Hakkasan and Capital Club take pole position

The Hakkasan Restaurant team at the guest-chef dinner at the Capital Club Dubai (Courtesy: Hakkasan)

The Michelin-starred Hakkasan Restaurant hosted a Singapore Grand Prix-themed guest-chef night this week at Dubai’s exclusive Capital Club.

One lucky winner picking up an all-expenses paid trip to the race, and guest speaker Riz Khan, the former CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera journalist, kept the crowd entertained in between courses.

The taster menu featured some of Hakkasan’s most popular delicacies, including a dim-sum selection that put down an early marker as to how a seemingly humble Chinese restaurant had managed to win itself a prize Michelin star, and branches around the world from London to Beverly Hills – via Dubai of course.

The chicken satay was quite unlike any other I’d tasted (in a good way – it had an almost curry-like undertone) and the rib-eye beef with black-pepper sauce just kept you going back for more.

When even the rice keeps screaming “eat me”, you know you’ve transcended your traditional Chinese takeaway boundaries, and my main lesson from the evening was that I really must visit Hakkasan’s restaurant proper to sample these delights in their natural environment.

That’s not to take anything away from the host environment on the night – The Capital Club teamed up via an ISDN link with its sister venues in Bahrain and Nairobi for the prize draw and made sure everyone was made to feel warm, welcome and well fed – and we understand the venue will be hosting more guest-chef nights in future.

Look out for future news at The Capital Club – or book a table at Hakkasan.