Hanabi Japanese Restaurant

Yes yes, Japanese food again :)

My favourite places to have Japanese buffet are Ikoi at Miramar Hotel and Shima at Goodwood Park Hotel. I've realised that it's not very fair to say those are my favourites when I haven't tried any other places - so to be objective, I've been meaning to try out other places... Called and made reservations here twice before but never actually made it... till now.

I love going for Japanese buffets - there's a wide variety of dishes including everything from the usual sashimi, sushi, temaki, maki, to tempura, grilled dishes, teppanyaki etc. Just order whatever you want and it's served to you. Even better than normal buffets because you don't even need to get up. Oh dear, how lazy do I sound? :P

There's quite a range of dishes here at Hanabi. In the spirit of being adventurous, I ordered quite a few dishes that I don't normally order. The Yakiniku (grilled beef) was ok, but a little too oily. The Potato Croquette was really good! The Skewer Platter was decent - I tried Shishamo for the first time, it was kinda weird. Enough said.

Can't remember what this dish was called but it's basically a katsudon without the rice. Quite yummy and a nice change from all the sashimi and sushi...

Speaking of sashimi... I love Salmon Sashimi. For the longest time, I only ate Salmon Sashimi but recently started eating Tuna Sashimi and quite like it too. I've tried other types of sashimi but always end up eating Salmon and Tuna Sashimi - just prefer the taste and texture.

The Salmon Sashimi here was very fresh and sliced nicely. I've had sashimi at Sakae Sushi that was sliced the wrong way and have since realised how important it is that the sashimi is sliced correctly.

My other fave at Japanese buffets is Tempura. I didn't like the Ebi Tempura here - it wasn't crispy enough and just didn't taste very good.

The buffet during dinner time costs $33++. Pretty good range of food but quality-wise it can't compare to Ikoi. One major gripe about this place is that while there is free flow hot or cold green tea with the buffet, they don't serve ice water - you have to order mineral water.

I think I still prefer Ikoi :)

Hanabi Restaurant
331 North Bridge Road
#01-04 Odeon Tower
Tel : 6338 6626