skin, a sweet little layer of fat, and richly flavoured, slightly gamey meat.

The grilled Chilean seabass was also terrific. With a honeyed, slightly charred exterior, and a buttery texture to the flesh, the fish came with a scattering of well-made tempura of shimeji mushrooms.

The vegetable dish was an intriguing stir-fry of Hericium mushroom, with a meaty texture and delicately earthy flavour, combined with lotus root, asparagus and lily bulb in black pepper.

The dried scallop and crabmeat fried rice was a luxurious accompaniment to the duck, fish, lobster and vegetable mains.

Course 4 – Dessert: The Golden Halo

A ring (halo) of soy caramel and peanut brittle, topped with banana delice ice cream, a sphere of chocolate mousse encased in a wafer-thin chocolate shell, and flakes of real edible gold leaf. This was a light but intricate dessert with intense flavours of banana, peanuts and caramel. A monkey’s delight!

What We Drank: The CNY menu features one '9 Hou' cocktail per person, included in the set price. Made from Eldorado 3 year old rum, Amontillado sherry, banana, guava, lime, agave syrup and walnut, this was complex, well balanced and refreshing. 

With our meal, we shared a bottle of Sylvaner 'Sylvacello' 2012, from Cave de Turkheim, Alsace (£29) chosen by the sommelier. Straightforward, this had fresh, grapefruit notes but lacked any complexity. 

Likes: the lobster dish was the highlight, the rice of dried scallops and crabmeat was also terrific.

Dislikes: none.

Verdict: With Wagyu beef, truffled lobster, Chilean seabass and the finest Peking duck, Chinese New Year menus don’t get much better than this. Don’t wait too long, this special Year of the Monkey menu by Hakkasan ends on 22nd February 2016. Highly recommended.

Sunday Brunching at The Richmond

Name: The Richmond

Where: 316 Queensbridge Road, London E8 3NH, http://www.therichmondhackney.com/

About: This was our second visit to The Richmond in Hackney, but this time we came to try their Sunday Brunch menu - you can see our earlier review here.

The Sunday Brunch menu offers the extensive selection of British oysters for which The Richmond has become known for (also available at other times), as well as a selection of meat and fish dishes that reflect an Antipodean, rather than a traditional British version of Sunday lunch. This is not surprising since the restaurant is owned by Australian executive chef Brett Redman (formerly of The Pavilion Café in Victoria Park).

The Richmond looks even more elegant in the daylight – the dining rooms and bar are tastefully designed in a striking, dominant red colour, with bare dark wooden tables and subdued lighting.

What We Ate: From the starter menu, we chose the English crab muffin (£7) - tender fresh crab over a toasted muffin, the whole thing dusted with lovely Espelette pepper – perfection.

The Grilled dived scallops and preserved lemon butter (£7) was also delicious - plump and meaty, and still adherent to its shell, although definitely singular rather than plural as described on the menu.

For main course, we had the lamb shoulder (£17) - slow cooked for 12 hours, then roasted, this combined crispy skin with the tenderest of meat, and was served with confit tomatoes, anchovies, samphire and aubergine – the blending of land and sea ingredients here worked well, the saltiness/umaminess of the samphire and anchovies (two of my favourite ingredients) with the lamb meat was so damn clever.

I hardly order chicken in a restaurant, unless it is of outstanding quality and The Richmond’s did not disappoint. Their spit roast poussin with pumpkin and sage stuffing (£18) was served with a rich, concentrated and velvety Marsala gravy that saw me scraping my plate! The poussin meat was sweet and succulent, and of excellent quality. The restaurant uses a wood fire to cook all its meats.

To accompany our mains, we shared a side dish of cauliflower cheese (£4) – the cauliflower was cut up into tiny pieces, mixed with cream and cheese and finished off under the grill for a crusty top – I congratulate the chef for making such an uninspiring vegetable taste so utterly delicious!

