Hi, well we went I think Feb time. Dinner tasting we pretty much identical to the one listed here: http://londonfoodfreak.com/hkk/

As I mentioned, at its heart its quite traditional combinations. Yes they have occasionally luxury ingredients (bresse chicken, champagne sauce etc) but this is very much the kind of stuff you would get in a restaurant in a five star HK hotel. Interesting comparison with Bo London across the way which tries to push things in a much more avant-garde direction.

Portion sizes are small - you probably won't be stuffed even with the full tasting (pop across to My Old Place the other side of Bishopsgate if you need to and fill up on lamb skewers after). Service was very prompt - dishes came in quick succession (still about two hours) which is good.

Food was really excellent. The Peking duck was absolutely awesome (although they don't give you enough! tried to badger them for a bit more but no dice). Unusually the meat was also extremely moist - usually in a Peking duck the breast gets blasted into submission in order to get the skin right.

The other standout dish as the pumpkin luffa tofu - really excellent and not the sort of dish you get over here often. Wagyu beef was also excellent, melting tender for all the obvious reasons.

Only dud was (surprisingly for a Hakkasan place) the dim sum trilogy - the sichuan dumpling a little to aggressively spiced and the truffle har gau simply tasted of truffle oil (yawn).

But otherwise real top-notch contemporary Chinese haute. (I note the irony that high end hotel restaurants in Asia have taken many of the tasting menu trappings from michelin-type places in Europe. Now HKK is effectively reimporting the style back to the West

Note that at lunchtime they are not just doing the tasting menu format. They are also offering alc options including a 5-course Peking duck menu. I suspect this will come up against the issue of not giving you enough to fill you up, but would at least allow you to have a crack at the duck on a budget.

Hope that's useful!

J

HKK - excellent food. Exquisitely cooked but at heart traditional combinations. Portions a bit small. NB even the 15 course they keep service humming along so it won't take as long as you think.

I wouldn't bother reffing anything by Giles Coren - he rarely talks about the food in his restaurant "reviews".

Royal China Club, the smaller one (and the original Baker St site) is a more upmarket outfit. Specialises in fancy stuff like whole fishes and lobsters and the like. I think they have a dim sum selection but its shorter. If you just want a dim sum "fix" the larger main branch is better.

Alternately I'm very fond of the dim sum at Shanghai Blues in Holborn. Also worth checking out Grand Imperial in the hotel by Victoria Station.

Don't think Min Jiang will serve them all afternoon. They are much more a proper posh restaurant so I assume they will have more restricted hours. Having said that taking on a half peking duck there and a couple of baskets of dim sum is another excellent way to pamper yourself.

J

Charcuterie - Bar Boulud (portions bit small though), the Almeida in Islington has for a long time had a charcuterie trolley as a starter option. http://www.urbanspoon.com/rph/52/5603.... Bruce Poole of Chez Bruce has also always had a good reputation with charcuterie.

Although it might make more financial sense just to raid a decent deli and but the stuff retail. Selfridges Food Hall perhaps?

Foie gras is much of a muchness - you get decent stuff anywhere. I guess Club Gascon are the closest thing to a "specialist" with multiple offerings on the menu. If you want the raw materials Wyndhams Poultry in borough market or fulham will do you a whole raw fg for £25.

Their egg tofu is a killer.

Also dishes always come nice and fast - we put it down to "typical Singaporean efficiency" :-p

Yes the ones they served were more like a goubouli than a shengjianbao. Amusing aside - three of us once got our quantities slightly wrong and ordered 20 jin of goubouli in Tianjin. They needed a trolley to bring our order to the table.

I think the ones I'm thinking of (panfried skin but soupy filling are profiled here: http://travel.cnn.com/shanghai/eat/di...

Definitely distinct from xiaolongbai. Alas still not available in London yet! :-(

Got round to trying them a few weeks ago and was disappointing - more like mini panfried baozi than panfried xlb. The ones I remember from Shanghai street vendors has thinner less bready skins and xlb style soupy filling. They were puffed up and round like golfballs. the ones here - as pic above shows - nowhere near as puffy and the filling wasn't soupy alas.

On a more positive note Leongs Legends has now opened up in Golders Green next door to Cafe Japan, extending their empire to North London!

J

Shellseekers in Borough Market have live ones

Also See Woo in South Greenwich have extensive live tanks, I think with a couple of different types

Ta

J

Agree with zuriga. Bus system is great. Worth downloading a smartphone app which can give you live departure times for your nearest bus stop (provided of course you have a mobile data connection - worth actually picking up a pay as you go SIM just for the trip you can get those from any mobile phone shop). J

Brixton - Brixton Market, Upstairs Brixton
Vauxhall - Stockwell - Canton Arms
Vauxhall - Brunswick House, Casa Madeira
Pimlico - Escoffier Room
Victoria - Imperial China, Bumbles, Boisdale, The Ebury, The Goring

Anywhere north of that - too many to mention

J

lol. reminds me of my turbot execution story. went and got a live turbot from the Seewoo greenwich fish tanks. stuck it in the bag assuming it would be expired by the time I got home. get back - need to cook birthday dinner for mum. turbot still flapping. presumably one is supposed to whack it or something - easier said then done when its covered in this, knife resistant slimy skin! :-x

Obviously in a big city like London you won't be short of French options.

