On yet another sunny Sunday, I wandered into a well established Cantonese restaurant Hakkasan, Mayfair to try their new Sunday brunch.

Smaller streets of Mayfair are rather quiet on a Sunday, especially Bruton Street where our brunch destination is located.

But as I walk through a dark tastefully minimalistic hall of Hakkasan down the stairs to the tables still waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dimmed lighting. I come to realise the quietness of Mayfair, has a simple answer, everyone is here, feasting.

The restaurant is buzzing, from dates, to birthday celebrations to friends catching up, every table is filled with a prompt turnaround of the new guests.

It appears most guests are dining on a al carte but for us it’s their new brunch menu, a total of six dishes and one to share, each offering at least 2 options to choose from including vegetarian.

We begin with the signature crispy duck salad to share, for ease the signatures are marked with a little Hakkasan sign ‘ж’ or Cyrillic letter depending on what language you’re fluent at.

Salad is more of a name, in this case it just means mixed with odd leaf or two, it’s predominantly pieces of crispy heaven like duck, in a lightly sweetened dressing, pomelo for acidy and shallots.

It’s a must and a signature for a reason. Following that are equally impressive both on eye and tongue dumplings, we each get a set. Wild truffle mushroom, XO scallop and shrimp and Har Gau.

A flawless set, coloured dim sum are almost too cute to eat or is it just me? Cute but mighty with chunky generous filling stretching perfectly chewy dough, they vanish in an instant. We could easily do with a few more rounds of these.

The dishes just keep getting better. We break for one more nibble before the main, a dim sum style -venison puff, flaky pastry encasing gamey rich filling with familiar Asian sweet honey notes.

For the main, my guest got crossed with me for picking the dish he was after, it’s another Hakkasan’s signature: stir-fried black pepper beef with Merlot.

But worry not there are actually a few signatures to choose from, including the Spicy Prawn that my guest orders while still giving me an eye.

The dishes here come out so prompt we barely glance at the cocktails. Part of the Signature Brunch is this special cocktails selection at rather affordable prices.

And by affordable I mean as little as £8, prices one would struggle to find in London let along Mayfair. Mine is a Mango Mariachi, pleasingly tropical with a polished note of Volcan Blanco Tequila.

While my guest dives into Hakka a tall lychee and coconut cocktail with Patron tequila and supasawa creating a hint of clarified tone.

Our mains are here and they are ready for our cocktail pairing. Juicy slices of beef contrast beautifully with aromatic pepper sauce, umami and sweetness of Merlot.

As expected from a Chinese restaurant the mains come with million other plates, rice and seasonal vegetables in some of them. Today’s veggie bowl is satisfyingly crunchy asparagus with garlic.

A little disclaimer is needed for the Spicy Prawn, we requested the sauce on the side so we can control the spice levels. I’d say it’s about 2 chillies, a bit like curried sauce with very light coconut.

With the savoury dishes now complete, it’s time for today’s special dessert – a chilled chocolate dome. A bit like a giant Ferrero Rocher with a hot chocolate sauce poured in front of us.

This month the outer shell is coloured light blue to raise awareness of Child Autism UK.

The playful contrast of hot and cold is always appreciated but as a dark chocolate lover, the milk chocolate element is just a little too sweet for my taste on this occasion sadly.

For a full – spectrum experience from start to finish, Hakkasan delivers in every way. Better yet, their brunch offers an accessible gateway to the celebrated cooking without the splurge.   

The Hakkasan Signature Brunch is available every Sunday from 12:00pm – 6:30pm.

Hakkasan Mayfair, 17 Bruton St, London W1J 6QB