Deep-fried desserts are just the best things on any menu as far as I am concerned and so the apple beignets (£7) had to be ordered. Served with a fromage frais sorbet, the beignets were airily light, filled with apple puree, and dusted in cinnamon. I loved these babies.

We also had the brown butter financier (£7) - served with poached pears in cinnamon (I can never enough cinnamon in my life!) and crystalised almonds, this was also very good.

What We Drank: The Richmond is renowned for their cocktails and I urge you to order them when you visit. Sunday brunching can only mean Bloody Mary and that is what I had – lightly spicy, and strong, it got our brunch off to a very good start. Dr G opted for The French 75 which blended gin, sparkling wine and lemon, and had a refreshing intensity of lemon.

The wine list is extensive, and focuses almost exclusively on Europe. There is a good selection of wines by the glass or 500ml carafe. The entry level white is a Cotes du Rhone at £29, while for the reds, it is a Tempranillo from Castilla, Spain at £27. There are also some well-chosen British craft beers, as well as a couple of Belgian and USA options.

From it, the sommelier suggested a Loire red to accompany our challenging combination of lamb and poussin main courses. The Domaine de Veilloux 2013, Cheverny  a blend of Pinot Noir, Gamay and Cabernet Franc (£34) was light, but with a good weight of red cherry fruit and little tannin. This was a good choice that stood up to the lamb without overpowering the poussin.

Likes: There is some excellent cooking skill on display at The Richmond, and it's great to see a neighbourhood restaurant where complete confidence in the skill of the chef is justified. Service was faultless.

Dislikes: None. 

Verdict: Fantastic cocktails, highly skilled cooking and a gorgeous restaurant, what is there to dislike about The Richmond? There are very few places in London I can think of where I would rather be for Sunday Brunch. Highly recommended.

Top Notch Dim Sum, Champers and Cocktails - My Kind of Sunday Lunch at Hakkasan Hanway Place

Name: Hakkasan Hanway Place (Dim Sum Sunday)

Where: 8 Hanway Place, London, W1T 1 HD, 
http://hakkasan.com/locations/hakkasan-hanway-place/

Cost: Dim Sum Sunday menus at Hakkasan Hanway Place are priced at £58 (‘Signature’ menu including ½ bottle of Champagne plus 2 cocktails per person) and £48 (Classic and Vegetarian menus – includes no Champagne, but offers unlimited Taiwanese tea plus 1 cocktail). The food offering is the same between the two non-vegetarian menus, the only difference being the drinks.

About: Regular readers will know I've long been a fan of Hakkasan's dim sum, so I was chuffed to return to try their new Dim Sum Sunday Signature menu, launched in October 2015.

Served from midday until 6.45pm, Hakkasan’s ‘Signature’ set menu includes a pre- and a post- dinner cocktail, and a ½ bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV Champagne per person. The food menu features a salad starter, a range of 8 different dim sum (4 steamed and 4 baked/fried), two main courses with an accompanying vegetable dish and fried rice and a dessert. For the Sunday dim sum service, the restaurant employs a DJ who selects a range of lounge- style music well suited to the day after a late Saturday night.

What We Ate: The menu started with a refreshing salad of crispy duck served with pomelo, pine nuts, shallot and a mix of green leaves and cress. Seasoned with a sweet and lightly tart dressing, with warm slivers of duck meat, it made for a delicious start to our meal.

Next up was the dim sum. This included the steamed morsels har gau (shrimp dumplings), scallop shumai, Chinese chive dumplings (a personal favourite), and duck and yam bean dumplings. The pastry was light and delicate as only top quality dim sum are. They were freshly made using great ingredients, and well seasoned.

Equally good were the roast and baked dim sum which included royal king crab and truffle roll, a sumptuous buttery baked venison puff, smoked duck and pumpkin puff in a beautiful pumpkin-shaped pastry case, and golden radish with crab meat pastry.

