I’ve dined at Hakkasan many times in London, both at the Michelin-starred Hanway Place and Mayfair, and not just Hakkasan but the sister restaurants of the Hakkasan group too. So when I went to the UAE I was so keen to try out the Hakkasan in Dubai and see how it compared. It was one of the best meals I had while I was in Dubai (it was firmly up there with Zuma), so I thought I’d tell you all about it…
The restaurant is located in Jumeirah Emirates Towers, and we found it quite tricky to find within the hotel, but eventually we got there and quickly noticed how similar it looks and feels to the London Hakkasan’s. All dark wood, moody lighting, and little nooks and areas that separate the restaurant so it feels intimate and isn’t just one huge space. As I was staying with Nigel I took him along with me, he’s also a huge fan of the London Hakkasan but hadn’t yet tried the Dubai sister, so we were both pretty excited to test it out!
We were quickly seated and our incredible feast began.
We started with the Hakka steamed dim sum platter, which included; scallop shumai, har gau, black pepper duck dumpling, prawn and Chinese chive dumpling. My favourite was without a doubt the scallop shumai, I love scallop dim sum so much, and this certainly didn’t disappoint. The flavours were on point, however I did find the black pepper duck dumpling a little too peppery (Nige loved it though).
We then moved on to one of my all-time Hakkasan favourites; the Crispy duck salad with pomelo, pomegranate, pine nuts, and shallots. I’m pretty sure this is one of the best salads I’ve ever had, and I loved how consistent it was with the London version. I just love the combination of the duck with the citrusy pomelo – the flavours just work so well together!
And then it was my favourite dish of the whole night…the Crispy prawn fritter with truffle. These were little parcels of heaven, and were literally perfection.
We then decided to have a little break as we were already getting quite full. Not gonna lie, we’d been at a boat party all afternoon with unlimited booze so were completely trollied (although I think I spent about 80% of my time in Dubai drunk with the amount of parties and bars we went to), and it took us 3 hours to eat all of the food we had because we couldn’t stop talking! I’d been in Oman for two nights before (blog posts coming soon) and had flown back to Dubai first thing that morning, so we had lots to catch up on.
So after a small break the main courses arrived. I’m not a huge rice eater so I didn’t have too much of the Edamame egg fried rice, and the Wok-fry tiger prawns in Assam sauce I found *really* spicy, so Nigel had those as he loves spicy food.
Surprisingly I loved the Four style vegetable stir-fry in Szechuan sauce…which had tofu in it! I’m usually not a fan of tofu, but in the sauce it tasted delicious!
I also really enjoyed the Stir-fry rib eye beef with fois gras. I think we could have done with one less dish though as we were really too full to finish everything, and I hate wasting food.
After another much longer break and far too much chatting, it was dessert time. We shared the Vanilla baked yoghurt, with macerated pineapple and ginger sugar palmiers. By the time we had dessert they’d dimmed the lights right down so it was super tricky to get a decent photo…sorry!
We enjoyed our meal so much, that we ended up so full and happy that we bailed on the others from the boat party who’d gone clubbing, and went home and went straight to sleep instead of joining them haha! The food really was exceptional, the flavours an intense hit on my bland British palate, and the service was perfect. We also loved the atmosphere in the restaurant, as it was fairly relaxed and very easy to have a conversation (the opposite of Zuma which had more of a party atmosphere).
If you’re heading to Dubai or live in Dubai, definitely add Hakkasan Dubai to your ‘must visit’ list!
I promise you won’t be disappointed.
I promise you won’t be disappointed.
*We dined as guests of Hakkasan Dubai and therefore our meal was complimentary, however as always this never influences my reviews and all Hakkasan love is my own.
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
I'd love to try the Dubai version of one of my favourite London restaurants.