Duck & Champagne Menu at Michelin-Starred HKK - The Rolls Royce of Peking Duck Experiences at Unbeatable Value

Name: HKK - Duck & Champagne Saturday Lunch Menu

Where: 88 Worship Street, London EC2A 2BE, http://hkklondon.com/#home

Cost: The Duck & Champagne menu is available for Saturday lunchtimes only, at a cost of £49 per person. The menu is for two to share and includes a bottle of Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV Champagne (which alone costs £79 on the a la carte menu) as well as a 4-course meal including a whole cherry wood roasted Peking duck (valued at £88 on the a la carte menu).

The Duck & Champagne menu cost £98 plus service for 2; if the Peking duck and bottle of Louis Roederer Champagne were to be ordered together from the a la carte menu, they would cost £167.

About: Tucked away in the City, a 5 minute walk from Liverpool Station, the 1-Michelin starred HKK is part of the renowned Hakkasan Group of restaurants. I was intrigued to learn of HKK’s new Duck & Champagne menu, launched in October 2015, and so hurried along to give it a try.

The menu features a whole HKK’s signature cherry wood roasted Peking duck, which takes 48 hours to create, using myriad cooking techniques - each 1.8kg, 65-day old duck from Southern Ireland is marinated in a glaze of Chinese five spice, lemon grass, sugar, and garlic, then showered with boiling water, vinegar and lemon juice. It is then hung to dry for a minimum of twenty-four hours at 3°C a procedure that ensures that the flesh separates from its skin so that it can be made so divinely crisp during cooking. After this drying process, the duck is placed in a custom-made glass-windowed firestone oven for one and a half hours over a cherry wood fire until the meat is succulent and the skin glossy and crisp.

What We Ate: We went of the Duck & Champagne menu which includes a Blue Crab salad, a whole cherry wood roasted Peking duck served three ways, egg-fried rice in a duck & abalone supreme stock and dessert. 

The Blue crab salad, dramatically served on dry ice, featured a pani puri shell filled with dragon fruit, pineapple and melon. On top sat a chicory leaf, and a piece of meaty blue crab, served with a dressing of vinegar, coconut, chilli and peanut. Pop the whole thing in the mouth for an explosion of crunchy texture, tropical fruit and sweet crab - sublime.

The main event was the cherry wood roasted Peking duck. The chef brought the whole duck to our table on a trolley (I loved this element of theatre when dining at HKK), and cut three choice delicacies for us to start with.

Crispy skin from the duck’s shoulder which we ate with organic brown sugar; breast served with a cress salad in sesame and vinegar & a streak of oyster sauce; and finally a manto bun filled with duck leg, leek, cucumber and hoisin sauce, with imperial caviar from Osetra.

While enjoying these delicacies, the rest of the duck was taken back to the kitchen to be carved. It returned expertly sliced and boned, served with slivers of cucumber and spring onion, plum sauce and freshly made sesame pancakes.

HKK’s Peking duck is in a league of its own – the crispy duck skin cracked in my mouth like thin caramel, the meat so utterly succulent, flavoursome and sweet. I've eaten Peking duck with pancakes hundreds of times, but never had anything approaching this level of sophistication and flavour.

To accompany, we were each served a little sphere of egg-fried rice stuffed with Palma ham, topped with dried XO scallop, and a deliciously rich duck and abalone supreme stock.

The dessert was a Nashi pear and Champagne mousse - a base of white chocolate mousse with pear puree, topped with a Champagne sorbet, and finished with cocktail candy and 24 carat gold leaf, bathed in a Chinese honey and Champagne consommé. This was a stunningly beautiful, refreshing dessert, served in a solid stone bowl - a reminder (as if it were needed) that these guys can cook.

What We Drank: We started with a couple of cocktails, both priced at £12.50. The pomegranate margarita blended tequila and plum sake with pomegranate and grapefruit juice, agave syrup and Absinthe. This had rich plum and pomegranate aromas, and a crust of Himalayan salt and grapefruit gave it a stimulating grip.

The Boulevardier was a reinterpretation of the Negroni, blending bourbon, cocchi di torino and Campari. I rarely drink a whisky-based Negroni, and this was an interesting and appetite-stimulating variation on a much-loved (by me, at any rate) theme.  

With the lunch menu, we shared a lovely bottle of Louis Roederer Champagne - elegance in a glass.

Likes: The Peking duck is sensational - a truly extraordinary elision of taste and texture, and probably the finest duck dish I have ever eaten. For a very reasonable price, the menu also includes imperial caviar, XO scallop, blue crab and a fine bottle of Louis Roederer Champagne. Elegant dining room, excellent service. 