For our mains, there were two – a delectable lettuce wrap of finely cubed seafood and water chestnut in XO sauce, and also a stir-fry of black pepper rib eye beef with an unctuous merlot sauce. The beef, a Hakkasan signature dish, was meltingly tender and very richly flavoured and as good as I remember from when I first tried a few years ago.

To accompany we had a platter of tender green asparagus, with ginger and spring-onion fried rice.

For dessert, we opted for the apple tatin, with vanilla ice cream, caramel and calvados. I love serving a traditional French tarte tatin at my supperclub, but Hakkasan’s version was something else.  With the lightest of pastry topped with layer after layer of fine caramelized apple slivers, this was a very refined interpretation of a French classic.

The Jivara Bomb was another beautiful dessert combining a praline of hazelnut encased in rice crispies and topped with a warm milk chocolate sauce.

What We Drank: We were chuffed to meet the charming Jefferson Coltro, a fellow Brazilian and Hakkasan’s head bartender, during our visit. Jefferson took his time explaining to us, the various cocktails on the menu (all alcoholic options are priced at £12.50) and below are some of his suggestions.

The Morello Collins blended cherry, almond, Tanquery No. 10 gin, lemon and Peychaud's bitters, and was light and refreshing. The Hakushu Crush had a bracing combination of one of my favourite fruits, the kumquat, with Japanese yuzu, Suntory Hakushu 12 year old whisky, Drambuie, ginger and cardamom bitters. I really enjoyed this cocktail, generously laced with whisky and some wonderful citrus notes.

Jefferson Coltro recommended a third cocktail which we found hard to resist - the Amer l'Orange. Made with Grey Goose l'orange vodka, Amer Picon (a French aperitif combining orange, quinine and cinchona and genetian), lemon, cinnamon and cranberry – a magnificent cocktail, it had a good hit of alcohol with bittersweet citrus flavours. I loved it. The menu also includes 1/2 bottle of Louis Roederer per person, and as there were two of us, we shared a full bottle!

With our desserts we had two other cocktails - the Mayahuelo was made from Del Maguey Vida mescal tequila, Antica Formula vermouth, apricot brandy, almond syrup and lime. Strong, smoky and flavourful, this was a great cocktail to finish our meal. The Charantais Toddy, ordered to accompany the tarte tatin, was served warm, combining Hennessy Fine de Cognac with cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, it sent us into the chill November late afternoon with a soothing glow.

Likes: Dim sum of the highest quality, stunningly presented, cool vibe courtesy of the resident DJ, great cocktails, generous Louis Roederer Champagne offering. Excellent value.

Dislikes: None.

Verdict: The Dim Sum Sunday Signature menu at Hakkasan offers excellent Chinese fine dining at one of the most glamorous venues in London. A personal favourite, and at £58 including two cocktails and half a bottle of Louis Roederer Champagne per person thrown in, as well as plenty of delicious food, it is probably the best value for money menu in London right now. I can’t wait to return. Very highly recommended.

2 for 1 Cocktails at Clerkenwell & Social

Name: Clerkenwell & Social

Where: 2-5 St John's Square, London, EC1M 4DE, www.clerkenwellandsocial.com

Cost: All cocktails are £8.95, and weekdays from 5pm to 8pm, they are 2 for 1. On Saturdays until 9pm, it is 2 for 1 all day, on both cocktails and pizza. White wines start at £16.95 for a Finca Valero Macabeo, D.O. Carinena from Spain. Red wines start at £17.95 for a Carignan-Grenache blend from France. Perrie-Jouet Grand Brut Champagne is well priced at £55. Meantime London Pale Ale is on tap at £4.90 per pint. 

Pizzas cost from £8 for a Margherita to £12 for a spicy Nduja. There are daily specials, as well as a variety of bar snacks, and sharing boards of cheese (£12) or cured meats (£14).   

About: Clerkenwell & Social was opened in June 2015 by the Marylebone Leisure Group (the team behind The Marylebone and The Princess of Wales and Barsmith Primrose Hill) the bar is next to the ancient St John's Castle in Clerkenwell. 

