Hana Tei Restaurant (Kajang - Selangor - Malaysia) — Restaurant in Kajang Municipal Council

Being pretentious with your menu/service is one thing, but falling flat on the face with subpar dishes and basic service despite having quality ingredients is just downright embarrassing. Will be my first and last time ever visiting this chain and within my circle. So lets begin the story:

We walked into a fairly busy restaurant, the waiter claimed they could serve us in reasonable time (that's what they always say anyway), so okay, we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and fair to say expectations were set (by your own waiter and menu mind you).

For starters, its common sense even among roadside stalls to fire up all the dishes for a table together so all items can be served hot, ever more crucial for restaurants like these. Plot twist, not only it was not fired up on time, kitchen staff completely missed out the item till later tables were being served already, waiters did not verify when only one main was served while the other was conspicuously missing. The only fella who prob knew what he was doing was the supervisor who reminded the kitchen and dropped us a complimentary side, but without actually clarifying it to us (my dining partner spent 15 mins wondering if we had to pay for it lol.. I had to convince her it was complimentary as having exp in the service industry, it just confirms the kitchen screwed up big time - and you can't hide that from the eyes of anyone with a sliver of FnB experience ).

Never mind that, but when crew is told they ffed up, you get to it right away right? A deep fried breast cutlet on egg and rice - how long does it take? 5 mins flat for anyone who knows what they are doing. My partner finished her meal, I had to snack on the sides. It was another 25 mins (Total 50 mins waiting) before it was finally done. By now, I was fuming, but its ok, give them a chance, supervisor did try no?

Oh but NO, I got the most miserable chicken katsu don I ever had in my life, even the kopitiam's uncle stall in my area could do much better - no seasoning, bland, missing basic ingredients (except maybe the rice, despite being mixed with cheap sub-par local rice, was well cooked, but you can't expect me to eat plain rice no?). The udon dish my partner had was also bland, under seasoned, despite having fresh ingredients. Takoyaki was just mushy, undercooked and even Gindaco's kiosk-made equivalent by "ahemms" was way better with tangible squid bits. Don't get me wrong, the crew had base ingredients of good quality! How the f* your crew can screw that up is beyond me.

I came in expecting to have a pleasant meal, it turned out to be frustrating, annoying, disappointing and an utter waste of time, the only regret being stupid enough to ignore the signature red flags on the way in. The obnoxious price would have been far better appreciated by hawkers who would actually put their heart and soul into their food. I appreciate the effort of the front of house to placate us, hence I did not blow up on the spot, but you cannot save a aservice with so few (or more accurately NO)...

Hana Tei has been in Kajang for many years and they have become a reliable place for good Japanese food. The decor is cosy making it a good spot for a celebration or special occasions. Service is attentive and prompt.

The Washington Roll was a little messy in appearance (the rice roll was not well formed) but taste wise was spot on - a little sweet and spicy. The Sake Mentai Maki was slathered in the Mentai sauce - again the appearance wasn’t great but the taste was good. Kaki Furai or fried oysters were crispy breaded oysters, which were tasty morsels perfect as a starter.

The Wagyu Suji Don had a little too much fat in the dish (although some may like this). Tokyo Mazesoba came with crispy fried chicken fillet but was a little under seasoned and the soba noodles needed some soya sauce to lift the flavour.

The Yakiniku with Onsen Egg was good - this is a recommended dish.

The small pieces of mochi were decent but the cold and tart Yuzu Sorbet was a perfect end to...

This place wasn't horrible, neither was it amazing. It just fell slightly below average compared to many good Japanese eateries in KL. Prices weren't exorbitantly high, but they weren't exactly reasonable considering the taste of the foods on offer.

Standout dishes (not in a good way) were the edamame (they were tiny, raw and slightly shrivelled), salmon sashimi (they were unevenly sliced and so much of the grey flesh was left on all the pieces). Chawanmushi however, was seasoned well and the clams nabe were fresh. The other grilled fish (overcooked) and sushi we ordered were so-so and forgettable.

A disappointing visit, since I had expected more after reading the promising online reviews. On the plus side, the wait staff were very polite and helpful. I'd only recommend you come if you live near the area and manage to find parking in the congested streets...