Restaurant Review: Hakkasan Riyadh
History meets contemporary cuisine…
If you’ve been one of the many diners at the accessible fine-dining eatery Yauatcha Riyadh, you’ll be happy to know that its predecessor Hakkasan Riyadh has arrived on the city’s dining scene.
The venue is an upscale fine-dining restaurant in Diriyah’s gorgeous Bujairi Terrace. Carved into the mud-brick architecture Diriyah is known for, Hakkasan Riyadh is a short distance away from UNESCO World Heritage Site At-Turaif.
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When you’re in the presence of such a monumental part of history, having good food is quite literally a must. And that’s precisely where Hakkasan comes in. The restaurant serves up high-quality Chinese food in a breezy outdoor seating area and the dimly lit indoor one too.
We sat down indoors and admired the Chinese-inspired decor, marble table tops (a little in love with an all-marble aesthetic), and comfy chairs while we waited for one of the sharply dressed servers to make their way to us.
Contemporary Chinese cuisine awaits…
It’s not all for show though, the restaurant also boasts tonnes of contemporary dishes plus vegan options too on the foodie side of things. To start off, we stuck our chopsticks into crispy duck salad (SAR178) with micro greens and the fried soft-shell crab (SAR118) which is a definite highlight on the small eats menu. We also tried out a selection of the supreme dim sum (SAR168) that tasted suspiciously (and much to our pleasure) like a warm hug, and the morel mushroom and vegetable spring rolls (SAR78) that were some of the best we’ve had so far.
In between bites, we were served what we like to call the perfect spring drink, but on the menu, you’ll find it under the name of lychee martini (SAR65), and the flavour profile features hints of rose and possibly peppermint.
On to the mains, we enjoyed the tender stir-fried black pepper rib-eye beef (SAR198) that has to be one of, if not the, best things on the menu, along with the spring onion and egg fried rice (SAR68), and the flakiest and delicious grilled Chilean seabass in honey (SAR285). We also tried the ever-so-zesty stir-fried chicken with caramelized walnut and kumquat (SAR125).
To end the meal on a sweet note we tried the refreshing but sweet (SAR85) lemon cake which packs a punch of flavour in every bite.
All in all, if you’re after a lavish dinner sometime soon, book yourself a table at Hakkasan and have yourself a grand evening.
Hakkasan Riyadh, Matal, Al Bujairi، Bujairi District, daily 6pm to 3am. @hakkasanriyadh
Images: Social