China | Hutong

A picture is worth a thousand words…

Although not known for certain, in some quarters it is believed that the widely-known proverb ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ is of Chinese origin. Whether or not Hutong’s mother country can claim the proverb we cannot say, but we do know that we hold the proverb to be true!

We greatly enjoy sharing our photos on Instagram, the photo-sharing social media platform, and try to offer our followers a variety of interesting images including favourite dishes, design details, behind-the-scenes glimpses and previews of new menus and events.
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Celebrating Yuan Xiao, the Lantern Festival

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).
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Greeting the Year Of The Goat in style

Thursday 19th February heralded The Year Of The Goat and we celebrated with over two hundred guests in colourful, noisy style.
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Meet The Team – our new chef, Bing Luo

We are delighted to introduce a new head chef at Hutong, Bing Luo, who joined the team in January. Chef Bing will head up the kitchen ensuring that our existing menu continues to be delivered to the highest standards, as well as introducing new dishes in his own particular style to delight our guests.

At a tasting of some of Bing’s delicious new dishes, which we will bring you more news of soon, we caught with our new chef to ask him a few questions.
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Guanyin, Iron Goddess of Mercy

One of our most commented-upon artefacts in Hutong is the beautiful, some say mesmerising bronze statue which stands directly opposite the moon-gate into the Shanghai Bar. Familiar to many of our guests but perhaps less so to others, the subject of this work of art is Guanyin (觀音), also known as the Iron Goddess of Mercy.
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Red pockets bring Chinese New Year cheer

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

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.
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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.
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All the tea in China

The popular expression ‘all the tea in China’ signifies the very highest value with which one can barter and succinctly illustrates the great importance of tea in Chinese culture. Discovered according to popular legend by Emperor Shennong over 4000 years ago, tea is considered one of the ‘seven necessities’ of life alongside salt, vinegar, soy sauce, rice, oil and firewood.
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Chefs share their chilli expertise

Our Chilli Connoisseur Menu, available throughout November, has been proving extremely popular both with guests familiar with our northern Chinese cuisine and those intrigued enough by the menu to try it!

One wonderful effect of the menu has been to encourage guests to ask our team questions about the many varieties of chilli, how they are used in Chinese food and some of the myths and misconceptions around them. We thought it would be interesting to share some of the questions and answers here.
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