Hana Asian Bistro and Bar — Restaurant in Loyalsock Township

My husband and I come here fairly often- I guess I'm a bit of a snob, because the first time we visited, I scoffed at the all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, because I assumed it was a traditional Chinese-American buffet with maybe a couple of ill-rolled "sushi" pieces, like some surimi "Krab" and cream cheese rolls... it is NOT. No sneeze guards, none of the small, half-washed plates, and less-than-fresh orange chicken pieces swimming in sauce in a half-tray over the hot-water warmer.

First, I'd like to acknowledge the wait staff- our personal favorites are Carmen and Naudia. They're actually the ONLY two waiters we've ever encountered during our lunch-hour visits, and they are two amazing waiters. They are quick with a smile and appropriate joke or two, are very knowledgeable about the menu (what's the difference between hibachi noodles and veggie lo mein noodles HERE? Or what all do the chefs put in a spicy tuna roll? What is in that cocktail?), and are attentive, move food quickly, and I've personally seen them handle a fairly full dining room with grace and expeditiousness. 😃

The restraunt interior is fine. It's not quite a place I'd imagine you'd go for a romantic date night out, or an anniversary dinner, but it's clean, the seating is comfortable enough, and there IS a counter you can sit at where the chefs roll the sushi. It's perfectly adequate for a normal lunch/dinner date or some sushi and a couple cocktails after work, but they have paper napkins, the wait staff is dressed nicely but casually, and the ambiance is... well, clean but ordinary. I usually have to ask for chopsticks (disposable) and oddly enough, ginger/wasabi when ordering sushi.

Hana offers quite a variety of traditional Chinese-American fare that you may remember from the mall's food court in the 80s and 90s (did I just date myself?), but each item- even the all-you-can-eat, $20 lunch buffet, is portioned out in the kitchen and made for you, then served, fresh and hot- or fresh and cold, lol. My husband usually remembers to order his sans onion, so I'd imagine they'd be able to prepare foods for folks with allergies/dietary restrictions as well.

The lunch buffet offers hot traditional soups, a fresh salad if you like, and the menu offers appetizers like shumai, egg rolls, or jiaozi/gyoza (and I can tell they make them the "right" way, by steaming and then pan-frying, not just dumped frozen dumplings into a fryer vat), "mains" like beef and broccoli, starches like chicken fried rice or shrimp lo mein, and a scoop of ice cream to finish, but also hand-rolled, QUALITY, sushi rolls. I was expecting to receive pieces or half-rolls, since it was lunch, and ONLY TWENTY BUCKS, but I received full rolls. Both cooked and raw fish are offered for the buffet, though the more expensive options like Yellow Tail fish are sadly (but understandly) excluded from the buffet. I mean for $20 you definitely get quite a bit of variety and a can leave with a full belly. Yesterday I ordered shumaia, veggie tempura, hibachi noodles, beef and broccoli, a spicy tuna roll, shrimp tempura rolls, and green tea ice cream, all for $20. You ARE allowed to take your leftovers home, but there is a notice on the menu that "excessive" dishes ordered may result in a'la carte pricing. But please know, my husband often orders two items from a certain category- his faves are Orange Chicken and Sweet and Sour Chicken- and are not charged anything extra. I'm assuming this note is for the folks that attempt to order for a family of four, take a bite out of each dish, and then package it all to take home.

If you find you'd prefer the Yellow Tail or other speciality rolls, there's also a lunch special (and maybe dinner?), any two rolls for $12, or three rolls for I BELIEVE $18? I never order more than two, so I forget...

Regardless, this place definitely will satisfy your craving for more traditional Chinese American fare, a great plate of sushi/nigiri, or Habchi...

I had dinner there last night with my two grown children and two small grandchildren. We were seated in the back at a large table in a private setting which was nice BUT it was hot, sticky and humid no air flow at all, SO uncomfortable. Our waitress came quickly and was eager to get our entire order right away, we asked for more time because we were barely settled in. She came right back with our water and asked for our food order again, we asked for a little more time. We hadn’t seen each other for awhile and were enjoying catching up and going over the menu. The waitress came back in less than minute wanting our order! She was way to eager for some reason. The food came out at such a fast pace I didn’t even have time to finish my soup and salad before the entree hit the table. My daughter ordered a tempura entree, she was brought a tempura appetizer instead. The waitress disappeared so quickly we didn’t have a chance to tell her. She did not come back for quite awhile. I had to ask another waitress to ask our waitress to come back to our table, her reply was “ she is busy but I will tell her” 😦😠 really? She finally came and I explained she did not bring the entree my daughter ordered, her reply...I’m sorry. She didn’t offer to fix it she just walked away! I ordered chicken teriyaki, the chicken was as if it had been cooked earlier and heated up in the microwave, it was grisly and dry. I used to enjoy this place, the food and service was always good, not the case last night. I’m not in any...

UPDATE

10/19/2022

The service has improved fantastically since this visit. The food has, as well. I still take the same children on their dates. We haven’t been to Hana in a while, but I was looking through my reviews and realized I hadn’t updated this.

(01/02/2017) I've been to Hana before, but after today's visit, I probably won't return. I take my nieces and nephew on a 'day date' whenever I can, which usually includes lunch and a movie or something equivalent. Today, we collectively chose Hana for the 'all you can eat lunch'. However, after taking our initial order and delivering our soup, our server never returned. A few other staff delivered some food. But our server NEVER returned until it was to bring our check. I've heard great things about the 'all you can eat', thinking that the kids would love it, as they love to try new things, and I honestly wouldn't have minded spending a decent amount of money on a lunch, if it would have been enjoyable. We had waited over 25 minutes since having an item served before we could get our server's attention, as she and another server stood in a corner talking for a straight 15 minutes. After having been a server and bartender for over 10 years, I was appalled that nobody even checked on drinks, or on us, for that matter. I've always been to the hibachi there, which I love. But, after today, I'm very...