PUMPKIN SOUP!

Hakkasan Shanghai is one of the restaurants of the Hakkasan Group. It is located at the famous the Bund. Hakkasan Shanghai is not the place for trying traditional Chinese food, but you can eat contemporary Cantonese cuisine at an elegant ambiance.

Ambiance

There were three different dining spaces at the restaurant. Since I’m a big fan of wood, the main dining area which was known as the “cage” with latticed woodwork was my favorite. The other area, Ling Ling Lounge, offers you the view of Shanghai’s skyline. I believe it would be fascinating to watch the great scenery. The third and final choice was the private dining rooms where you could isolate yourself from the rest of the guests.  

I definitely loved the overall ambiance and design. I just found the lighting too dim and didn’t enjoy the lounge music. It didn’t match with Chinese food in any way. The decoration was plainer compared to Hakkasan New York.

Taste

Unfortunately, this time I didn’t have a chance to have the tasting menu because they were offering the tasting menus only to groups of at least four people. It was a bad surprise for me because we were only two. This was the first time that I have encountered such a requirement. At some of the restaurants, it is only required that all the table should have the tasting menu. Not being able to have the tasting menu, I tried to create my own. It was similar to the one I had at Hakkasan New York, but I chose some dishes that are special to Hakkasan Shanghai. I hope it will be satisfactory enough for you. 

The first course I ordered was the classic Chinese dumplings. It was a dim sum trio special to Shanghai. One of them was filled with truffles and coriander, both being a dominant taste. I don’t prefer two very dominant tastes together but it was still good. The other dumpling also had coriander but this time it was with prawn and peach resin. 

Next course I chose was roasted duck with truffles, black truffle sauce and cordyceps flowers. Although it is called a cordyceps flower, it is not a flower but a fungus. In other words, it is a nice, aromatic mushroom. The duck was cooked perfectly crispy outside and soft inside. I would love it even more if it was crispier. I loved the taste of truffles and cordyceps flowers with the duck. They made a nice combination. 

For the following course, I chose the lobster with curry sauce. It was an original combination. The lobster was deliciously undercooked and tasted so well. 

Fried ho fun noodle with wagyu beef and yellow chives was another good shot. Ho fun is a wide flat rice noodle popular in Southern China. Wagyu beef tasted really good and the noodle was very fresh.

I didn’t have a dessert because they weren’t appealing to me. The finale with jasmine tea was pleasant.

Creativity

I wasn’t amazed by the creativity of the restaurant. I enjoyed the truffle combinations but I was looking forward to a more traditional Chinese experience in Shanghai. It wasn’t much different from going to Hakkasan New York. I would love to see a more traditional menu in the home country.

The use of truffles was a bit exaggerated. I saw that they used it in many dishes on the menu. I would prefer to see only one or two specialties with truffles. 

Service

The best experience about Hakkasan Shanghai was the service. I was informed very well regarding the ingredients and dishes. The pace of the service was perfect. 

When I was having the jasmine tea at the end of the experience, the waitress told me that jasmine is the national symbol of China. Then she started to sing a famous song about jasmine tea. It was really lovely and a moment that I will always remember. 

Value

The foreign wines were very expensive. I tried a white Chardonnay; a Chinese wine from Helan Qingxue Vineyard upon the recommendation of the sommelier. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it at all. I had to continue with a safe Riesling. Besides being expensive, the wine list was broad. Every Tuesday four people are sitting together and changing the wine list according to the menu.

Compared to the expensive wines, the food was reasonably priced.