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 In the most diverse city in the world with the most diverse selection
of restaurants in the world, London’s Chinese restaurants stood out but
with not so enviable of a reputation…that is until the opening of
Hakkasan a few years ago. But what few people do not realise is that
well before Hakkasan, London already had such a restaurant hidden on a
narrow wealthy Mayfair street–Kai of Mayfair.
Chinese food, at its worst, is best known for cheap takeaways with
Westernised food using poor ingredients and lots of grease. At its
best, Chinese restaurants had the authentic and dependable stalwarths
such as Royal China and Four Seasons, but these restaurants are equally
known for atrocious décor and service. Their menu serves Chinese
classics well, but lack innovation and pizzazz.
Hakkasan changed all this by serving excellent, fresh and innovative
food, and cleaning up the competition with awards for design and 5-star
service. It quickly earned itself a Michelin star, something unheard
of for a Chinese restaurant. Hakkasan then spawned Yauatcha which also
won a Michelin star. The copycats– Shanghai Blues, Royal China Club,
China Tang, and Pearl Liang, soon followed and the execution has all
been pretty commendable.
Long before these posh Chinese eateries were popping up left and right,
Kai of Mayfair, which opened in 1993, was already serving the quality
and style of food, which might now be referred to as Hakkasan-esqe.
With the same level of décor and service of its new competitor, Kai has
a slightly lower profile, but by no means does it imply it is lesser in
any other category.
Not only has Kai garnered awards such as best Chinese/Oriental
restaurant in London, for many years it has also had its fair share of
celebrity clientele, being able to count rock legend Mick Jagger as one
of its regulars.
Kai is owned and managed by Bernard Yeoh, a Malaysian Chinese who
started the restaurant in 1993 straight after he spending many years
qualifying to be a barrister. But eventually, and fortunately for the
London dining scene, Yeoh realised his calling was not law but the
kitchen and dining room, as he broke out an entirely new concept for
what a Chinese restaurant should be.
Yeoh’s vision of the restaurant is not something you normally hear from
a Chinese restaurant’s proprietor’s mouth: “A truly fine meal is
enjoyed not once but three times, in anticipation, in consumption, and
in remembrance.” He is like an artist obsessed with his craft. He
constantly speaks about making a diner’s experience memorable, a true
talking point after one leaves the restaurant. As such the service is
equal to any Michelin star restaurant and the décor is Mayfair posh.
And of course, the food is the centrepiece. The menu is unique in that
it has some of the most innovative and most traditional dishes one will
find in a Chinese restaurant.
The innovation comes in dishes like Wasabi Prawns, a fresh jumbo prawn
deep-fried and accompanied with a wasabi sauce. The traditional come in
a dish like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, a classic Chinese stew
combining many precious ingredients such as shark’s fin, abalone, and
sea cucumber and requiring a several of days of preparation. In fact,
if you wish to order this dish at Kai, you will need to give 5 days’
advance notice! I have yet to see such a stew on any other London
Chinese menu.
Also unprecedented is Kai’s offering of a tasting menu like many top
European restaurants. The current Dom Perignon menu is a stunning
six-course meal where an entire bottle of 1999 Dom Perignon champagne
is used in the cooking. One of the main courses is Dom Perignon
marinated Australian wagyu rib-eyes served with Chinese spiced salts:
coriander/ginger and chilli/white pepper.
As part of his vision, Yeoh wants his customers to decide what they
will order with the words “It depends on the menu,” a phrase commonly
mouthed when one considers what to order in a high-end European
restaurant.
When asked what is the most popular dish at Kai, Yeoh, part proudly and
part disappointingly, reveals that it is in fact crispy duck, a dish in
all Chinese menus in the UK and actually invented in the UK. He is
proud because he believes Kai makes the best crispy duck in London, but
he is slightly disappointed that of all the innovations and
hard-to-find classics on the menu, it is this predictable UK invented
dish that wins the popularity contest.
This single phenomenon at Kai captures the essence of Chinese dining in
the UK in the new millennium. There is this desire for innovation and
for venturing into something classical from a foreign land balanced by
the need for comfort in something invented here.
However, this desire for innovation and this appetite for venturing
into authenticity is something new in the UK and flourishing quite
rapidly. In the end, the 2nd most popular dish at Kai is wasabi prawns.
Todd Tran Photos taken by Pamela Yau
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