I think it’s safe to say that Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisine when it comes to heading out to a proper restaurant. In fact, this is the 100th entry on Japanese cuisine on this space – and for this occasion we head to Bangsar and look at Hana Tei Japanese Restaurant.
Hana Tei, Lucky Garden Bangsar
If you’re from Kajang and Cheras area, you may have heard of Hana Tei before. This Bangsar branch is their latest venture into KL city.
Personally, I thought Lucky Garden (the same row with 3 famous kopitiam) is a pretty good location to be at. It is in Bangsar, and parking situation at the area is usually pretty good during dinner time, though lunch can be a bit challenging.
The menu for Hana Tei is actually quite extensive, covering the usual suspects such as sushi, sashimi, to teppanyaki, teriyaki, nabemoto, tempura, as well as rice and noodle dishes. Well, on our review session, we got to sample quite a few of these dishes.
shake sashimi (thick cut salmon)
We started the night with shake sashimi (RM 35), or thick cut salmon. You get 5 pieces of fresh raw salmon at I think at least 1 cm thick. It was glorious. I also do like the fact that they use proper grated wasabi to go with the salmon here. It was definitely a treat.
camembert cheese yaki, gindara foilyaki
Next up was something rather unique – Camembert Cheese Yaki (RM 15). Grilled Camembert cheese with baguette with a side of jam. I thought it was rather interesting and most likely will go very well with some sake.
Then there’s Gindara Foilyaki (RM 48), cod fish with mushroom wrapped in aluminium foil and cooked with a miso soup base. It’s not entirely unlike Chinese style steamed cod except with a Japanese touch & flavor. I thought it was executed quite well.
If you’re a sushi person, well, here’s some treats for you, starting with Hana Tei Beef Sushi (RM 25). Instead of raw fish like usual, you get Australian striploin with salmon roe and ebiko, all wrapping those sushi rice.
The combination works surprisingly well to be honest, I love the contrasting taste between the savory beef and the freshness and slightly salty nature of ikura.
foie gras sushi, hotate maki spicy sauce
Then there’s also the one of a kind Foie Gras sushi (RM 28). This is probably one of the cheaper ways to experience foie gras, and foie gras never disappoint. I can have 5 of these for breakfast if I get my way! I shouldn’t, but I want to!
If you’re a fan of scallop and spicy food, you can find that strange combination in Hotate Maki Spicy Sauce (RM 35). The roll comes with quite a big chunk of scallop in each of them and covered with this hot sauce that really gives the dish a kick. You definitely don’t need any wasabi for this.
wagyu teriyaki, hamaguri kimchi, seafood teppanyaki
Additionally, we also tried the Wagyu Teriyaki (RM 72), and while these are not the highest grade Wagyu beef, they do offer a pretty good value and tastes plenty good to me.
I would only recommend Hamaguri Kimchi (RM 22), or clam with kimchi sauce only if you need something spicy, I thought the kimchi base was OK but doesn’t really carry the aroma that I look for.
Seafood Teppanyaki (RM 38) though, is a dish that was well executed, give me a bowl of Japanese rice with this and I’m all good for dinner.
Overall I thought Hana Tei fills the gap at Bangsar area offering family friendly Japanese fair.
Address:
Hana Tei Japanese Restaurant
No.8, Lorong Ara Kiri 2,
Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS:Â 3.127546, 101.669614
Tel:Â 03-2202 1608
Web: hanatei.com.my
There really are a surprising number of Japanese restaurants around the city. We are spoiled for choice.
Monica: i’m not complaining 😀
KY, sure ate a lot of Japanese food in Hawaii it different from Japan and Taiwan but good. Your seem more special and never had before.
Vickie: yea, Japanese food is quite mature in Malaysia, we do have quite a big variety.
Well, congrats on reaching 100 posts on your favourite cuisine….but that can’t be right, right? 😉 I would have thought the numbers would be much higher since you’ve been at it for more than 10 years…hehe! ;D
aiyah, bkt and kari noodle post already topped 1 million post already #realfacts
kekeke: oi did you pass math class? haha.
eatwhateatwhere: Well these are 100 different places, quite a lot lor.
Njhl…. haha. That camembert cheese yaki is something that I have never tried before! 🙂
next week will be goat cheese unagi bento with teriyaki sauce #realfacts
Henry: bit funky kan?
100 entries? Good research. What are your top five?
Monica: Gosh how to start? I think you’ll have to get it down to different value chain first.
Miss Japanese. No good one here so I haven’t been to any for a long long time now.
lool…. reminds me of a guy i met, he wondered… why his village is getting smaller everyday. People are leaving because of him LOL #ultimateCB
kekeke: everybody loves suituapui ok.
suituapui: so tragic!
i love you hana #tei
kekeke: you love flower? 😀
I’m not fan of liver or the “high class” foie gras, so I can give you my portion LOL
Choi Yen: I’ll take it!