Hawker x Hang Dai - The popular modern Chinese introduces its little sister takeaway in Rathmines

Hang Dai is the popular futuristic and retro contemporary Chinese/Asian restaurant and music bar, open on Lower Camden Street since 2016, run by Will Dempsey and his team.

Hang Dai is a Cantonese term that means brothers, or like-minded partners, a term of endearment and camaraderie, expressing loyalty and solidarity. It’s a phrase that was central in the HBO series Deadwood, used by the character Mr. Wu — the original inspiration for the name.

Now the big brotherly sense of the original Hang Dai has a new little sister.

Hawker opens very soon in Rathmines, at 14 Rathgar Road, with a takeaway menu of exciting modern Chinese-inspired dishes, great cocktails to go, and co-designed with Toby Hatchett, the genius Cork sound system creator and furniture maker.

“I couldn’t be prouder to grow our Hang Dai family with our new little sister Hawker in Rathmines,” says owner Will Dempsey. “We originally opened a version of Hawker as a takeaway during lockdown, when Hang Dai was closed, and it ended up being incredibly popular. It kept our staff busy and engaged, and got some great reviews. When everything reopened we just couldn’t do both, but we knew we’d love to revisit the Hawker idea again with its own standalone location, and we finally found the perfect space close by. We went and took one look, and knew we’d found Hawker’s home.”

Officially opened on August 27th, Hawker will serve a menu of street food classics, dim sum, wok dishes, and much more, from a sleekly modern cream shopfront on the Rathgar Road. From cheeseburger spring rolls with Sichuan ketchup to Hang Dai’s cult sesame prawn sourdough toast with yuzu mayo, the Hawker menu is loaded with flavour and smart takes on street food. There’s Grandma’s red-braised short ribs, cumin-spiced Xinjiang lamb skewers, spicy Sichuan kung po chicken with crispy chicken skin, and wok-fried Singapore noodles packed with prawn, beef and chilli. Dumpling lovers will find pork, morel mushroom and prawn har gau, while the crisp-coated crispy Iberico pork with charred pineapple delivers a fresh spin on sweet and sour.

To share, there’s the Hawker spice box, or shredded duck confit from the grill, with all the trimmings — cucumber and leek, pancakes, and Hoisin sauce. There are kids dishes too, and family meal deals, and to drink, there are cocktails crafted for takeaway, like the Bee’s Knees, a gin and green tea infusion with lemon and floral honey, or the richly-layered Hong Kong Old Fashioned, spiked with sherry and Chinese teas.

“As a team we all love Chinese food,” says Will Dempsey, “and when we are off, like most people, we like a bit of takeaway. We decided to look back at what worked well during Hawker’s first appearance, and most often it was classic Chinese dishes, our sweet and sour Iberico pork, prawn toast, kung po chicken. People wanted these dishes cooked well, fresh to order and using good ingredients. Hang Dai’s executive chef Thiago Guerra has assembled a team of Chinese chefs for the Hawker kitchen, and we’ve had fun working on Hawker’s own cocktails too, using some Asian ingredients to make great pairings with the food.”

Will and designer Toby Hatchett spent some time over the last few months in Hong Kong, exploring design ideas, eating a great deal of food and drinking a lot of cocktails — research trips that really helped create what Hawker has become. From the local staple of curved ceilings to the use of natural bamboo, the gold birdcage in the logo to the cream and black gloss of the shopfront, Hawker is a love letter from Will and the team to the talents of street vendors, inspired by Hong Kong.