It was our second visit to HKK and yet again, it exceeded all expectations.
The Hakkasan Group’s restaurant, which sits behind Liverpool Street station, showcased its new duck and Champagne Saturday lunch in an elegant manner.
From the warm greeting as we escaped the pouring rain, to the attentive, knowledgeable and friendly staff, each of the four courses seemed to surpass the previous dish in terms of taste and presentation.
The only constant throughout the meal was the crisp, dry, Louis Roederer Premier Champagne.
The blue crab salad starter oozed sophistication and it provided a mouthful of slightly salty flesh on a single salad leaf, perched on a crunchy wafer.
For duck lovers, HKK’s signature dish of cherry wood roasted Peking duck is a real treat.
As a whole duck was brought to our table, we watched as it was expertly sliced by the chef before being beautifully arranged on to the serving dish.
The auburn skin glistened in the intimately set lights of the restaurant and the first serving of duck was accompanied with steamed black truffle mantou and imperial caviar.
The skin was perfectly crisp and the meat tender and juicy. Now, I’m not a fan of skin or fat, of which duck is known for, but I savoured every mouthful. It had the right mix of earthy flavours and sweetness.
For the second serving, the duck was served with sesame pancakes, abalone supreme stock with egg fried rice – the typical Chinese dish but it had a real modern twist.
After enquiring about what we could expect of the abalone, our waitress informed us that the small sea slugs had been cooked in a special sauce for 72 hours.
It had a similar chewy texture to squid and it was a refreshing alternative flavour to the duck pancakes.
After a pause between courses, we were ready for the nashi pear and Champagne mousse with cotton candy.
It sat beautifully on a marble plate and the mousse was delicate, sweet with a surprise centre of finely chopped and even sweeter pears – a delicious end to an exquisite late lunch.
The Duck and Champagne lunch menu is available between 12noon and 4pm on Saturdays. See the HKK site for more information.