Today, I joined buddy Milton at one of his favourite lunch haunts for bara chirashi don at Hana Hana 華花 restaurant at the street level of Orchid Hotel. It's a convenient, light, simple, healthy meal in a bowl which is competitively priced.
I like the unpretentious, intimate interior at Hana Hana. All customers sit on high stools, rubbing elbows at the bar around the tiny open kitchen. The chefs prepare our food in full view of the customers just a breath away.
Sister restaurant Teppei which is famed for their omakase is right across the same narrow space (without any partition between them but a separate kitchen).
Pro Tip: When going to Hana Hana queue at Hana Hana. When going to Teppei queue there.... duh. Some customers thought that there is only one entrance 😄
The moment we sat down, we were served
A small appetising warm bowl of savoury miso soup followed.
Hana Hana veteran Milton ordered a Bara Chirashi & Beef Tataki Don (price $19.80). Pro Tip from Milton: you can mix and match your own don - this is the basic Kaizen Don topped with add on pieces of beef tataki.
As this was my first time here, I had Hana Hana's signature Kaizen Don (price $17.60).
The Kaizen Don is a bowl of boiled white rice thickly carpeted with marinated sashimi cubes of salmon, tuna, yellowtail, and scallop dressed with salmon roe, dried seaweed, leek and a sprinkle of sesame seed. (The fish in the bowl varies from day to day.)
The bowl tasted generally sweet with underlying savouriness. The layers of sweetness coming from rice, fish and sweetish soy sauce which also provided a bit of balancing savouriness. Tossing in the wasabi gave the sweet savoury bowl a bit of subtle heat.
Even though the crew was extremely busy churning out bowls of don for the lunch time crowd, I could still feel their warmth and friendliness. Two huge salmon fish arrived half way through our lunch. They graciously paused and obliged my request for a photo with smiles. Note how bright the fish's eye was.
Hana Hana serves some sides to go with our don - a stew of Salmon bones and head with daikon and carrot; fried anchovies and peanut; and, preserved diced vegetables.
I enjoyed my Kaizen Don with stewed daikon (radish) a lot as the sweet, soft root vegetable was dripping with savoury sweet juices soaked up from the stew.
Hana Hana offers free flow of tea, and sides which I like but we took our leave the moment we finished our rice bowls to make way for the long queue of people waiting outside.
👉 I have not eaten don in Japan nor eaten many Chirashi rice bowls in Singapore, but I like Hana Hana's Kaizen Don the most so far.
S$17.60 after 10% service charge and 7% GST.
Hana Hana's don menu. (Pro Tip: The grilled unagi in Hana Hana's don comes from Man Man Unagi as both restaurants belong to the same owner, Teppei san 😉 )
Read about Singapore Michelin guide Bib Gourmand winner, Man Man Unagi 👈 click
Restaurant name: Hana Hana 華花
Address: 1 Tras Link, #01-17, Singapore 078867 (Orchid Hotel)
GPS: 1°16'36.2"N 103°50'37.8"E | 1.276720, 103.843823
Tel: 6444 7753
Hours: 12:00 noon - 2:30pm | 6:30pm - 10:30pm (Sun off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 31 Jul 2018
Return to Johor Kaki homepage.
a bit similar like poke, the japanese mixed rice that also sells in Malaysia
ReplyDeletefake review
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous,
DeleteI am not sure what you meant by "fake review". In case you mean that the review was a paid advertorial or that the food was sponsored, I have just added the photo of the receipt.
Fortunately, I had not thrown the receipt away. Milton and I, had separate bills.
Thank you for the opportunity to clarify.