Set over two floors, Clerkenwell & Social has the feel of a quirky pub, with vintage books suspended from the ceiling, also forming the covers for the cocktail menu.

It specialises in house-infused cocktails and pizza, and has a large outdoor terrace. The bar makes its own infusions for example coffee rum, passion fruit vodka, wild berry gin, mustard vodka.

What We Ate: We really wanted to like the food at Clerkenwell & Social, but unfortunately it was a total let-down. We ordered a couple of bar snacks and pizze, and were surprised to find everything brought to the table at the same time. This meant we had a mad rush to eat everything before it all went cold.  The arancini with mushrooms and truffle oil (£4.50) was completely non-descript, and was served with what seemed to be shop-bought pesto.

Worse still were the calamari (£6) - these were dry and tough, served with a tartare sauce that tasted straight out of a jar.

For the pizze, we chose the Portobello (£10.50) and the Nduja (£12). The Portobello pizza was described as having a topping of Portobello mushrooms, Dolce Latte cheese, pine nuts and truffle oil. At first glance, the pizza looked passable if a bit colourless, but on the palate, the dough was very dry and brittle, it lacked flavour and any texture. As for the topping, it also seemed to have Mozzarella rather than the creamy, blue Dolce Latte cheese as described.

The Nduja pizza (£12) was marginally better but the dough was still very dry and chewy. It had tomatoes, mozzarella, spicy Nduja sausage and pancetta (bacon).

What We Drank: We had a couple of cocktails to start, these were well made and strong. "Breaking Good" had Pisco infused with chili, lime juice, tarragon syrup, homemade bitters and egg white. "Love is a Smoke" featured a blend of Merlot, Aperol and Campari and Bourbon, infused with smoked apple-wood chips.

With our pizza, we had a couple of pints of lovely Meantime London Pale Ale (£4.90).    

Likes: The cocktails were strong, well-made, and very well priced at £8.95. Even better during happy hour weekdays between 5-8pm, or all day Saturdays until 9pm when all cocktails are 2 for 1. The range of beers is good. 

Dislikes: The food was a real let-down. 

Verdict: A great local place for well-made, strong and reasonably-priced cocktails and craft beers. The Italian-inspired menu read well, but its delivery was a let-down and needs to be looked at by the restaurant management.

L'Escargot and the Fentiman’s Cocktail Pop-up Bar - Les Amis du Chien!

Name: L'Escargot Restaurant & Fentimans' Cocktail Pop-up Bar

Where: 48 Greek Street, Soho, London W1D 4EF, http://www.lescargot.co.uk/

Cost: Average cost is around £40 per person (not including drinks). The menu changes daily, but on the evening we were there, appetizers were from £7 to £14, fish dishes were £14 to £19, and meat main courses ranged from £14 to £28. Desserts cost £7 to £14. There is a good range of wines by the glass. Entry level wines included La Bastille 2013, an Ugni Blanc-Colombard blend for £21, and for the same price, La Bastille 2013 Carignan-Merlot blend. Laurent-Perrier Brut NV costs £58.  

About: L'Escargot has been a Soho institution for decades, serving traditional French fare in gorgeous dining rooms crammed with artwork. It has been under new ownership since 2013. I haven't been for ages, but the special opening of the normally members-only roof top bar (the Salon Noir) in August 2015 as the 'Living Botanical' cocktail bar featuring Fentimans adult soft drinks tempted me to make a return visit.

Tofu and Truffle on their night out at L'Escargot

Fentimans has teamed up with L'Escargot to launch a pop-up cocktail bar for the whole of August 2015. Fentimans drinks are brewed with botanicals for 7 days to make their mixers, and to reflect this the theme in the cocktail bar is a botanic garden and a range of summery long drinks.

Until the 31st August 2015, so hurry for a visit this summer!