But City ways in particular try Morgan M or Cafe du Marche nr smith fields mkt.

Morgan M flies under the radar but does very good haute French with excellent veggie options a bonus. CdM is a bit more casual and a City classic, but again as French as a garlic snail baguette with foie gras on top.

Also consider bistro Bruno in the zetter. Really really executed turbo charged bistro classics.

All the best

J

So I'm not allowed to mention I'm partial to the double sausage mcmuffin too... So long as its freshly prepared? (not a big fan of the double bacon though) :-p

PS Am I allowed to mention that I find McDonalds breakfast wraps curiously addictive (ketchup, not brown sauce), or would that be considered trolling? There is an outlet near the station after all... lol

If "that won't break the bank" is part of your criteria you're pretty much screwed.

This recent thread was on the same topic. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/871421

I've had my eye on Duck & Waffle for a while. Based in the City and sounds gloriously trashy (in a good way). Defo sounds more fun that straight laced (foie gras all day breakfast... what's not to like?)

J

Hmmm I'm a big fan of Papa Johns for pizza, slightly more upmarket than your pizza hut and a delicious but deadly butter sauce dip for the crusts. Think there's one in Angel so you should be sorted... J

I'd trek out west to the Harwood Arms, and get yourself some venison scotch eggs. J.

Ah yes I knew Pages has rebranded but forgot who it was.

Yep you can walk into Nisbets and browse around. Quite a fun place - for all the obvious reasons!

Prices are obviously decent, but don't expect stuff to be cheap - professional gear rarely is

J

For more trade-related stuff its worth trying Pages at 121 Shaftesbury Avenue... Ta J

No clue on Indian. Howler is the guy to ask on that front! J

So the bottom line is most posh starred places will be doing christmas lunch on christmas day... but the catch is of your they will be charging £150-300 per head for the privilege. If that's your thing I don't think you'll be spoilt for choice.

NB that public transport does not run on christmas day so you will need a car.

But if you're doing a house swap why not just cook yourself? After all you've got what is probably London's most fabulous Waitrose (pace Canary Wharf) just down the hill at Finchley Road. If you can't find something decent in that place you really shouldn't be on this board!

re: dining out options I'm fairly new to the area but Hampstead doesn't seem to have that many destination places. Jin Kinchi the Japanese place gets good notices. Dach & Sons does the trendy gourmet hot dog thing - probably a good bet for kids. Down in Swiss Cottage I'm very fond of both Singapore Garden and Atariya (Singapore and Sushi respectively). Chicken Shop has just opened up a little across the way towards Kentish Town - again probably a good option for kids.

All the best

J

Oooh Shengjianbao!When done properly those babies are the KING of dumplings... like xiaolongbao but crispy too! :-p Hope their version works...

I'd go to Sketch Lecture room for the set lunch. It's in your budget (forty quidish I think), a great deal (about four different starters, canapes, doodads, pre dessert, two desserts etc). Plus the whole place is suitably bonkers that it'll be great fun for a visitor.

Plus they sell London's best patisserie on the ground floor.

Plus it's getting a second michelin star next week! ;-)

J

Yes they do amadei at selfridges. chuao and all that lot.

I think Paul Young also uses Amadei for his couverture so may well sell (or at least to sell) his bars in his shop - not other brands though.

J

Selfridges Food Hall is probably your best bet...

Most of the dedicated choc shops will focus on own/one brand. The bottom line is that its too easy to temper a slab of couverture, drop it into a mold and mark it up to bother with other peoples!

Off the top of my heard

The Square - Philip Howard
Memories of Gascony - Pierre Koffman
Astrance (Paris ***) has a cookbook coming out I think
Too Many Chefs, Only One Indian - Sat Bains
Favikan cookbook (although its by Phaidon - ugh)

Those are the main ones I think - all a bit cheffy!

J

Hey finally got to this place (have just moved from Brixton to the area). I remember its been at the back of my mind for years (it was probably the first Sichuan place to open in London).

I was really blown away by the quality of the food. Lazi Ji awesomely tingly and crunchy with good meat bits (often you just get crappy bits of bone). Mapo Tofu exemplary. Dandan mian tasty, filling and only three quid for a (decent sized) bowl. In fact portion size all round was great (2x dishes + noodles was about three times as much as I could eat - and I was hungry).

Well worth going to if you're in the area. Or even if you're not.

J

There's a Gails on the high street which does wonderful cinnamon buns...

Try giving the people at Texture restaurant nr Marble Arch a call. The chef is Icelandic and they have Skyr in some of the dishes on their menu.

Doubt they sell it themselves but I suspect they'll know who does.

J