Why Hutong’s Contemporary Chinese Cuisine Will Set Your Taste Buds On Fire, In The Best Of Ways
Ticking all the boxes when it comes to food, decor, ambiance, and friendly staff, this Northern Chinese restaurant in DIFC has quickly become one of our favourites
When you’re not a big fan, or indeed a connoisseur, of a certain type of cuisine, it’s easy to make sure you swerve any restaurant serving that type of food – no matter how many friends and colleagues sing its praises.
I love Asian food: be it curries, noodles, dim sum or sushi but anglicised sweet and sour dishes from my childhood has turned me off Chinese food for as long as I can remember. That was until last week, when at the tender age of 41, I made an impromptu visit to Hutong in DIFC and Chinese food found itself firmly back on my radar.
I had dinner booked at another restaurant, but after a mix-up with bookings, I was left with the prospect of spending my only evening off at home (most likely salivating along to The Great British Bake Off) that’s when an email from Hutong dropped in my inbox. I took a closer look, the blend of traditional Arabic and Chinese interiors in the pictures looked spectacular, the beautiful outdoor terrace even more so, I was even intrigued by the contemporary Northern Chinese menu. Feeling adventurous, I booked a table for two.
As soon as we arrived I felt at ease, valet parking right outside Hutong means no rush around the Gate Village maze and turning up late. We opted for terrace seating, which is cleverly cordoned off from the DIFC traffic to give the impression of a secret garden – verdantly chic in style with almost invisible perspex separating the tables for Covid safety.
Once seated, our lovely waitress Tyna gave us all the important details, explaining that the native Chinese chefs individually specialise in dishes from the regions of China that they grew up in, making for authentic and sometimes fiery creations. This lead her onto the ‘spice levels palate test’ – main dishes are flavoured following a one to ten rating (ten being the hottest) and the test is done with the starter dishes, which are accompanied by the famous Hutong Sauce, which has had the same recipe since the inaugural Hutong opened in Hong Kong 16 years ago, and is served in varying levels of spice.
So we delicately dipped the delicious steamed dumplings from a platter including tea-smoked dried tofu and mixed vegetable and cumin scallop, squid and shrimp, as well as the Hutong prawn rolls into each sauce. Turns out we’re a respectable level five, which was higher than I expected, even with my Indian roots I’ve never been one to tolerate spicy food, so I was suitably impressed.
With spice level five activated, it was onto mains – and UK high street Chinese food this was not! Generous portions of Kung Po prawns and Sanchen Spiced Chicken were a delectable precursor to what might be one of the best fish dishes I’ve had the joy of eating. The beautifully presented Chilean Sea Bass Red Star Noodles serve two and arrive shielded by sweet red peppers that Tyna slowly pulled back with chopsticks to unveil the fish beneath. The sea bass is cooked to perfection and the accompanying noodles are moorish to say the least – the whole dish is a work of art.
Despite feasting on the mains, we convinced ourselves there was room for dessert and were very glad we did, tackling the heavenly Bao & Soy, comprising of ganache, praline, and biscuit – all made with sesame, with salted caramel and soy ice cream, and the Ma La, a decadent spicy cremeux, chocolate mousse with sour plum soup sorbet.
As we asked for the bill, one more surprise awaited: we were presented with wishing cards to fill and then personally hang on the spectacular wishing tree in the main dining room – apparently the higher you hang the wish, the more likely it is to come true, so I made sure to scramble onto a dining chair to reach the top branch – I’m not taking any chances with my wish to try all five Hutong restaurants across the globe!
As well as à la carte, Hutong has brunch options on both Fridays and Saturdays and some great festive offerings including its ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ New Year’s Eve.
To find out more or to make a reservation visit hutong-dubai.com
Images supplied.