A couple of years back I'd heard about the arrival of the Michelin star twins from London, Hakkasan and Yauatcha. A part of me (the spinal level reaction part) said, "Let's go and eat!" The more thoughtful part figured that a Michelin star means I'd blow my monthly 'eat out' budget on a single meal, and if I didn't love it then I'd be an unhappy camper for a full month. So, I held on.
Come Restaurant Week India (go #RWI15), and I figured it was time to tick entries off the must-visit list.
Come meeting time with a doctor friend, I suggested that we meet up over lunch. A bit of a stranger to fine dine restaurants, he jumped in gamely. His motto? #ZindagiNaMilegiDobara #KarLoMajaa #DineFine.
Though the slot was for 1pm, we requested them to move it to 1:30 pm (what doctor can really plan out his not-so-punctual desi patients around fancy restaurant schedule needs) and they agreed gamely. Restaurants can be haughty about such things so the flexibility is appreciated. A small win, yay!
Reached the address, saw the Hakkasan sign, entered the building, threw in my name (was on the list, yay!), and got into the elevator. And then?
Hakkasan Blue happens to you. It's an elevator to a different world, just like it were a sci-fi movie.
A slight out-of-mind, out-of-body experience as you walk down the corridor, dark and dim but with Hakkan Blue lighting. You enter the restaurant and it's a serene, dark, thoughtfully recess-lit oasis. My oasis was jarred a bit by a 10-15 strong kitty + b'day party at the peak of chatter but I found the Zen in me to drown out the cacophony.
Most of the restaurant was empty. Heck, this is what a fancy spa should look like. The waveform design on the padded walls was soothing. The Hakkasan Blue lights breaking the dark were soothing.
The not-too-cushy seating arrangement was comfortable.
It's what a thoughtful designer had conjured up.
Some patient had further delayed my friend's arrival so I discussed the menu option with the good man taking our orders.
The FOOD experience~~~
V arrived just as the mock duck salad was coming in and he took in the ambience with a bit of a body blow. He sunk into the seat and rested his head back and sighed.
The mock duck salad was a great start to the meal...a bit of meat for the protein-y bite and taste, the crunch of the greens, the sweet burst of pomegranate seeds, and the nutty, fatty goodness of pine nuts, and all of this with a not-too-wet dressing.
I was genuinely surprised to learn that the mock duck was, indeed, made of soy. If, ever, life demands that I turned vegetarian, this would be the texture and taste I would turn to for pseudo-cheats and meaty memories. A total Mildly Spiced Win. Alas, the form was not to continue...
The orders had been placed so the food arrived in waves.
The hargao, with its flimsy skin, glistened, and gave a blurry peek of the joy it held hidden. The experience of the first hargao bite wasn't as pleasurable as the sight of it. The prawny contents were not as moist as I'd love. Bit of a MS Undecided.
Next up, the chicken and taro siu mai. Went well with the sauces, but again, a more stolid filling that lacked moistness and a flavor punch. Did not hold its own. A MS Ding.
For the staples, we got the spicy mee goreng noodles and the edamame egg fried rice to go with the sliced lamb in sichuan sauce and the fish in a black bean sauce.
Neither of the staples exerted much to get attention for its own unique flavors.
On the mains, the lamb was a tad too chewy, which doesn't speak very highly of treating protein well, and that allowed the fish in the black bean sauce (not my favorite kind of sauce) to win through. That said, I'm not sure how it was better than the desified fish one finds in many restaurants. Reasonable but not Michelin-worthy.
V and I had some dim sum on our mind, and we figured it was best we wiped it off our must-try list so we ordered the prawn and chive dumpling, and to our luck, it was the kind of delicately tasty small-eats end we needed for our savories. The thin supple green skin yielded easily to the succulent, flavorsome filling.
Good end, I muttered. Good end.
Thence to the desserts.
Here's the story upfront. I'm a savories lover. A meat lover and seafood lover. It's an uncommon meal for me when the dessert steals the thunder from the savories, and indeed, this was the reality here.
We got the ice cream duo - peanut butter and intense coffee, and a more elaborate set up of an orange chocolate, orange-cinnamon creamaux (and some orange sorbet?).
The ice creams were intensely flavorful and silken smooth. Every single spoon-lick was joyous.
It was a similar experience for me, a citrus lover, with alternating between the orange chocolat and the sorbet with the crumble-soil. It was a beautiful pairing of flavors and textures. Usually, I don't like desserts with multiple textures, but this once I was able to let go of my dogma and that means something.
V even muttered something to the effect that he was looking forward to the evening lineup of patients after such a food outing (for blissful somnolence was to be his in some time).
For all the flavor and textural dings that I noticed, V noticed none. For him, it was one of the best meals he had eaten in some time.
Check cleared, we checked out the place, walked around a bit, and reluctantly left this dark Hakkasan Blue oasis for the retina-scarring brightness outside.
Was the food good? Yes.
Did I expect more from it? Yes, definitely, I did. Michelin star, right?
What else? The oasis ambience effect really elevated the entire experience.
