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Hakkasan – a special present delivery

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Takeaway website – https://hakkasan.com/mayfair/delivery-takeaway/

We ate it in Brixton, but it didn’t come from Brixton. Hakkasan is a Cantonese restaurant in Bruton Street, Mayfair – we know it isn’t open, so we couldn’t squeeze it into our five minute bus ride section. But it was a Christmas present and we think that every now and again we need a bit of a boost with a high class meal – this was it for the month. The website talks about the Michelin star and that it has “…dishes inspired by ancient recipes”. It has a fantastic menu and a fantastic way to begin the Year of the Ox

Our set menu for two included starters of Classic steamed dim sum and Crispy pork salad, main dishes of Stir-fry black pepper rib eye beef with Merlot, Grilled Chilean sea bass in honey, Black truffle roasted duck, stir fried pak choi and Steamed jasmine rice. This is a lot of food for one evening so we left the duck for the next day.

I think I will run out of hyperbole in describing the food – the dim sum was pretty and incredible, the pork – just as it is described crispy and the best (I am not prone to over-promising) the best I have ever had). the beef was peppery, the fish just cooked (they clearly solved the scientific equation for cooking and steaming on the Deliveroo journey), while the next day’s duck was easily eaten and came with homemade rice and vegetables.

No more words – just pictures.

We were delighted to receive a promissory note for this posh dinner as Christmas present from a friend. So we don’t know the cost, but we would like to thank him again for such a fabulous gift.

Mamalan – takeaway

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Unit 18, Brixton Village, SW9 8PR

https://mamalan.co.uk/brixton/

Opening times: Monday 11:30am – 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday 11:30am to 10pm

You can Click and Collect or go through Deliveroo.

I usually save the punchline for the end of the review but I have to say – this is the best Chinese takeaway I have had in many years. We are long-term fans and have reviewed the restaurant before (see here, here and here). It is currently possible to eat outside, but for our Friday night treat we ordered through Deliveroo and ate in the confines of our house.

The menu is just the right length – long enough for variety, but not overwhelming with the suspicion that they are over-extended. It has everything you might expect from its Beijing roots – stir fry, noodle soups, bao buns, salads and posh sides (Dumplings, Hot wings, prawn toast, spring rolls etc.). The list is different on the website and Deliveroo. But they do now have meals for two and cater for vegans. We chose the miso wings, Sesame oil Chicken noodle salad, the miso, tofu rice and some prawn crackers.It comes in paper boxes or bags and is clearly marked – a blessing if some look similar to each other so preventing a few mouthfuls before you swap boxes. First the wings – bottom centre in the picture.They were delicious, hot, soft and the meat falls off the bone. Sticky, so you either need the chopsticks or just get messy.

The miso, tofu rice comes with some vegetables – bottom left in the picture. Even though it didn’t have far to travel, we were amazed that the rice still has separate grains and didn’t go into a mush with all the steam. The tofu was a little soft, but the whole meal a delight.

The noodle salad – bottom right – was also great.  It was really a whole meal in itself with vegetables and spicy sauce with a reasonable amount of chilli.

Finally the prawn crackers. They come with a sweet chili dipping sauce and are not the normal airy white one but were more like crackers. After adjusting our expectations, we decided we enjoyed them, particularly as they were not at all oily.

The bill came to £26.80 – a bargain even though, unlike other times, we ate it all. We will return soon.