Dislikes: None

Verdict: For the Rolls Royce, crème de la crème of Peking duck experiences, I can't think of anywhere else but HKK. For melt-in-the-mouth duck skin that crackles like caramel, meat that is sweet and tender as ambrosia, and a bottle of Louis Roederer Champagne thrown in at under £100 per couple, HKK’s Duck & Champagne menu is the place to be. It is excellent value for money too. Very highly recommended.

The Fabulous Ling Ling Menu at Hakkasan

Words and Photography by Caroline Ghera and Luiz Hara

Name: Ling Ling at Hakkasan

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

Cost: The Limited Edition Ling Ling Menu is available throughout the summer at £35 per person and includes a welcome Ling Ling Collins cocktail, 3 dishes, Jasmine rice and macarons. There is a choice of 3 menus that cater for different dietary requirements and can be ordered by the same table providing a great opportunity to savour an exciting range of dishes. The Ling Ling menu is also excellent value when compared to the a la carte menu where starters average £13.90 and equivalent main courses range from £19.90 to £39.90.

Hakkasan serves a comprehensive and imaginative selection of drinks. Most cocktails at the strikingly long bar average £12.50 while wines can be ordered by the glass, with 175ml ranging from £7.10 - £33.70 and 250ml from £10.20 - £19.60. Bottles of wine are £29 - £80 and above. 

About: Opened in 2001, Hakkasan quickly built its reputation as one of the top Cantonese fine dining destinations in London. Its innovative menu is accompanied by an award-winning interior decor, designed by Christian Liaigre, immersing diners into a darkly mysterious dining room enclosed by dark wood screens and surrounded by the subtle blue glow emanating from the cocktail bar on one side, wine cellar, and a translucent wall concealing the kitchen on the other. 

The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2003 and has successfully maintained its achievement since then, going on to open other restaurants in locations across the globe, from San Francisco and New York, to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, as well as a second restaurant here in London, in Mayfair.

Without a doubt, this is one of my all-time favourite restaurants in London and one of very few I return to regularly (reviewed here and here).

What We Ate: On this latest visit, we tried the limited edition Ling Ling Summer menu which celebrates the group’s latest opening this summer, Ling Ling in Mykonos– a new concept where a list of innovative cocktails and an izakaya-inspired menu of smaller Cantonese dishes take diners on an evening of drinking, dining and dancing. In keeping with that idea, the London restaurant is offering a signature cocktail and 3 choices of menu, “Fish and Seafood”, “Meat and Seafood” or “Vegetarian”.

The Fish and Seafood Menu

We started with a trio dim-sum platter that showed some of the kitchen’s classics - the har gau was a perfect combination of the freshest rice pastry packed full with plump prawns. The Chinese chive dumpling was equally delectable with its open chive-coloured rice pastry, fresh prawns and garnished with a single goji berry, while the scallop shumai offered a tender scallop encased by an egg-based wonton ribbed cup, topped with tobiko caviar – the simple combination of textures and prime ingredients was spot on.

We were then presented with our next dish, a crispy aubergine and shiitake salad. Pramesh, who was helping us on the night, explained was a vegetarian version of their signature crispy duck salad. We loved this dish - crispy battered strips of aubergine and shiitake mushrooms served with a mix of lily bulb and four types of cress: affilla, sakura, rock chive and tahoon, topped with pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, a deliciously sweet vegetarian hoisin sauce. It was so enjoyable that it should definitely be incorporated into their a la carte menu!

Moving on to the main course, a finely textured grilled Chilean seabass with a honey glaze was served on a bamboo leaf and garnished with deep-fried battered strips of mushrooms. The sweet glaze gave the fish an attractive presentation that complemented the buttery fish. Steamed jasmine rice was served as an accompaniment to all three menus.

The Meat and Seafood Menu

Like the fish and seafood menu, the first starter of the Meat and Seafood option was the trio of dim sum described above. So let me skip straight to our second plate, the jasmine tea smoked organic pork ribs coated in a delectable barbecue sauce and garnished with an edible flower. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender and had a delicious smokey character from the Jasmine tea. It was absolutely moreish.

One of my favourite Hakkasan dishes followed – a magnificent curry of spicy prawns with lily bulb and almond – this was an utterly delicious plate of large butterfly prawns, fresh lily bulbs, spring onions and flaked almonds all immersed in a creamy sauce topped with curry leaves. The sauce oozed freshness, aromatics, spiciness, and a good amount of heat. Simply put, Eastern-Asian curries do not get any better than this!

