Location:
In a seedy back alley between Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street on 8 Hanway Place. The restaurant is in an old factory building.
Style and crowd:
The restaurant is one very large hall with a bar at the end of the room. The style of the restaurant is a mix between trendy London minimalism and Chinese decorations. The room was filled with people and the noise level was quite loud.
Even though we had a reservation we had to spend the first 30 min. in the bar and wait for a table - this is a thing people expect when you visit the most hip restaurant in town. The crowd consists of the rich and famous I noticed Tia Carrera, Simon Le Bon and Gwen Stafani.
We where 5 people at the restaurant and we choose 12 Chinese dishes which was more than enough food. The standard of the food was excellent and the atmosphere of the restaurant was at least half the experience. The dishes were traditional Chinese specialties with a slight twist of modern London fusion kitchen. It was the best Chinese food I have ever tried. It was spicy but not too spicy and the fusion inspiration only lifted the dishes to a higher level.
The atmosphere in the restaurant became more and more party like the later it got, and a visit to Hakkasan is the perfect place to "warm up" before hitting the London club scene.
The wine was of a very high quality too. We had a Chardonnay from France and it was reasonable too at about £20 a bottle.
The service at the restaurant was good and professional but everybody was very busy so don't prepare too many questions with the order.
I can definitely recommend the place if you are ready for a hip experience and ready to try new things. However if you hate crowded places with a lot of noise don't go near Hakkasan.
To get the perfect Hakkasan experince book a table at around 21:00 and stay until at least 24:00.