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.

Japanese Goodies from Narita Airport

On my last day in Japan, I used up all of the remaining money that I had and brought a bunch of Japanese goodies at Narita Airport. This where you can buy some of the best Japanese snacks for your family and friends. I also highly recommend to check out the grocery stores in Japan since they would sell Japanese snacks too (obviously) and it's a bit cheaper than the convenient stores (e.g. 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, or Lawson 100 Yen Shop). However, the grocery stores don't have everything though.  I brought the following at the airport:

• Alfort White Chocolate for 105 Yen (About $1.35 USD)
• Alfort Chocolate for 105 Yen (About $1.35 USD)
• Imaccha Chocolate Daifukui for 525 Yen (About $6.75 USD)
• 4 boxes of Green Tea Mochi (Daifukui) for 1000 Yen (About $12.85 USD)
• 2 boxes Pocky Panda for 168 Yen (About $2.16 USD)
• White Chocolate Kit Kat 126 Yen (About $1.62 USD)
• Strawberry Kit Kat 136 Yen (About $1.75 USD)
• Yubari Melon Kit Kat 136 Yen (About $1.75 USD)
• 1 box of Green Tea [Matcha] Kit Kat; there are 10 packs inside for 1,360 Yen (About $17.45 USD)
• Cheesecake Kit Kat "Yokohama Edition," there are 12 mini packs inside for 840 Yen (About $10.80 USD)
• Annin Dofu Kit Kat, there are 12 mini packs inside for 840 Yen (About $10.80 USD)
• 2 boxes of ROYCE' Nama Chocolate Au Lait Flavor for 1,348 Yen (About $17.80 USD) - Brought from the "ANA FESTA kiosk." The Kit Kats at this kiosk were probably more expensive by like 5 Yen and you don't get a free Kit Kat pack even if you brought a lot.

Yup, these are the things that I brought from the airport. A lot of stuff, right? ;)

ROYCE' Nama Chocolate (Au Lait Flavor)

Website: http://www.e-royce.com/english/product_nama.html

Rating: 5 / 5 Stars!!!

The 1st time that I ever tried ROYCE' Nama Chocolates (Au Lait flavor) was from my grad. school friend. The chocolate is smooth, soft, and melts in your mouth. It's so GOOD! You would use the tiny spatula that was provided to pick up the cubed chocolates to eat. These chocolates also kinda reminds me of a chocolate truffle that I ate a very long time ago and I don't recall the brand. So, back in July our neighbors brought us a box from their trip to Japan and I was so happy that they brought these for us. During my recent trip to Japan, I also brought two boxes of these at Narita Airport during my flight back to Bangkok and it costs 693 Yen a box (About $8.89 USD). I wanted to buy more, but I was afraid that the chocolate would melt and I want to buy other Japanese goodies at the airport.

I would highly recommend for everyone to try ROYCE' Nama Chocolates when you visit Japan. There are other flavors too and I have tried the Au Lait flavor thus far. ROYCE' offers many other products so just browse around their website. There are outlets in Thailand that sells ROYCE' but there aren't any outlets in the USA.

Sakura Macha Kit Kat

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars

My grad. school friend when to Japan for about 1 week back in February 2011 and brought back some "Sakura Macha" flavored Kit Kat for me and my other grad. school friends. The Kit Kat tasted pretty good but the green tea flavor wasn't strong enough. It tasted more of a vanilla flavor. There are 4 Kit Kat sticks in total (2 in each small package). This type of Kit Kat could only be found in Japan or on a website that sells Japanese candies/snacks.

Fuji Japanese Restaurant @ Fashion Island Mall

Fuji Japanese Restaurant @ Fashion Island Mall [2nd visit here]
http://www.fuji.co.th/2009/EN/home/index.php

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars

Fuji Japanese Restaurant is another typical Japanese franchise restaurant that you'll see in many shopping malls in Thailand. I'm such a fan of Fuji and I just love the food here. Everything is very tasty and fresh. Sadly, it seems like I'm never full just eating only 1 set entrée. So, I came here with my parents for dinner today and I ordered the Futomaki Set for about 140 Baht (about $4-$5 US). The Futomaki Set consists of 4 different pieces of futomaki sushi rolls, a yakisoba dish, miso soup, a fried fish appetizer, and kimchi appetizer. I really enjoyed this set entrée but I wasn't full from eating everything. :( I ordered an additional entrée and it was the cold soba noodles with dipping sauce on the side [I don't remember the exact name of the dish, but you can point to the picture on the menu.] It was good and it finally made me full.

The service here was good. It took about 8-10 minutes for our food to come after placing our order. I would definitely come here again too. This place can get crowded too and the wait could be pretty long. Luckily, my parents and I came here for dinner early. I think we came here for dinner a little bit before 6pm.

To end this blog entry, here is a picture taken from my NOKIA E63. My dad ordered the grilled octopus set [Sorry, I don't remember the exact name!!!]. I thought that I saved a picture the Futomaki Set entrée on my smartphone but apparently I didn't. You can check out Fuji's website to view the menu. :)