In Samuel Village, an array of smaller eateries are nestled side-to-side, with Sushi Hanabi perhaps being the most shy of them. Well, not too much to the narrative other than it is one of the many cheap Japanese eateries that is scattered around town. If you are feeling like something cheap, but aren't keen on compromising quality all that much, they have their place. As is the case with Sushi Hanabi.
For getting here, my house mate had a bet on a major, recent election, saying that if a certain person won it, he would go out and have a Japanese curry. Well, that person did win and he kept true to the word, so here we are having a meal. That is about the tail end of it, and nothing more controversial to talk about here. Let's get onto the eatery.
The design is really simple. It is basically just one room, behind the classic sliding glass door, and there is that charactersitic minimalism that Japanese restaurants are able to do. That is that is is not boring per se, and a few minutiae are around the place, here and there. It mostly goes for the black aesthetic, with figurines around the place, and low-hanging lights. The decoration and whole place would be in place wherever it was chosen to be - that is how simple, and how charming it is as a result.
Service, all that has to be said is it is quick, polite and on-cue.
The menu is pretty straightforward and contains most of what is to be expected. There is a big range of sushi types, with long rolls, maki sushi, nigiri, hand rolls, and quite the impressive range of fusion rolls - all this is able to be put onto party platters at a moment's notice. Much like most sushi places, a whole heap of sides dishes such as karage and gyoza are also available, as well as a good range of main meals - don buri dishes and noodles. Yeah, all of it is more of the same with casual Japanese eating.
True to his word, my dining buddy went for the chicken curry. None other than the classical chicken katsu. This is always a good choice, one that is pretty cheap and reliable, and in the end you do know what you are going in for. I nicked a piece of chicken from his bowl (with some of the curry sauce still on), and it was crispy - a big lot of coating - and the chicken meat was tender. So, pretty much good and what is to be expected.
For my meal, I went with a don katsu, which is in the similar vein. There was the crumbed pork fillet, which was drizzled with a combination of Japanese mayonnaise and barbecue sauce. This was on a bed of rice, in addition to a side of some pickles. It was just as tasty, and was well-balanced with the ingredients. The cut of pork was incredibly generous, with tender meat, a good crumbed coating that had the flavours of soy and ginger in it, plus the mixture of Japanese mayonnaise and barbecue sauce was delicious - it is hard to describe what about Japanese mayonnaise distinguishes it from other mayonnaise; that possibly has something to do with the flavour, and even the texture. Overall, another really simple, and ultimately delicious dish. Not much to alter, or to describe, and it works a treat every time.
In addition to the don katsu, I got a couple of things on the side. Both are staples, and ones I tend to end up eating anyhow - they were a bowl of miso soup, which is always a nice extra, and to share as an appetiser, a serving of takoyaki. This time around, the miso soup was served with a soup spoon - but I know why I have liked this since the first time, you get to drink it like tea. As per usual, there is not really a lot to talk about with miso soup other than it was piping hot - a definite plus - and it has slight flavours of tofu in it. The serving size was generous, and it worked as something extra on the side.
As with the takoyaki, it has not let me down yet. It might have even been a tad better than most here, since the octopus was definitely present and that part of it was tender and sweet. The batter was hot, the characteristic sauce was thick and delicious as per usual, these little morsels of food were undeniably tasty, and they made for a great side to plump up the meal further.
The end consensus with Sushi Hanabi is that it is as good as it can get. At the end of the day, it is another one of these holes-in-the-wall which does put in a bit of effort in certain places, and gets a bit of a vibe going on. Because of that, a rating of 4.0 is a good enough indication for the quality of the meal that you are going to get here.
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