Hanakin Japanese Restaurant & Bar

TL;DR - Seriously good Izakaya.

Like, for real. My friend discovered this place while sitting in traffic. It's in an odd location, flanked by a Wendy's, Home Depot & a Discount Tire, but do not let the location deter you. It is absolutely worth a visit. While it does not have an extensive sushi menu, it has plenty of options for a variety of desires. Keep in mind, this is Izakaya; small plates, shareable, lots of options, flavor & an experience.

Knowing that my weakness is takoyaki & karaage chicken, my friend knew this place would spark my interest & I am grateful it caught her eye. Upon entry, they advised us to sit wherever we were comfortable, which was nice. It was not crowded, but we can be loud & a little odd... so we space out accordingly for the atmosphere. It was rather quiet, with only two other tables, both of whom seemed fairly reserved. Smooth jazz was riding the airwaves, which made it easy to converse.

Started off with the takoyaki, karaage chicken, house salads & a bottle of Nigori. The takoyaki was amazing. Seasoned well, mayo on the lighter side, great cook on the ball & octo inside. The karaage chicken was flavor city, no sauce needed. Moist & delicious on the inside, perfectly crunchy on the outside. It really made me consider ordering a second serving, it was THAT good. The house salad, although common in its ingredients, put a spotlight on the appetizers with its thick dressing. While it took a minute to get everything adequately coated, the dressing stuck to everything well & made for consistent flavor during the whole salad.

We then moved onto chicken yakitori (don't skip on the sauce sitting in the serving tray), trying both the thighs & tenders. The first thing I always test with any yakitori is the ease of removing it from the skewer using chopsticks. If it is hard to remove, it is typically overcooked. Both of these, thighs & tenders, slid off the skewers fairly easily. Again, flavorful & delicious, cooked very well!

Next came the Sashimi Moriawase bowl, absolutely a show piece. Refer to the photos & video to see what I mean. This was recommended by our waitress & definitely has the wow factor to impress a date. 👍 We were so surprised by the presentation, my friend didn't even listen to the description & she had to ask the server to repeat what each cut was, but he was very nice & gladly went over it again for her, with a smile. Each piece had a unique garnish to complement the cut of fish. All were very tender & tasty!

We considered ordering a roll next, but we were teetering on the edge of full. Since the waitress had such a great suggestion on other things, we asked her again for her input. She recommended the item my friend was most intrigued by; Cheese Yaki Onigiri. This was a new, crazy experience. It's hard to describe & it doesn't sound the most appealing, but it all works together so well. It can almost serve as a dessert, in my opinion. The rice, a combination of soft & crunchy... but not undercooked crunchy, think fried crunchy. Cheese in the middle, and some sauce cooked into the rice shell, creating a sticky wall of flavor, breaking through that gets you to the cheese... this is when you level up. 🤣 Yum! What a shock, try it... you may find you like it more than you ever thought possible.

The staff was attentive, the place was clean & calm, zen like even (until we showed up)! Our waitress even switched up the jams to something a little more lively upon request. We were in celebration mode & had a great time here, really genuinely enjoyed the food & I have added this place to my list of new favorites!