Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Hanazen .... Baby!!!

As Japanese restaurants go, its not a difficult task to locate good ones, as seriously there is very little cooking with good Japanese food. It all has more to do with getting the  best produce, best cuts and delivered with sincerity and care.

One more Japanese restaurant that fits the bill perfectly is Hanazen @ Jaya One. You may choose to order the sets, which are more than reasonably priced to get a good taste of what Hanazen has to offer. Most sets are under RM40. 




However, to get a real good taste of the best of Hanazen and what chef/GRO Mun Mun has to offer, go for the omakase ( chef's choice), it will set you back RM250-300pp but its certainly worth it, just the very best of what they have on offer and more. The sashimi platter might not look like much but it offers the best of what they have, isn't that what you want, the best on the menu?



 This was quite decadent, Kobe beef, Grade 5 (top level), marbling 9, crispy fish skin plus foie gras. 



When you cut open the Kobe beef, it looked so good, I had to take another photo.


One sure fire way to detect a really good Japanese restaurant is the wasabe, it has to be grated from a fresh root, not the ones mixed from powder please...
 This is QP mayonnaise, which is very Japanese, which i had a silly discussion over the wonders and usage of QP. We had other fancy tidbits, like the mini anchovies fried together to look like our brittle crunchy cuttlefish, except it tasted healthier and goes well with alcohol. I also forgot to take a photo of our appetiser plate which had 3 interesting elements - take it from me, just remember to order the omakase.

Oh, must order your own sake of course, its a wonderful experience. Remember that only mediocre sake is drunk hot, good sake is always drunk cold. Go and knock yourself out.

Service is 10 out of 10, but ask for the GRO Mun Mun to tide things over.