Celebrating Double Fifth: five dishes, five tastes

Hutong Monkfish fillet in sour broth

Saturday 20th June is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month or ‘Double Fifth’, a very special date in the Chinese calendar. The Double Fifth is the day of the traditional Dragon Boat Festival, an ancient tradition dating back to the death of China’s revered patriot poet Qu Yuan on that day in 278BC. In despair at hearing of the capture of his beloved country’s capital, Yuan committed ritual suicide by wading into the Miluo river.
Read more +

The story of our Wishing Tree

Our beautiful wishing tree

A beautiful Wishing Tree, every branch perpetually hung with lucky red wishing cards, is a striking feature of Hutong in both London and Hong Kong. Far more than being purely ornamental, the trees are in fact an homage to the famous Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees in Hong Kong.
Read more +

Celebrating Yuan Xiao, the Lantern Festival

Riddles

Following on from our spectacular celebrations of Chinese New Year last week, next week we will be marking the last day of the festivities by observing the tradition of the Lantern Festival or Yuan Xiao (元宵).
Read more +

Greeting the Year Of The Goat in style

Lion awakening

Thursday 19th February heralded The Year Of The Goat and we celebrated with over two hundred guests in colourful, noisy style.
Read more +

Red pockets bring Chinese New Year cheer

WP_20150219_023

The giving of red envelopes containing money, also known as ‘red pockets’  on special occasions, festivals and particularly Chinese New Year, is an ancient and much-loved tradition. Red is considered a very lucky colour and is also thought to ward off evil spirits, so the giving of a red pocket brings both luck and fortune.

Typically given by married people to unmarried, grandparents and parents to the younger generations and by employers to their staff, at Hutong we give red pockets in two ways. The first is conventionally, by giving a red pocket containing a crisp new banknote as is traditional to all our team members on the morning of Chinese New Year.

The other is in our own special way, by giving each table dining with us on the night of Chinese New Year – Thursday 19th February – a red pocket containing a voucher for one of a number of prizes, from a drink on your next visit to, in one lucky table’s case, their entire bill being waived.

If you are joining us for dinner on Chinese New Year, be sure to look in your red pocket to see what your gift is!

Enjoy a Reunion Dinner this Chinese New Year

Steamed cod with Sichuan peppercorns

The Reunion Dinner is a meal traditionally enjoyed by families – as many generations as are able to gather, often travelling from afar and even from overseas for the occasion – on the eve of Chinese New Year. A generous feast with a whole fish centrepiece - symbolising togetherness – it is believed to bring luck for the year ahead.

On Wednesday 18th February – Chinese New Year’s Eve – we will be serving a special Reunion Dinner menu alongside the main a la carte to enable families, friends and groups of colleagues to enjoy this wonderful tradition for themselves.
Read more +

Our exciting plans for Chinese New Year

As you would expect when it comes to celebrating what to many people is the most important festival in the Chinese calendar, Chinese New Year at Hutong will be a spectacular affair steeped in tradition.
Read more +

Mid-Autumn Festival menu drinks pairing

JOS2014040D00010

To accompany our Mid-Autumn Festival Menu, our bar team and sommeliers have worked together to create an optional drinks pairing, showcasing Chinese wines and spirits and taking the moon as its inspiration.
Read more +

Mid-Autumn Festival Menu & mooncake

Traditional mooncake served with lychee sorbet

Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important Chinese festivals, falling on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar during a full moon – Monday, 8th September this year.  Celebrating the legend of Chang’e, the moon goddess, and Houyi, the archer, Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for gathering, thanksgiving and praying.
Read more +

The Hutong Anniversary Cup is won!

Hutong manager Tony Chan presents the Hutong Anniversary Cup 2014

Thousands of spectators turned out on Sunday 29th June to enjoy the colourful spectacle of the London Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival – and we were among them. Not just to watch though – we were also there to present the Hutong Anniversary Cup for the very first time!
Read more +