Eat: 6-Course Afternoon Tea, Hakkasan LondonBy Gemma Perlin
Hakkasan London has all the answers. For too long we Londoners have written-off Sundays; spending hours fretting about what we’re going to wear on Monday and if we’ve got enough salad leaves for our packed lunches for the week. I say we need to bring back the spirit of Seizing the Sunday – and what better way to do it than with an all-guns-blazing afternoon tea. Celebrate this week’s National Afternoon Tea Week with this unusual offering from Hakkasan in Mayfair:
The Lowdown Hakkasan London
Afternoon tea is a British institution; but say you are not in the mood for the often sickly-sweet affair and need something more substantial to battle a Saturday night hangover. Well, we think it is about time you headed to Hakkasan for their six-course tea with a difference.
This Michelin-starred restaurant serves up an afternoon tea affair including ribs, dim sum, duck salad, seabass and cocktails – and there’s no bland cucumber sandwiches or dry scones in sight.
We loved: the pudgy scallop shumai, the venison puff and the Lovers Leaf tea (apt as the restaurant seems to be flooded with loved-up couples lighting). The star of the show was the grilled Chilean sea bass – we’d gladly have it over cake any day.
We loved less: the poor sign-posting of toilets which meant we ended up in the men’s toilets – now that’s not exactly lady like tea behaviour now is it.
We emerged from the sweet incense smells of Hakkasan pleasantly full, content with the tangy joy of the lemon pot and just enough of a sugar kick for the rest of Sunday. Blues avoided once again.
Price: £90 for tea including drinks
Book: http://hakkasan.com/hanwayplace/
Hakkasan is at 8 Hanway Place, W1T 1HD