I just discovered a relatively new place on Kearney Street in the financial district of San Francisco called Hakkasan. From the street’s exterior, it looks more like a bank than it does a restaurant, but through the door and up the elevator, you are then transformed after entering their very trendy, very chic circular bar area where you can also order entrees and appetizers from the menu should you choose not to sit at a table, seating areas surrounding the entire bar area which takes precedence in the center.
The menu is creative, expansive and incredibly unique. Offering a number of soups (chinese mushroom soup with wolfberry, shredded duck and fish maw soup, halibut broth scented with angelica root), pumpkin soup with scallop and crabmeat and others), Hakka steamed dim sum platters (you can have vegetarian or with meat — we tried both, the vegetarian was surprisingly delicious with morel crystal dumplings, bamboo dumplings, beancurd lotus roll and chive flower dumpling), there’s a salt and pepper squid, green salad with ginger and lemongrass dressing, stir-fry mushroom lettuce wrap with pistachio and pine nut, crispy quail in Guilin chili sauce, Jasmine tea smoked beef short rib, sesame prawn toast, seared scallop with nashi pear and Thai sweet basil and peanut dressing.
They have plenty of seafood entrees as well from silver cod with champagne and halibut with chinese celery and salted plum, to steamed red snapper with chili sauce and stir-fry monkfish tail in spicy black bean sauce and a spicy prawn with lily bulb and almond. They also have lobster as well btw, not to mention scallops, braised cuttlefish in a spicy sauce with okra and potato wafer, and king crab legs. They have an exquisite stir-fry duck breast with dried mandarin peel and a black truffle roasted duck. Oh yeah and yummy Peking duck with Tsar Nicoulai and ‘Reserve’ caviar with whole duck, 16 pancakes and scallion.
We tested four different saki options, one with a smooth chocolatey finish – all of them mostly dry. Saki is served in a stylish glass carafe on ice amidst a blue’ish glowing background, only adding to the already chic ambiance.
A few photos of what we sampled below.
Yum!
This duck salad was scrumptious.
More appetizers.
The dumplings. A must try!
More of those dumplings.
The colors so vibrant…
Served in lettuce wraps.
The whole bird.
Noodles to accompany the main.
For more great food and wine suggestions in San Francisco, visit our San Francisco restaurants and San Francisco food & wine section.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
