A Feast at Hakkasan Bistro

Located in an industrial area of east Richmond, the Hakkasan Bistro took over the space Zen Fine Chinese Cuisine restaurant has developed.

Hakkasan Bistro, being somewhat of a reprise of Zen, continues to further its signature mark of quality service, classy ambiance and prestige Tasting Menus. On the heels of winning Diner’s Choice for “Best Service” in Chinese Restaurant Awards 2015, Hakkasan recently underwent a restaurant makeover to embellish, revamp and reinvigorate the best of what they have to offer – on and off the plate.

Hakkasan now offers the best of both worlds with their expanded A La Carte Menu for family style dining and inclusion of many popular Hakka country style comfort dishes (as a tribute to their family’s Hakka ancestral roots).

With all that in mind, on Sunday evening I was invited to dine at Hakkasan Bistro Cafe with a group of food bloggers and media-peeps. The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of just how amazing Hakka cuisine is.

In the nature of full disclosure, although the dinner and wine pairing event did not cost me, Hakkasan has offered no financial incentive for my blogging and as always, editorial control of what is posted here remains with me.

To begin our meal we were presented with a platter of jasmine tea smoked mushroom beancurd crepes, balsamic cloud ear mushrooms, and honey roasted barbecue pork cheeks.

The beancurd crepes had a delicate sweetness to them that I enjoyed. The mushrooms also had a wonderful mouth feel – just enough resistance to the bite. However, the real winner were the pork cheeks. I really liked the firmness of the pork cheek and the strong honey flavour cooked into the meat.

Following the shared appetizer platter, we were each presented with a coconut filled with soup. You know the Tim Horton’s commercial where the guy says, “And then I ate the bowl!”? Well, I kind of felt like saying that while eating this soup.

This course was called a Double Boiled Whole Young Coconut Pork Soup. The chef chops the top off the young coconut and pours out the coconut milk before lightly roasting it. The coconut is then filled with chicken consomme?, pieces of pork and snow fungus. That mixture is then boiled for three hours!

The snow fungus and pork that are in the soup lose some of their flavour into the consomme? during the double boil process so there is a little side dish of spicy soy sauce to dip them into.

But what about the “And then I ate the bowl” comment? Well, the extended cooking time makes the interior of the young coconut soft enough to scoop out with a spoon. The coconut flesh has a very dense mushroom-like texture. I quite enjoyed it.

The dishes started arriving fast and furiously at this point. We were all trying to snap pictures, sample foods and make notes about what we were eating. It was awesome!!

One of my favourites was the one pictured above – odorless garlic and lobster. At one point I ate a big scoop of what I thought was lobster and then when I had it in my mouth I realized it was actually garlic. And there was no burning overload of garlic! Another excellent dish.

Another plate that I was nervous about trying was the braised pork hock. This is a dish that very clearly illustrates Hakka style cooking; working with textures to create a unique eating experience.

Pork hock really is an intimidating food for the uninitiated (like myself). It is a very large piece of very fatty pork. If it is prepared poorly, it is not going to be a good experience.

The braised pork hock prepared and presented at Hakkasan was an amazing experience. Even though it is an extraordinarily fatty cut of meat the Hakka style preparation made it very enjoyable. The chef at Hakkasan cooks the fatty pork hock without hardening the exterior and bringing out all the natural flavours of the hock without a hint of greasiness.

Once the server had cut the pork hock into serving size pieces, I would say it was almost like eating a very saucy piece of pulled pork. My initial nervousness was for naught; I loved it.

Although there were many meat focused dishes, there was also a vegetable dish. I liked the way that these greens had a spinach-like texture and the way they make my teeth feel funny after eating it. I always love super crisp and easy to bite through greens!!

I suppose the showcase dish at the Hakkasan Bistro dinner was the Ancient Style Hakka Salt Baked Chicken.

A whole chicken wrapped in parchment paper and then buried in salt before being baked. It was crazy impressive to see it being brought to the table!!

Just like the serving staff did with the braised pork hock, once the chicken was presented, it was taken off the table and cut into smaller pieces that could be enjoyed.

And it was also spectacular!! I was wondering if it was going to be like biting into a piece salt cod but, it was not salty AT ALL!! It was tender and moist and had a very positive mouth feel. I very much enjoyed this chicken dish.

Overall, the dining experience at Hakkasan Bistro was a wonderful experience. I tried some dishes that I have never before tried and truth be told, I very much enjoyed them. My hosts very gracious and politely answered every question I posed to them. I have no hesitation in giving Hakkasan my full recommendation and I can absolutely say that I will be returning to the Hakkasan Bistro again.

Phone 604-273-9191 to make a reservation or to order ahead for the specialty dishes.

The Hakkasan Bistro is located at 110-2188 No. 5 Road, Richmond, BC.

As I said at the start of this blog post, although my Hakkasan Bistro dinner did not cost me, Hakkasan has offered no financial incentive for my blogging and as always, editorial control of what is posted here remains with me.