When Chef Thomas Lim and his team churn up their creativity, you can be sure wondrous things are going to happen. Read about my earlier write-up on the Sake Pairing in Hana Dining & Sake Bar – something which is held quite often there. Helming the kitchen of Hana since it opened a year ago, the good chef felt it’s about time to revamp the menu. The popular favourites are retained, naturally and the new creations hold pride of place in the brand new stylish menu. The hardcover-bound menu with shiney side clasps is a treasure trove of gorgeous-looking dishes created by Chef Lim and his culinary elves.
New tapas items that caught our attention were…
Tenshi Ebi (RM30) – fresh angel prawns (amaebi) were rolled with celery marinated with sushi rice vinegar, mushrooms and perilla leaves. At first glance, the beautiful almost-transparent amaebi looked like diaphanous dragaonflies perched on the plate! Loved the taste and loved the presentation.
Daikon Foie Gras (RM39) – cuts of seared foie gras sitting on marinated winter radish made a delightful entrance. The sultry sweetish daikon were a result of careful simmering and subsequent steaming with soya sauce, sweet vinegar and sake. No wonder the velvety textures partnered perfectly with the decadent foie!
Hotate Uni Toryufu (RM36) – It’s a magnificent package of Hokkaido scallops topped with sea urchin, salmon roe and truffle, bordering on evil. Evil – because, how can so many topnotch ingredients be bundled into one mouthful?? Our dilemma was: should we swallow the whole bundle in one go? And if we did, how could our palate differentiate between the wonderful flavours of the hotate, uni, ikura and truffle?? It would be sacrilegious!
We felt each item should have its moment and place of pride in our mouths and so this was what we did: we popped each item separately into our mouths! We think that’s not how it’s meant to be handled but we just had to do justice to each of the ingredients. Sorry, Chef Lim – we’re not complaining but maybe you shouldn’t place too many diamonds in one setting?
We had to have a sashimi dish and so Chef Lim served us these glossy succulent slivers of Tai Sashimi (sea bream). Note: must order this again!
Gyu Tataki (RM30) – seared Australian beef with citrus-based soy sauce with elements of garlic, black pepper and sweet vinegar. Personally, we prefer our beef to shine on its own natural merit and as such, we felt the sauce was a bit overwhelming.
Tori Yasai Mushiyaki (RM15) steamed & grilled chicken rolled with vegetables into a roulade & served with tartare dressing. Not exactly our favourite but it’s good if you are partial to lighter, healthier flavours and it has a definite western slant to it.
Sashimi Salad (RM28) – with kani (crabmeat). Can’t go wrong with fresh sashimi and crisp vegetables and this is something we’d enjoy in every meal.
Now, the Hokkaido Chawan Mushi smothered with snowcrab meat, salmon roe, prawn and scallop was da bomb! It’s the mother of all chawan mushis, I tell you. Please go and whack this secukup-cukup before they raised the price of this dish because, honestly, at RM15, it’s a real steal! I mean, just look at those premium stuff crowding the bowl!!
The Aburi Anago Maki (RM60) is one of Hana’s bestseller. It’s a huge maki rolled with salmon belly and crabmeat topped with generous slivers of sweet sea conger eel. If you have to order one maki roll in Hana, this better be it.
We tried 2 tofu items from the new menu…
Nameko Agedashi Tofu (RM9) – with mushrooms and fried prawn
Age Kabocha Tofu (RM8) – deep-fried pumpkin tofu with gingko
Of the two, we prefer the lighter clear flavours of the Nameko Agedashi Tofu. There wasn’t any real need for the fried prawn though, the umami flavours of the mushrooms, seaweed and miso broth would have been more than sufficient.
Kushiyaki is immensely popular at the bar and of course it’s also served in the dining section. We tried the Kushiyaki Moriawase (RM35) – a platted of 6 assorted skewers:
Tsukune – grilled minced chicken & cartilage with Okra in the background
Negima – grilled chicken & leek
Sasami Ume-shiso – grilled chicken breast fillet with pickled plum & shiso with Shitake next to it
Wagyu Karubi – grilled Wagyu shortrib
This udon with prawn & squid in thick creamy sesame sauce was not in the menu yet
If you are in a hurry and don’t want to make too many decisions, there are also bento sets in Hana. Generally, we felt the prices are very reasonable, good value-for-money and portions are generous. Take this Soba & Tendon Set, for example… look, all these for RM35!
For Desserts, there’s a good selection of artisanal ice-cream (we loved the XO Cranberry with real XO, ok!) and Chef Lim’s Tofu Cheesecake (RM10) which was a dreamy smooth concoction of cheese, tofu and yoghurt.
Chef Lim’s homemade Tofu Cheesecake
Goma Ice Cream (RM7)
We definitely know what we are going to order again at Hana!
HANA DINING & SAKE BAR
OB2.G.U1 Oasis Boulevard
Ground Floor, Sunway Pyramid
3 Jalan PJS 11/15
Bandar Sunway
47500 Selangor
Tel: 03-5624-0888
website: www.hanadining.com