All cocktails are priced at a very reasonable £7, or you can get an amazing four cocktails for £16 by signing up for a Time Out voucher before you arrive – you can purchase the drinks and print out the voucher from this link: 
http://uk-offers.timeout.com/deals/food-and-drink-fentimans-pop-up-bar-l-escargot.

Even better, the restaurant has a "les amis du chien" policy, possibly one of very few restaurants in London to welcome dogs, if you know others, please let me know! So I hurried along with Tofu and Truffle (duly washed and groomed for the occasion) to sample the cocktail bar and the restaurant's summer menu.

Tofu and Truffle waiting for their steak

The Fentimans Cocktail Pop-up bar is open until 1 am, Mondays to Saturdays, and offers a great opportunity to experience the members club without having to become a member of L'Escargot Club Privee. If you fancy joining anyway, the deal is that you arrange to meet the manager for a chat/coffee to discuss the membership - it is £365 to join for a year or £1 a day. The club includes a rooftop bar, and three additional dining rooms including a library, which can be also be booked as a private dining room.

What We Ate: From a quite short menu put together by chef de cuisine Oliver Lesnik, we opted for the steak tartare (£12). Served with a quail egg yolk, this had had hand chopped beef and was nicely seasoned, although I would have liked it slightly more tart (perhaps more gherkin).

The grilled native lobster with garlic butter (£18), had the delicious aroma of freshly grilled seafood, great texture and lovely garlic butter.

For our main course, we had the Chateaubriand (£58 for 2), with side dishes of courgette fries (£6) and dauphinoise potatoes (£6). The Chateaubriand was excellent, although for 2 people I thought it was slightly optimistic to serve this as a portion.

The Bernaise was delicious, with a powerful hit of tarragon. The red wine sauce was glossy, luxurious and richly flavoured. The courgette fries were very good, and I particularly enjoyed the saffron flavoured accompanying sauce. The potatoes were intensely unctuous and creamy.

We finished the evening with a delectable crème brûlée (£8) – well made and as good as you can find at any top French restaurants.

What We Drank: We kicked off with a couple of Fentimans cocktails in the rooftop bar. The “Little Treacle” features dark rum, lime, sugar, bitters, Fentimans dandelion and burdock. A very refreshing number, this had a good kick of alcohol while still having the traditional flavours of one of Dr G's favourite childhood drinks.

Tofu and Truffle enjoying the Fentimans Cocktail Pop-up Bar

The “Fearless Fun” had tequila, Cointreau and Fentimans ginger beer - a very good start to the evening, with the ginger really getting the digestive juices flowing.

The “Easy Breezy” was a blend of VJJ Hills gin, grapefruit and Fentimans 19.05 herbal tonic, with a refreshing hit of grapefruit acidity. 

“Curiosity” had Bourbon, orange zest and Fentimans curiosity cola reduction, and was rich and spicy.

To accompany the Chateaubriand, we shared a bottle of Julienas, Gerard Descombes 2013 (£40). A good example of a Beaujolais Villages wines, this was light in colour and aroma, on the palate this had a good weight of raspberry and redcurrant fruit and balancing tannins, sufficient to stand up to the Chateaubriand on a balmy summer's evening.

Likes: Its a huge treat to be able to take our dogs to dinner in a central London restaurant - this is totally normal in France, but in the UK I hope other restaurants will follow L’Escargot’s example. The August Fentimans cocktail bar is the place to head to this summer, and fantastic value for money. The Chateaubriand was perfect - flavoursome, excellent quality beef, beautifully cooked. The menu is not large, but everything we ate was delicious and very well made, in true brasserie style. 

Dislikes: where is the wonderful artwork?

Verdict: For a French restaurant in the heart of Soho, L'Escargot has some great things to offer - the Fentimans great cocktail bar with top quality cocktails for a remarkably reasonable price, a central and fashionable location, and your dog (if you are lucky to have one) will be welcome! Tofu and Truffle highly recommend!