Hanaya Japanese Restaurant

Hanaya Japanese Restaurant
683 Siphraya Rd.
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel: 0-2233-3080, 0-2234-8095
Fax: 0-2266-5384

Rating: 3.75 / 5 stars

My cousin finally treated me to my birthday dinner...2 months later here at Hanaya. It's my first time here and this place is secretly hidden in an alleyway. The place was a bit crowded and my relatives and I got here at around 7pm on a Saturday night. We ordered appetizers along with our entrees. The California rolls were great. We had about 1 piece each since there were 6 of us total and 6-8 pieces of California rolls. I got the tempura set and it came with miso soup, rice, tempura (shrimp, fish, and vegetables), and assorted vegetables. The only problem with this meal set or any other meal set is that they served Thai jasmine rice and not Japanese sushi rice. I mean we are eating in a Japanese Restaurant, they should have served Japanese rice. My cousin also ordered more side dishes (i.e. tofu side dish and okonomiyaki). The okonomiyaki was delicious and I had about 3 pieces since I was so full from my tempura set meal. 

The service could have been better. Since we were in a more of a private room area, the staff wasn't around as much. We actually went to get the teapot to fill up our tea cups. Overall, food was good and I would return to try other dishes and the okonomiyaki again.

HOT POT Buffet @ Fashion Island Mall

HOT POT Buffet @Fashion Island Mall
http://www.hotpot.co.th/

Rating: 3.75 / 5 Stars

Food coma is bound to happen after you come out eating from HOT POT Buffet. I wanted to eat here for quite awhile now but didn't get a chance until yesterday. Wednesdays is the best day to come to HOT POT Buffet since they offer 25% off your entire meal. It's usually 290 Baht (almost $10 US) per person without the discount.  Not a bad deal indeed. I came here with my parents just to have an early New Years 2011 celebration. We got there around 2:30pm and waited about 30 minutes to be seated. This place was busy and there was a long queue. The place gives your party 90 minutes to eat. It's plenty of time to eat, relax, and enjoy your meal.

I thought that this places was quite small for a buffet. It felt kinda cramped too. The isle where you go get your food is narrow. I don't know if the other HOT POT Buffets franchises are like this though. Anyway...HOT POT Buffet is a combination suki (hot pot) and food buffet all in one. You can get unlimited beverages, hot pot food items, dim sum, sushi, salad bar, and dessert. I thought that sushi was delicious. There were a few California rolls that was prepared in different ways (i.e.: California rolls with small roe on the outside, or California rolls topped with shrimp and mayo). The hot pot food items were decent. Plenty for meat, fishballs, and vegetables to make your hotpot meal. For dessert, you get ice cream or create your own shaved ice dessert.

I would come back here again at the Fashion Island branch but probably at 11am when the mall opens. The place looked kinda unorganized during the busy hours and some of the food wasn't being refilled by staff.