Omakase @ Hanare Japanese Restaurant, KL

Omakase @ Hanare Japanese Restaurant, KL
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Hanare has always been one of our favorite Japanese restaurants in town. For many years, we have been patronising them for their weekend Japanese buffet, one of the the finest in KL offering Wagyu beef and premium sashimi.

At Hanare, quality fresh produce specially hand picked by their staff in Tsukiji Market in Tokyo are air-flown in twice a week. For the ultimate dining experience, go for the Omakase, which literally means "leave it to the chef". Only highly skilled chefs such as Chef Akira Yonomoto are able to prepare such a feast, using the best available produce on that day to create an authentic, traditional experience for guests.

For the omakase, prices start from RM450+ and is presented in a variety of courses (usually between 7-9 courses). Guests having the omakase or any sushi courses, are recommended to sit at the sushi counter as the chef will explain each dish to you as he presents them. Furthermore, you'd be silly not to... afterall the sushi counter offers the best seats in the house, where you can watch the chefs skillfully slice the fish or prepare the sushi.

We are loving Hanare's sushi counter, featuring a top forged from a solid piece of wood, much like many of the beautiful tables in the restaurant.

Best seats in the restaurant

To start, I was served a trio of appetizers - an interesting wasabi kombu, whole plum and fish liver to whet the appetite. I especially love the whole plum which was sweet and sour, and refreshed the palate.

Next came my favorite part of any Japanese meal - the sashimi platter featuring six types of the freshest seafood. Beautifully presented, Chef Akira explains each type of fish to me before I tucked in. There was the more rare ishidai, buri (yellowtail), otoro (tuna belly), hirame (flounder), shima aji (horse mackarel) and scallop, served with freshly grated wasabi. Most of these species are highly prized for their fatty texture and intense flavours during the winter months. Loved the clean flavours of the ishidai and hirame, contrasted by the fatty, buttery texture of the otoro and sweet tasting scallops. So so good! Much to my delight, Chef Akira (he must have seen how much I enjoyed it) offered me a bonus piece of otoro... YUMMMM!

Otoro.... so good!

The different cuts of tuna 

Chef Akira-san with the freshly grated wasabi

Ayu or better known as sweetfish to the locals, belong to the salmon family that thrive only in clean rivers, lakes and coastal waters. The name ‘sweet fish’ is due to the sweetness of its tender flesh, which has a distinctive, sweet flavour with ‘melon and cucumber aroma’. For the next course, I was served a grilled "pregnant" ayu, so other than the sweet flesh, one could enjoy the roe within too.

Inaniwa udon is one of the top three udons from Japan; this thinner, smooth variety of udon was served with scallop, prawn and mushroom. Light and delicious!

A basket filled with sakura ebi tempura as well as vegetable tempura was placed before me. Light and crispy, I especially enjoyed the slightly salty sakura ebi. 

One of the highlights of the omakase are the nigiri sushi, which are presented one at a time to the diner. First, we watched as Chef Akira skillfully slices the pickled ginger into thin slivers. He reaches into the rice bucket for some sushi rice, adds a dab of fresh wasabi to the underside of the fish, tops it on the rice and then applies a thin layer of soy. He then presents it to me to enjoy, and then the process repeats once the sushi is devoured.  We certainly enjoyed watching the whole process, while chatting with Chef Akira. I had a total of seven piece of nigiri sushi, starting with toro (fatty tuna.. omg so good!), kampachi belly (firm bite and sweet), hirame, buri, shimaaji, ikura and round radish.  Sorry I can't remember exactly they each tasted, but I sure can remember enjoying each and every one of them!

Toro 

Kampachi belly

Hirame

Buri

Shimaaji

Ikura

Round radish

A soup with hamaguri clam was served and should be enjoyed after each nigiri sushi is consumed.

For dessert, I had the sweetest, juiciest Japanese melon with green tea mochi.

Thank you Chef Akira-san for the wonderful omakase experience; not only was the food amazing, we enjoyed the affable chef's company too.

Please stay tuned for my next post about Hubby's sushi course experience at Hanare.



Opening times: Lunch 12.00pm - 2.30pm; Dinner 6.00pm - 10.30pm.

Location: Hanare Authentic Japanese Cuisine, Lot G06, Ground Floor, The Intermark, 182 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur. (Parking RM5 per entry after 5pm)

Tel: 03-2164 2133 / 03-2164 2633

GPS Coordinates: 3.161620, 101.719670

Website: http://ift.tt/2BFF3pR


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