Ikoyi launches year-round Hainan Style Chicken Rice Feast for group dining

Ikoyi, the two Michelin-starred restaurant on the Strand, is now serving a new group dining menu. Debuting this month, the Hainan Style Chicken Rice Feast is built around chef Jeremy Chan’s version of Hainanese chicken rice, a regional dish with strong family significance for him.

The special menu will run year-round in the restaurant’s private dining room for parties of four to six, and costs £300 per person. Guests start with a broth and snacks, followed by a hot opening course. The main is Chan’s interpretation of Hainanese chicken rice, and the experience ends with two desserts and a series of petits fours.

Hainanese chicken rice originated with cooks from the Chinese province, a large tropical island off the southern coast. It has since spread across South East Asia and become a staple in Malaysia and Thailand, where large Chinese communities settled. Singapore now claims it as a national dish.

The popular plate has four main components: poached chicken, flavoured rice, broth and dipping sauces. Each takes time and careful technique to prepare, and the result is typically valued for the skill involved in getting every element right.

For Chan, the dish is personal. It is his earliest cooking memory, and his father taught him to make it as a tribute to his Hainanese grandparents. According to the restaurant, Chan’s approach to cooking can be traced in part to that process, particularly the patience and precision it demands and the result it produces.

The new selection sits alongside Ikoyi’s existing tasting menus that focus on spice-driven cooking with highly seasonal British produce. The Hainan Style Chicken Rice Feast introduces a sharing option just in time for the winter season festivities, gathering diners around a centrepiece for a warming, convivial experience.

Food Desk

Hainan Style Chicken Rice Feast is available now for parties of four to six in the private dining room at Ikoyi, 180 Strand, London WC2R 1EA. For further information or to book, visit the restaurant’s website here.