Will I be back? Maybe a stray blue Hakatini might tug me back one day.
Come Restaurant Week India (go #RWI15), and I figured it was time to tick entries off the must-visit list.
Come meeting time with a doctor friend, I suggested that we meet up over lunch. A bit of a stranger to fine dine restaurants, he jumped in gamely. His motto? #ZindagiNaMilegiDobara #KarLoMajaa #DineFine.
Though the slot was for 1pm, we requested them to move it to 1:30 pm (what doctor can really plan out his not-so-punctual desi patients around fancy restaurant schedule needs) and they agreed gamely. Restaurants can be haughty about such things so the flexibility is appreciated. A small win, yay!
Reached the address, saw the Hakkasan sign, entered the building, threw in my name (was on the list, yay!), and got into the elevator. And then?
Hakkasan Blue happens to you. It's an elevator to a different world, just like it were a sci-fi movie.
A slight out-of-mind, out-of-body experience as you walk down the corridor, dark and dim but with Hakkan Blue lighting. You enter the restaurant and it's a serene, dark, thoughtfully recess-lit oasis. My oasis was jarred a bit by a 10-15 strong kitty + b'day party at the peak of chatter but I found the Zen in me to drown out the cacophony.
Most of the restaurant was empty. Heck, this is what a fancy spa should look like. The waveform design on the padded walls was soothing. The Hakkasan Blue lights breaking the dark were soothing.
The not-too-cushy seating arrangement was comfortable.
It's what a thoughtful designer had conjured up.
Some patient had further delayed my friend's arrival so I discussed the menu option with the good man taking our orders.
The FOOD experience~~~
V arrived just as the mock duck salad was coming in and he took in the ambience with a bit of a body blow. He sunk into the seat and rested his head back and sighed.
The mock duck salad was a great start to the meal...a bit of meat for the protein-y bite and taste, the crunch of the greens, the sweet burst of pomegranate seeds, and the nutty, fatty goodness of pine nuts, and all of this with a not-too-wet dressing.
I was genuinely surprised to learn that the mock duck was, indeed, made of soy. If, ever, life demands that I turned vegetarian, this would be the texture and taste I would turn to for pseudo-cheats and meaty memories. A total Mildly Spiced Win. Alas, the form was not to continue...
 |
| MOCK DUCK SALAD |
The orders had been placed so the food arrived in waves.
The hargao, with its flimsy skin, glistened, and gave a blurry peek of the joy it held hidden. The experience of the first hargao bite wasn't as pleasurable as the sight of it. The prawny contents were not as moist as I'd love. Bit of a MS Undecided.
 |
| HARGAO |
Next up, the chicken and taro siu mai. Went well with the sauces, but again, a more stolid filling that lacked moistness and a flavor punch. Did not hold its own. A MS Ding.
For the staples, we got the spicy mee goreng noodles and the edamame egg fried rice to go with the sliced lamb in sichuan sauce and the fish in a black bean sauce.
Neither of the staples exerted much to get attention for its own unique flavors.
 |
| EDAMAME EGGS FRIED RICE |
 |
| SPICY MI GORENG NOODLES |
On the mains, the lamb was a tad too chewy, which doesn't speak very highly of treating protein well, and that allowed the fish in the black bean sauce (not my favorite kind of sauce) to win through. That said, I'm not sure how it was better than the desified fish one finds in many restaurants. Reasonable but not Michelin-worthy.
V and I had some dim sum on our mind, and we figured it was best we wiped it off our must-try list so we ordered the prawn and chive dumpling, and to our luck, it was the kind of delicately tasty small-eats end we needed for our savories. The thin supple green skin yielded easily to the succulent, flavorsome filling.
Good end, I muttered. Good end.
Thence to the desserts.
Here's the story upfront. I'm a savories lover. A meat lover and seafood lover. It's an uncommon meal for me when the dessert steals the thunder from the savories, and indeed, this was the reality here.
We got the ice cream duo - peanut butter and intense coffee, and a more elaborate set up of an orange chocolate, orange-cinnamon creamaux (and some orange sorbet?).
The ice creams were intensely flavorful and silken smooth. Every single spoon-lick was joyous.
It was a similar experience for me, a citrus lover, with alternating between the orange chocolat and the sorbet with the crumble-soil. It was a beautiful pairing of flavors and textures. Usually, I don't like desserts with multiple textures, but this once I was able to let go of my dogma and that means something.
V even muttered something to the effect that he was looking forward to the evening lineup of patients after such a food outing (for blissful somnolence was to be his in some time).
For all the flavor and textural dings that I noticed, V noticed none. For him, it was one of the best meals he had eaten in some time.
Check cleared, we checked out the place, walked around a bit, and reluctantly left this dark Hakkasan Blue oasis for the retina-scarring brightness outside.
Was the food good? Yes.
Did I expect more from it? Yes, definitely, I did. Michelin star, right?
What else? The oasis ambience effect really elevated the entire experience.
Will I be back? Maybe a stray blue Hakatini might tug me back one day.
Excellent review and much better pics. You are a gifted writer. Hakkasan should be actually paying you for this.
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