The Vegetarian Menu

For me, the vegetarian menu was the greatest revelation of the evening and one I would thoroughly recommend ordering. The salt and pepper homemade pumpkin tofu had a crunchy peppery coating with a silky smooth centre flavoured with pumpkin, and was topped with savoury fluffy soybean flakes that were an extraordinarily successful vegetarian version of Chinese pork floss. The flakes melted on the tongue and were mixed with crispy finely sliced seaweed, chopped chillies and sesame seeds, imparting texture and heat to the dish.

The main course was equally intriguing. Stir-fry black pepper vegetarian chicken cubes made of yellow soy beans (tofu) had not only the appearance but also the texture of real chicken and were served with fresh sugar snap peas and red pepper. We loved this.

The main course was accompanied by steamed jasmine rice and stir-fried baby broccoli and preserved olives with crispy seaweed and pine nuts.

The meal came to an end with a stunning selection of macarons. The shells had a perfectly crumbly skin with a chewy centre and were generously filled. The crunchy sesame seed and milk chocolate macaron was superb, while the tangy yuzu macaron offered a sharper contrast to its chocolate centre. The rose and raspberry macaron was fragrant, delicate and accomplished.

What We Drank: As part of the Ling Ling menu, we started the evening with a Ling Ling Collins cocktail made of Beefeater gin, cranberry and grapefruit juices, Chartreuse Green liqueur and garnished with a Shiso leaf. This was a refreshing drink with contrasting fruit and herbal notes.

To accompany our main courses, we decided to order white wine by the glass. Hakkasan’s head sommelier, Tobias Brauweiler, whose previous experience includes working at the Ritz and the boutique wine shop Hedonism, has put together a comprehensive wine list which includes some unusual varieties. Luckily, the choice offered by glass spans a good spectrum so we were curious to try the 2014 Avesso “Cazas Novas”, Quinta de Guimaraes, 13% vinho verde, made from 100% avesso grapes from Portugal (£11.90 for 250ml). Dry with a round limey acidity, but without the spritz found in vinho verde, this wine also had lovely notes of apricot and peaches and a flavoursome weight that stood up to the fish.

Our second choice to match the spicy prawns was a 2013 Chablis 1er Cru “Les Fourneaux”, Alain Gautheron, 13% Burgundy, 100% Chardonnay grapes from France (£19.60 for 250ml). Dry with fruity hints of apple and citrus and a creamy roundedness, we also found this wine matched well with the spiciness of our dish.

Likes: We thoroughly enjoyed the spicy prawns, a dish so fresh and fragrant that its memory lingered for days. Equally memorable were the vegetarian versions of well-known dishes such as the crispy aubergine and shiitake salad, pumpkin tofu with vegetarian floss and stir-fry vegetarian chicken. They were a revelation and proof that vegetarian choices can be just as satisfying as their meaty counterparts.

Dislikes: None

Verdict: At £35 per person the Ling Ling summer menu offers excellent value and is a great opportunity to try old Hakkasan favourites and exciting new dishes created specially for this menu that will blow you away. Highly recommended.

Tirage – Bubbles in the City

Name: Tirage Champagne Bar and Restaurant

Where: 64 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4AW, http://www.tirage.co.uk

Cost: A 5 course tasting menu is offered for £39 pp (or £69 with five matched sparkling wines/Champagnes).  On the à la carte menu, small plates are from £8.50 to £9.50 (although there is a blow-out dish of 30g Finnish Baerii caviar for £95). Salads are £6.50, sides including Mac & Cheese or hand cut chips are from £2.50 to £4.50. Desserts are all £6.50.

About: Tirage is a new restaurant and Champagne bar that opened in early 2014. Just a stone's throw from Liverpool Street Station and the Heron Tower with its Sushi Samba and Duck & Waffle restaurants, it joins a number of local eateries that are bringing a real foodie vibe to this otherwise rather corporate area of the City. 

Venezuelan Elio Machillanda, a former City worker, has put his life and soul into this new venture in collaboration with Michelin-starred restaurateur David Moore (of Pied à Terre, L'Autre Pied and pop-up Pied Nus reviewed here), the concept of the restaurant being to partner good quality small eats with Champagnes and sparkling wines by the glass.

Sommelier Roberto Della Pietra, formerly of Gaultier Soho, spent 6 months prior to the launch of the restaurant researching and planning a Champagne list that would complement a range of aperitif, fish and meat dishes by Head Chef Alasdair Fraser, and developing set menus partnering small eats and Champagne. And his work has paid off – the list includes a range of Champagnes and sparkling wines, twenty of which are available by the glass   including some gems I have never encountered before such as a rare Russian sparkly. But more of that later.

