The US-owned group says the changes at its London Chinese restaurants Hakkasan and Yauatcha are designed to ‘broaden appeal while maintaining premium positioning’.
Price alterations for existing dishes include Hakkasan’s charcoal grilled Japanese A5 wagyu beef with sake and black truffle honey sauce going from £105 to £95; and the price of Yauatcha’s £28 crispy duck salad being halved.
Tao Group Hospitality’s UK boss Jared Boles says the decreases were achieved through a combination of reducing portion size and lowering operating margins.
“You can’t raise prices in an empty restaurant,” he says. “Margins might be tighter than ever but consumers are experiencing financial anxiety and that is causing them to go out less. Over the past two quarters we have looked to reposition our offering and try and cast a wider net.”
The price of some cocktails has also been reduced, with Hakkasan’s Sea of Clouds dropping from £24 to £19 and Yauatcha’s Szechuan margarita going from £16 to £14.
Tao Group Hospitality has also introduced a range of ‘two-sip’ mini cocktails which start at £8 at both Chinese restaurant brands.
The pricing review has been triggered by a year-on-year drop in covers and decreasing budgets for both corporate and private events.
“Prices have continued to increase and the industry now finds itself in a position in which people simply can’t afford to go out,” Boles continues. “If we can regain 10% of the income we have lost by raising our guest base by 10% we will have been successful. Honestly, I just want to serve more people.”
Earlier this year Tao Group Hospitality – which also operates Marylebone Italian restaurant Lavo – closed the original Hakkasan restaurant on Fitzrovia’s Hanway Place after nearly 25 years.
A single Hakkasan now remains in London (in Mayfair) alongside Yauatcha restaurants in Soho and The City.
Tao Group Hospitality operates numerous restaurant and nightclub brands outside the UK including TAO, Beauty & Essex, Ling Ling and Marquee.