Hanare Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Was a sub-par lunch experience at this restaurant. Was expecting a lot more given the higher end pricing. Starting off with the positives- sashimi was very good. Thick slices of fish and no complaints of the freshness. The prawn sashimi was good but it was unexpectedly small in size. This influenced my 3 star rating. Good quality wasabi was though as expected.

Negatives are aplenty. Starting with the service team. The restaurant seem to be under staffed. We were not greeted by anyone as we walked in to the restaurant. That is unexpected of a restaurant this stature. After seated, I heard the gentlemen waiter telling other guests who he was ushering in to the restaurant that it was a crazy day. Looked around and there were still empty tables hence not sure why would it be a crazy day. Sort of managed my expectation of the service quality after hearing that rant. The lady waitresses were trying very hard nonetheless.

The rice was a total let down. Nothing close to the real deal japanese uruchimai. Ocha top ups were slower than preferred hence resonating with my comment of understaffing. Another negative which took my rating down was the noise levels. The seating layout of this restaurant is what you see in normal kopitiams. Hence, noise levels is very high which is not expected of a premium priced outfit. The wooden floor aggravates the noise levels especially with the head chef walking around in his traditional japanese clogs. Having him strut past for the first time gave the authentic Japanese feel. But imagine this happening throughout your dining time. Coupled with the noise levels from other guests, expect to speak with a raised voice with your dining mates.

Overall, I was underwhelmed by the experience. For similar pricing, I would prefer to dine with their...

Ahhh .. the famous Hanare weekend buffet! What a let down! Was there to celebrate my wife’s birthday and it was not good experience for her. I’ve been here for dinner and it was an entire different experience.

Things I like 😁 The limited series ie oyster, chutoro and wagyu. They’re all good especially the oysters. Fat and juicy. Chutoro is good but it doesn’t melt in your mouth. Wagyu is ok but can be better. I’m missing my garlic though. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Sashimi was ok.. just ok, I’ve had better! Teppanyaki can be hotter but I like my garlic, and I got none.

The letdowns🤦🏻‍♂️ I booked a table for 2, 1 month before today. Guess what? I was not on the list. Anyway .. they let us in anyways. The furniture… OMG! Rusty table stand?Seriously? Hanare you can do better than this. They were short staffed and for such a restaurant, staffs could be better trained. Drinks were served on my left, refills were slow, not attentive. Tempura batter was too thick .. not what I expected from Hanare. Temaki hand rolls was the ultimate flop for me. I mean I like my nori crunchy .. the nori here was awful, like chewing rubber!! And I ordered tons! Ordered grilled salmon head, arrived stone cold. Imagine biting into the meat expecting it to be hot but it’s cold 🥶 instead. Yeah .. that yucky feeling. Cold soba was another big letdown. Totally tasteless till the extend that I have to put soy sauce. The ice cream 🤦🏻‍♂️ you’re charging RM200+ per head and trust me .. this is no Häagen-Dazs! I bit into small chunks of ice! The fruits.. haiz! I’ll let the pic say it itself. I expect quality not quantity. I can literally hear the entire conversation from the grilling section! Yeah it’s that bad.

All in all a total letdown for the price they’re charging. Food is slightly on the salty side,...

For those who are scrolling through the review to check this restaurant out, I hope my review will help you to decide if you would like to pay the place a visit.

Like most reviews on this restaurant, the place has nice ambience and atmosphere and like some reviews here, the price is indeed very pricey and does seem to meet the food and service expectation. Allow me to elaborate further on this as below:

Me and my boyfriend ordered a multi-course meal each. I had a wagyu beef teppanyaki set and my bf a seafood set.

Upon receiving our appetizer, I had this strange feeling in the food and to my surprise it was a little brush thing , probably from the dish washer. (- 1 star).

We had brought this to the attention of the waiter, in which he apologized instantly but there was no follow-up on the issue. (Like maybe replace the dish that was affected?) and we had checked with the manager on this after our meal, the manager said " I was not informed on this". A manager should know what is going on the floor instead of being busy entertaining guests that are "VIP" on the sushi bar. (- 1 star)

As for the food, the wagyu beef was really good and the fishes were so fresh. I really don't doubt the chef skills but for the tempura, the taste was bland and the dessert? A pathetic scoop of ice cream on top of a honeydew jelly. Overall there were no wow-factor that set the restaurant aside from others, just the expensive price. (-1 star for pathetic ice cream)

Concluding my review, my experience to the restaurant was a 2 star experience. Do not be fooled by the many 5 stars, most of them were from the previous year and quality may have dropped when I paid the restaurant a visit. Sorry, there were no photos but believe me that we had high expectation, only to be let...