I reunited with my high school friends Holly and Sarah tonight for dinner at Hanabi Sushi Bar in Pasadena. It was my first time there, and I was already pretty impressed when I walked into the restaurant. It's situated on a very lively street (Lake Ave.) and in the nook of one of the plazas. The interior was set with dark, warm lighting, and had nice seats and gave comfortable vibes. Also a plus was that although there were quite a lot of tables, the noise level was never bad. It was perfect for my friends and I who had much to catch up on!
Upon getting seated and deciding what to order, the waitress came to take our order in a timely fashion. Although seemingly attentive, I had to remind her a couple of times for a glass of water. In addition, after waiting for a good 10 to 15 minutes without the complimentary edamame dish that Sarah said they always gave, we asked for an order of it. We found out later that they charged us for it. Upon asking the waitress why we were charged for it, she told us that while they gave out complimentary edamame, we ordered it, and therefore she
assumed that we wanted an actual (non-complimentary) order of it. While she was explaining that to us, I was a little surprised at how assertive and borderline rude she was about the whole ordeal, when she did not even bother clarifying the confusion in the beginning. But we shrugged it off, as it was a deliciously seasoned plate of edamame.
Now on to the food!
One of my personal favorites of the night was the Baby Lobster roll. I love that it was a heated dish, and that the creamy sauce with baby lobsters was topped with a sprinkling of fried carrots (Well, I think they were carrots anyway...). It was a perfect combination of flavors and textures.
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| Baby Lobster roll at Hanabi Sushi Bar. |
Another dish I ordered was the beef sushi. I read about it on
Yelp before, and was instantly intrigued! Much to my disappointment, it was actually not that good. Although they were generous with the meat, it was not tender at all. Instead, each slice of meat was impossible to bite apart, and I had to end up swallowing it whole (super gross!). In the words of Sarah, "Definitely not date-night food!" The way the dish was seasoned was also mediocre at best, and not very memorable. Maybe I just had it on the wrong day with the wrong slice of beef, but to anyone interested in ordering it: please proceed with caution!
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| Beef sushi at Hanabi Sushi Bar. |
Another dish that I tried was the Heart Attack roll. I don't quite remember what it consisted of, but I know it contained avocado and possibly spicy tuna. On top of the rice was also a layer of crispy tempura flakes I think? That was probably the tying ingredient of the dish. Without the outer layer of crispy bits, the roll would not be as memorable. But all in all, it was a solid dish.
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| Heart Attack roll at Hanabi Sushi Bar. |
And of course, the perfect conclusion to any meal is the dessert. As you may probably be able to guess, at a Japanese restaurant, I ordered my favorite: tempura ice cream.
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| Tempura ice cream DONE RIGHT at Hanabi Sushi Bar. |
The tempura ice cream was definitely the redeeming dish. The tempura layer was fried to perfection, and they were extremely generous with the portion size as you can see.
Looking back, tonight was a very good meal reconnecting with friends in that the restaurant gave us a good area where we can kick back and bask in the welcoming environment. However, I doubt I will be returning to this restaurant anytime soon as I think there are far more other places with better service and better prices.
Hanabi Sushi Bar
345 S Lake Ave., Ste. 115
Pasadena, CA 91101
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