Hakassan

Reviews

Name: Dr. Rudolph Moise

Occupation: Physician

Lives in: North Miami

Restaurant Pick: Hakkassan

Reviewed Hakkassan: 09/14/11 at 9:00 p.m.

Dining at Hakkasan was a positive experience; they have a great and diverse drink menu. The food is delicious. The atmosphere is upbeat. It is an extremely popular place. I had to wait 30 minutes for table, but spent those minutes at the bar. The bar is sexy because of the LCD screen. But the service (at the bar) was not good. They need more bartenders. I like spicy food and the food menu gives you the option for a spicy dish versus a non-spicy one. I would definitely recommend Hakkasan to others.

Name: Gina Santosuosso

Occupation: Nurse/Entrepreuner

Lives in: Boca Raton

Restaurant Pick: Ristorante Sapori

Reviewed Hakkassan: 09/03/2011

One of the most beautiful restaurants I have ever dined at. The Cantonese-style cooking is unforgettable and something you must experience. Hakkasan will transport your senses to the Orient and leave you feeling fulfilled in mind, body, and soul!

We arrived at the gorgeous and completely renovated Fontainebleau Hotel in South Beach just minutes before our reservation at Hakkasan. What a beautiful scene of people standing out front at the entrance! Myself, husband, brother, and sister entered into the breathtaking lobby with Vegas-style chandeliers and a lighted blue floor. We were excited just being there and had huge appetites for our dinner plans. We asked the staff where the restaurant was located and they guided us to the elevators to the fourth floor. The five minute walk through the hotel to the restaurant was just amazing because of the many details that kept catching our eyes, glitz and glamour all around. We were definitely feeling the energy. As we walked up to the desk at Hakkasan, the smell of incense, lavender maybe, was in the air…very calming. Behind the desk were 5 or 6 beautifully dressed employees all with smiles. We were taken to our table right away. What an incredible scene inside the dinning room, we felt like we were in a rainforest with the bamboo-like railings and ceilings with no end. The putty-colored walls gave a misty effect with the dim lighting. So impressive. We did not feel like we were in South Florida any longer, but somewhere in the Orient. The bright red doors had to be 30 feet high in all of the corridors. Quite the décor! Our server came over to take our drink order as soon as we sat down on the comfortable benches surrounded by blue silk pillows. How cozy was this! The house and lounge music was kicked up a notch just at that moment like it was for us, we loved it! The menu was pretty extensive so we needed a lot of hand holding and the staff was so helpful and attentive as well as pleasurable. We started off with the Dim Sum which looked like vibrant colored little purses filled with vegetables. Absolutely like nothing we had ever tasted. I love Dim Sum but it is very hard to find where we live and this was something I couldn’t wait to try. We also tried the Mango Duck with Lemon sauce which tasted like crispy duck soaked in a Lemoncello…Bellissimo! The Wine Steward, a very nice and well dressed gentleman came over to recommend some wines to us, we chose a Sauvignon Blanc that was described as light, clean, and with a hint of grapefruit. Not only was he knowledgeable, but he was also quite fun to talk with! It went perfectly with our main courses. We all ordered a fish entrée and one was more gorgeous than the next, so we were glad it was family style dining. The three fishes were Charcoal Grilled Silver Cod, Sha Cha Seabass, and Wok-Fried Yellowtail Red Snapper…all spectacular dishes! So wonderfully unique and the sauces were rich and plentiful on each. My family tends to be sauce people, and no one had to ask for more of anything. We were having such a great time, living in every moment, taking in everything, our senses were on overload! The dessert time was approaching, and we were definitely getting it! We ordered the White Chocolate Mousse and the Banana Crème Brulee, both were delightful and happy endings to our meals. The cashew sorbet that came along with the Crème Brulee was agreed the best sorbet to date! On our way out, we decided to take a stroll around the place and stumbled upon an Armani-suited-up DJ spinning records in a booth at the center of the restaurant...how cool is that! That just made our night…Only in South Beach! Thank you Hakkasan for a greatly needed transport of the mind, body, and soul!

Name: Dan Sweeney

Occupation: Student Media Advisor

Lives in: Pompano Beach

Restaurant Pick: Candela Restaurant

Reviewed Hakkassan: 08/28/11 at 12:30 p.m.

Very good Chinese food, coupled with almost unparalleled service and atmosphere. That said, it would be tough to recommend the place to a lot of my friends, just based on the prices. Still, if you can afford to drop a bill on lunch and prefer Chinese over other cuisines, this is your spot.

When I called for a reservation, I was placed on hold for 10 minutes, and then told that they would have to call me back. But they did so quickly, and I was able to get a reservation two days out with no problem. We arrived at the Fontainebleau and, after waiting around for a valet for a bit, we sent the car off, walked down a long breezeway past the other onsite restaurants and found Hakkasan. We were shown right in, ordered the prix fixe menu (these vary, with two options each week – the Dynasty or Emperor menu one week, the Temple or Forbidden City the next.) We got a couple of cocktails and began a marathon of eating. The portions seemed small, but after half a dozen dishes and dessert, we left feeling quite satiated. I don’t know that I would come back or do dinner here – if I’m going to drop a couple hundred bucks on dinner, I’d just as soon hit Capital Grille or even the Fontainebleau’s own Gotham – but it was a good experience to have under my belt. Getting my valet ticket stamped for a reduced price of $12 took some of the bite out of paying to park, and the walk back to the car was actually a good thing after such a huge meal.

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