Kuala Lumpur 2011 - Lunch at Hanare Japanese Restaurant
Having read all the raves about Hanare from KL food bloggers, I couldn't wait to give it a try. Hanare is located on the ground floor of the Doubletree Hilton complex - otherwise known as Intermark. It is however not a part of the hotel F&B outlets.
I really like the design of Hanare. Solid natural wood tables, timber floor, cement plastered walls and exposed services on the ceiling gives it an industrial chic which is very attractive to look at.
The lunch menu is mainly based on fixed sets, however there are quite a few choices and you should be able to get what you want. I settled on the Sashimi and Tempura Set priced at RM 70. I comes with 3 appetizers - a green salad, some cooked spinach and a chawan mushi. The salad wasn't that impressive. A seaweed salad would have suited the theme better. The spinach dish was also a bit uninspiring. The chawan mushi, however - was one of the best that I have ever tasted. The texture was silky smooth, and really delicious.
Then came the main dish. Frankly the presentation was again a bit disappointing for a restaurant with high-en pretensions. There are other Japanese restaurants in town which do much better. The tempura was just okay - a mushroom, okra, onion and 2 prawns. The dipping sauce was very good though.
The highlight was the shashimi. Just 3 slices of salmon and tuna each - but these are really great ! Super fresh and delicious. I've read that they fly in their fish from Tokyo's Tsukiji Market every week, and it shows. The miso soup which came with the set was also excellent. It tasted so good I could have asked for seconds.
Dessert was a simple fresh fruit salad topped with red beans. Not a bad ending to the meal.
I was hoping to be impressed by Hanare, but instead it was just a slightly above average meal. Next time I should try their Omakase menu.
I really like the design of Hanare. Solid natural wood tables, timber floor, cement plastered walls and exposed services on the ceiling gives it an industrial chic which is very attractive to look at.
The lunch menu is mainly based on fixed sets, however there are quite a few choices and you should be able to get what you want. I settled on the Sashimi and Tempura Set priced at RM 70. I comes with 3 appetizers - a green salad, some cooked spinach and a chawan mushi. The salad wasn't that impressive. A seaweed salad would have suited the theme better. The spinach dish was also a bit uninspiring. The chawan mushi, however - was one of the best that I have ever tasted. The texture was silky smooth, and really delicious.
Then came the main dish. Frankly the presentation was again a bit disappointing for a restaurant with high-en pretensions. There are other Japanese restaurants in town which do much better. The tempura was just okay - a mushroom, okra, onion and 2 prawns. The dipping sauce was very good though.
The highlight was the shashimi. Just 3 slices of salmon and tuna each - but these are really great ! Super fresh and delicious. I've read that they fly in their fish from Tokyo's Tsukiji Market every week, and it shows. The miso soup which came with the set was also excellent. It tasted so good I could have asked for seconds.
Dessert was a simple fresh fruit salad topped with red beans. Not a bad ending to the meal.
I was hoping to be impressed by Hanare, but instead it was just a slightly above average meal. Next time I should try their Omakase menu.
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