Hakkasan

If anyone is still reading, I just want it to be known that I am so far behind in posts. I have been beyond lazy this holiday season. In fact it took everything I had in me to walk upstairs and grab my laptop for this post. As a wise woman once told me: “Christmas time, is not time, is no time for diets.” Except I live this every season of the year. I also just want it to be known that you’re lucky you’re even getting this post because the first time I wrote it didn’t save and now you’re stuck with the watered down second version I once again forced myself to write. Then I reminded myself I’m not paying for this blog and I should just get to the meaty stuff you may or may not want to read.

Anyways, My fiancé works for Hakkasan group. She has had the pleasure of eating at Hakkasan time after time. And I have had the displeasure of sitting through story after story of how good her meals were and hung on to every last word. I finally had my chance. The force was strong in me this night; I was no longer a young Padawon. I was a Jedi with an appetite ready to take on the rebellion known as Hakkasan.

We made it a several hour affair and turned the evening in to a 5-course meal. I was hungry; I was in my happy place and feared not what was ahead. We started out with the Hakka Dim Sum Platter. Probably one of the prettiest things I’ve ever put in my mouth. It was green, it was orange it was something of a mix between a Dr. Seuss book and Asian wizardry. But mot of all, it was awesome. There was duck, shrimp, scallop and other sea crustacean’s i'm sure my mind will never be able to pronounce. Surprisingly, the shrimp was the winner. I’m not a huge shrimp fan but when it was coupled with guava and steamed to perfection it’s hard to let something like that slip through your chopsticks.

The next three dishes came out together. We had Mango braised scallops, Sweet and sour pork and…wait for it….wait for it….you still reading?... Jasmine Tea smoked Short Rib. It was amazing. The Scallops were seared to perfection in a way that only Gordon Ramsey could appreciate (see Hell’s Kitchen for the reference). The best thing in the plate however was the short rib. The bone came out of the meat easier than change in my pocket when I sit down in my car. It was sweet and Smokey and probably on the short list of greatest meat I’ve had the pleasure of consuming. I felt like I needed to honor the cow that gave his life for me that night. I had no shame, in fact, the waiter had to pry the plate from my dead hands as I licked every last drop from it. The pork however was, and I say this with much reprieve, a bit of a let down. It was good, but I felt like I could get the same at the Rice N Noodle down the street. Overall, I was still very satisfied with the selections thus far.

Finally, we made it to the dessert round. We weren’t being judge by Scott Conant or Mark Zarkarian but we carried on. We decided on the Gianduja Chocolate Mouse with Blood Orange and Hazelnut gelato. Shut the front door you say? Shut the front door indeed. This thing was beautiful. It looked like a sculpture in the center of some College Campus but you could eat it. And eat it we did. I felt like my fiancé was slapping the spoon out of my hand every other bite because I could not put it down.

Overall, I was happy with the meal. Definitely out of my price range but live once you do and eat much you should.