I had the pleasure of spending a few days with Roberto on a wine press trip to Somontano in Spain last year (reviewed here), and was impressed by his knowledge of the wines of that region, and by his acute but uncomplicated approach to wine.

The house champagne is supplied by Perrier Jouët, which also has an eponymous dining room for up to 12 guests suitable for business or private functions. The first floor has a private bar and dedicated kitchen catering for up to 100 guests.

The head chef is Alasdair Fraser (formerly of Kensington's The Abingdon), who has created a French menu with Peruvian touches for Tirage.

What We Ate/Drank:We went for the 5 course tasting menu with a matching flight of Champagnes and sparkling wines. We started with a glass of house Champagne from Perrier Jouët, which was elegantly refreshing. The menu kicked off with 3 of the freshest rock oysters from Colchester, simply served with a thick wedge of lemon and a red wine vinegar and shallot dressing.

With the oysters came a glass of Drappier "Sans Ajout de Soufre" zero dosage Champagne.  Having no added sugar, this had a bracing minerality, well balancing the ocean flavours of the shellfish.

Next was a Cornish scallop ceviche, with caramelised Jerusalem artichoke purée, prosciutto powder, kaffir lime, pomegranate and sorrel flower reduction. This was a gorgeous dish both in the presentation and the palate, with freshness and a thrilling combination of flavours and textures.

To accompany the ceviche, the sommelier's choice was a Duetz Champagne Brut Classic. Owned by Louis Roederer, it had a fine toasty nose and elegant structure, which has prompted the likes of Serena Sutcliffe, Master of Wine, to call it "the Champagne for people in the know".

To follow, there was a pan-fried seabass, with an Asian-scented seed crust, white crab emulsion, broccoli and curry oil.  I loved this dish, and the seabass, having been cured, roasted and then pan fried was tender, well flavoured and perfectly cooked. The Devon crab had been emulsified with spices, and was richly flavoured.

Roberto has chosen a rare Russian sparkling wine for this dish, and it had plenty of richness and spice to stand up to the fish. The most unusual (but also one of the most delicious) sparkling wines of the evening, and the only one that was not a Champagne, this was the Abrau-Durso "Cuvée Alexander II" NV from the Krasnodar region of Russia. Made from a blend of riesling, pinot noir, pinot blanc and chardonnay grapes, this had a magnificent spicy, clove nose and had green apple, lime and mint on the palate, easily withstanding the Asian spice in the fish dish. A revelation!

Our fourth dish was pan-fried, “ethically produced” foie gras. Served with caramelised pear, chilli popcorn and blinis, it was delicious. Whereas geese have to be force-fed to produce foie gras, the ducks used to produce “ethical” foie gras are naturally greedy and will eat more than their fair share particularly just prior to (planned) migration. This fattens their livers naturally, and the resulting dish was as creamy as any I have tried, with the crunchy chilli popcorn giving a contrasting texture.

With it, we had the Champagne Michel Furdyna NV Rose, from Celles sur Ource.  Made from 100% pinot noir, this was a well-structured, muscular wine with enough weight of fruit to hold its own against the unctuous liver.

The final dish on the tasting menu was a venison haunch confit.  Served with an acorn squash purée, chimichurri sauce and barbecued cauliflower, this was excellent with perfectly tender venison.  I did not see how a Champagne could stand up to this richest of gamey meats, but once again the sommelier confounded expectations and came up with a magnificent example, with a depth of structure that only became apparent after eating the meat.

This was a truly splendid glass of Coulon Premier Cru NV.  Roger Coulon is unusual in planting pinot meunier on as much as 40% of his vineyards, but this Champagne demonstrates the advantage of the grape in giving a tremendous depth of structure. With a fine nose of brioche, at the first brush with the palate it concealed its power beneath a surface elegance. However, when tasted with the venison, it revealed remarkably complex layers of luscious green fruit flavour, lemony acidity and minerality.

Note that desserts are not part of the set menu, and we ordered them separately. We had a flourless chocolate and blueberry gateau and chocolate sauce, and also a pink Champagne and mango cheesecake with peach and Champagne sauce.

Both were delectable, and well complemented by a glass of fruity, moderately sweet Italian Moscato.

Likes: The small-eats style of restaurant, which allows sampling of a wide range of textures and flavours, and an extensive and really interesting Champagne menu, at a surprisingly reasonable price for its easily accessible location. A tasting menu of this quality in the City with five Champagnes or sparkling wines at £69 per person is, I think, amazingly good value.

Dislikes: None

Verdict: A truly innovative partnering of modern French-Peruvian cuisine with an outstanding list of Champagnes and sparkling wines. Tirage's tasting menu partnering food with Champagnes is magnificent, and one of the best value in the City. Highly recommended.