Lunch at Hakkasan San Francisco
With only six hours before we had to get ourselves to the airport, choosing where to have lunch in San Francisco was a challenge. The options were endless, but I ended up choosing Hakkasan because of the rave reviews I've read about this London original's modern take on Cantonese cuisine.
Hakkasan Hanway Place in London first opened its doors in 2001 and made its way across the globe as its reputation for culinary innovation coupled with outstanding interior design became popular with foodies and well-heeled diners. Of course, I could not pass up the opportunity to check it when I realized there's one located in San Francisco!
Here are a few pictures from lunch!
View of downtown SF from Hakkasan's elevator lobby
First, I had to get a cocktail. I'm a definite sucker for drinks with flowers in it.
Plum Sour: Balvenie 12yr single malt, Satsuma Godai umeshu, lemon juice, egg white and Angostura bitters. YUM!!!
Pan-seared Shanghai dumpling -- tasty but my least favorite.
Every time we go out for dim sum we always get at least a couple of these fried prawn dumplings. It's such a mess to eat with all its rice paper tentacles flying all over the place when you take a bite, but it's so good!
Crispy prawn dumpling with plum sauce. Good, but I've had bigger portions for cheaper. :)
And here's our favorite of all the dishes: Roast Duck Pumpkin Puff. It's so beautiful and so scrumptious. Filled with juicy roast duck, these mini-pumpkins are also crisp on the outside and doughy on the inside. And even better, they gave us a complimentary second serving of these delightful dumplings!
Amazing duck pumpkin puffs ... I dream about them.
Jade lobster daikon roll
And then here's this frighteningly green dish --Jade lobster daikon roll. Our opinions differed on this one. I loved it, but Stuart was not a big fan. It did pose to be challenging to eat. The rolls just unraveled on our plates.
We also made a new acquaintance with a fascinating and impeccably dressed gentleman while at lunch. When the dessert menu came, the guy sitting at the adjacent table whipped out his phone and started talking to me recommending that we get this dessert. I had noticed that the staff acknowledged him as a frequent diner of this upscale joint, so we followed his lead and ordered this magnificent mousse.
After chatting with him, we learned that he is originally from Oahu, and his mother-in-law lives in Issaquah, Washington, so he visits the Seattle area often. He remembered going to Thai Tom on the Ave and Ray's Boathouse. We all agreed that both are very different dining experiences. He and Stuart exchanged business cards, and when he had left, Stuart commented that the way he gave Stuart his business card is the traditional way Chinese businessmen do it.
Other dishes weren't pictured because they looked pretty standard for what they are. Like the har gao looked just like any har gao we've had from our local dim sum hangouts. We enjoyed this dining experience immensely. We don't really get to say that we went to a hip Chinese restaurant often. This place is contemporary, but the food definitely didn't veer too far off from its Cantonese roots.
Hakkasan currently has 12 locations all around the globe -- from Abu Dhabi to Miami, so if you find yourself in one of their locales, make a reservation! They also have a 3-course pre-fixe menu that is more budget-friendly.
