Hakkasan Restaurant

FOOD

Dim sum provides the first layer of brunch. The Hakka Basket brings shumai, seafood har gau and edamame jade together in one three-piece order, while individual baskets let the table pursue each style separately. Shumai combines shrimp and Berkshire pork, har gau uses langoustine, and the jade dumpling folds edamame, carrot and mushroom into a meatless option. Three pieces per basket make it practical to sample broadly before deciding which dumplings deserve another round.

The remaining dim sum allows further exploration. Char siu bao carries honey-roasted pork in a soft bun, while the crispy prawn dumpling adds toasted garlic and soy. Drunken wontons pair pork with sesame, peanut, chili oil and black vinegar. Sesame shrimp toast comes with pineapple chili sauce. Steamed, fried and sauced forms can therefore share the table at once, keeping later orders from becoming simple repetitions of the opening basket.

The appetizers push the brunch beyond dumplings. Crispy duck salad combines pomelo, pomegranate, pine nut and shallot; crispy shrimp with wasabi mayo adds caramelized pecans. Jasmine tea smoked ribs bring pork, red rice and star anise, while salt-and-pepper calamari arrives with crispy chili, scallion and cilantro-lime sauce. Spicy sesame cold noodles contribute peanut, chili and shallot. By this stage, the format feels closer to a broad shared Cantonese meal than an endless-dim-sum special narrowly defined by baskets.

Noodles and rice dishes introduce more options to compete for attention. Hand-pulled noodles combine shimeji mushrooms, egg and bean sprouts, while Hong Kong-style fried noodles layer shredded pork and shrimp with supreme soy sauce. Hong Kong fried rice follows with shrimp, pork, asparagus and wok-fried egg; simpler egg fried rice, shrimp fried rice and steamed fragrant rice are also included. These dishes sit naturally between small plates and the heavier wok orders that follow.

The wok section gives the $58 menu the depth of a full lunch. Roasted branzino comes with homemade soy sauce; Hong Kong Fry Chicken brings ginger, Sichuan peppercorn and scallion; General Tsao Chicken combines crispy chicken breast, chili and sesame; and sweet-and-sour pork adds pineapple, bell pepper, tomato and pomegranate. Baby bok choy with snap peas and wok-fried green beans with lily bulb and dried chili keep vegetables in the rotation. Later rounds can become markedly more substantial.

Several higher-ticket Hakkasan signatures are supplements rather than part of the $58 price. The two-course Signature Peking Duck adds $58: pancakes, cucumber and scallion accompany the first course, followed by wok-fried duck with ginger-scallion, black truffle or black bean sauce. Black pepper beef filet is $16 extra, roasted Chilean seabass $18 and a 10-ounce wok-seared Wagyu steak $58. They extend the brunch toward Hakkasan’s dinner repertoire without being necessary to access the core unlimited menu.

Dessert stays concise. The included hazelnut milk chocolate parfait combines sea-salt caramel, hazelnut mousse and chocolate crumb, while seasonal ice cream or sorbet is also included. Extra-charge choices include the $6 Spikey Lemon with yuzu curd and calamansi gel, the $6 Apple Pavlova with coconut meringue and lemongrass sorbet, and a $25 Hakka Platter of five miniature desserts. The plated finish suits a brunch that has remained at the table from its first basket onward.