Hakkasan — Restaurant in Shanghai

There are high end Fine dining restaurants in Shanghai but nothing really like Hakkasan. The restaurant fills a unique niche by catering to a crowd that wants a trendy spot to eat high end Chinese food, which serves high end cocktails and western style desserts. The detractors of this restaurant will say it’s not authentic. Those views are missing the point of the restaurant. Hakkasan is a place for a special occasion, a big night out on the town, or to experience and to have Chinese food prepared with unique ingredients.

My rating is based on the following:

Food: 4 stars Environment: 5 stars Service: 4.5 stars Value: 3.5 stars Recommended dishes: crispy duck with cavier, lemon pot, stir fried A3 Wagyu beef

I have been here twice. Once for dinner and once for dim sum. The dim sum was good but not great. There wasn’t anything to innovative or anything that blew my mind. The quality is good and the price is high. I preferred my dinner experience over the dim sum. One thing to avoid is the fried noodles. Really disappointed by this dish.

The signature dish at Hakkasan is the crispy duck. This dish is delicious and you can think of it pretty much as Peking Duck with cavier. The real star for me is the lemon pot. I think this is close to a perfect dessert. It is fun and whimsical. A joy to look at and tastes amazing. You get sweet, tart, fat and crunch with this dish. The merengue pairs nicely with the richness of the cream in the pot. The richness of the dish is balanced out by the acidity coming from the lemon. I would come here just to eat...

What a venue and what a view! Located in the famed Bund18 building, right on The Bund in Shanghai, Hakkasan is the perfect spot for a nice night out.

The service is as expected from a premium venue. You’re politely welcomed the moment the door opens and nothing is too much trouble from then on. I even dropped a chop stick while nobody was around but within 30 seconds they were at the table with a fresh set!

The food is interesting and unique, all executed perfectly except the salt & pepper duck which was slightly dry unfortunately. The Peking Duck first course was an interesting difference from the norm however, especially with the addition of caviar. The standout for me however was the chocolate caviar dessert! OMG I could eat this everyday it was so good, please do yourself a favour and leave room (if you like chocolate of course).

There is an exceptional wine list too for wine lovers and they have an onsite sommelier for those who like recommendations.

Make sure you book as only a small portion of the tables have a view of The Bund.

Highly worth a visit for those looking for a nice meal...

Excellent dining experience on the Bund. Food was delicious, drinks were fantastic, atmosphere and view were superb, all in all a wonderful night out.

We got the dim sum plates, both regular and vegetarian, as well as the tofu in pumpkin soup, crab salad, Shanghai dumplings, and pork belly buns. My personal favorite of the group was the tofu in pumpkin, because not only was the pumpkin soup and mushrooms delicious, that may have been the best tofu I've ever had.

Drinks were great, although several of the food dishes beat them to the table-guess the bartender was busy. I got the coix solero, which was most refreshing. And the desserts were the perfect cap to the meal. Most were fruit-based and all were amazing. I got the coconut and the others got the peach blossom.

Add in the fact that you have an amazing view of the Shanghai skyline and Huangpu river, a really classy and upscale atmosphere, and very attentive servers who speak great English (and provide good English menus), and it was a great evening...