Hana Japanese Bistro — Restaurant in Portland

Food was awesome. Service was not.

Our multigenerational family dined at Hana Japanese Bistro as a way to celebrate our last night together in Portland before my inlaws headed home the next day. We ordered drinks and edamame to start. Our server brought out everyone's drink but my sons root beer and no edamame. We reminded our server about the root beer and edamame when we ordered our meal. The food started coming out, we had a few more small plates, a couple of rolls, udon, the edamame came out. The food was all hot, flavored perfectly, and tasted fresh. We reminded our server a third time about the root beer and he finally brought it. Items stopped coming to the table and we were still missing my father in laws dinner (he isn't an adventurous eater so he ordered chicken teriyaki for his dinner and wasn't taking bites otherwise) and pot stickers for my daughter. The rest of us were gnoshing and loving every bite but my poor hungry FIL still had no food and so he asked the server how much longer it would take - it quickly became apparent that the items weren't put in. An hour into our meal, all of us were ondone eating and my FILs teriyaki was still no where to be seen. He finally asked our server to just cancel the order and instead of apologizing or offering to comp the dish, the server started arguing with my FIL and telling him it was too late to cancel and then trash talking into the kitchen about their conversation when our table could clearly hear everything he was saying. It was super embarrassing and awkward and honestly I've never had anything like this happen at a restaurant, especially in our hometown of Portland where we typically experience better service than many other cities that we visit.

To be clear, when we arrived there were two other tables that were paying and while we were there another one top came in. They were not busy, the server wrote down our order, we were clear with what we wanted and only asked for one dish modification. When the food finally arrived and we sat with my FIL while he ate his meal. We did ask to see the menu again when the bill arrived because there was an extra percentage added to the bill and it turns out it was a credit card fee that's added if you pay with a card (weird for Portland but whatever, we wanted to make sure it was noted on the menu, it was).

There are so many great restaurants in Portland. There are so many great restaurants on Alberta! We won't be coming back...

Dropped in for lunch on a whim. Was made a bit nervous by the sign saying under new management and new menu, that's usually not a good sign. However overall it was a very positive experience - we've got a new goto place for sushi now!

We had the unagi don buri and chirashi. Both were excellent, much to the relief of my husband who has found most of the eel to be had in Portland to be pretty meh. The serving was generous, the fish was well if not expertly cut, and the variety of fish on the chirashi was surprising (eg, two different types of salmon). The chirashi presentation was nice and well arranged with decorative veggies and an edible flower. The fish was all extremely fresh and the texture was good.

Prices were on the higher side, but we felt that the value for the dollar was definitely there.

The dining area is clean, fairly spacious and airy, tastefully decorated and with minimal clutter. Some spots could use some TLC such as unfinished table top ends, but no big eyesores.

The service was pleasant and unobtrusive.

UPDATE: Came back for a second visit and was even more impressed. Changing to five stars, they deserve it. My chirashi was different from last time, which was great to see - that usually means the chef is choosing what is best each day for the dish, rather than just assembling it by rote. Selection was varied, fresh and delicious again! Loved all the little additions of sunomonos and pickles, really added to the flavour experience.

My husband had a mango roll that had lackluster mango, and the management came over to make it right. They worked with us to find something else on the menu instead that we would like better (which turned out to be their awesome scorpion roll, would recommend!)

The new management is definitely doing the right things and serving great food. The chef has good knife skills and the presentation is well above average. Looking forward to many...

This has been my go-to place during the pandemic and I'm so thankful I discovered it! I can't wait to dine in person some day. They have exclusively been doing takeout/delivery so I always feel very safe going to pickup my food. The food is always smartly packaged so it's easy to carry, hot stuff doesn't touch cold stuff, nothing gets soggy, etc. They know what they are doing.

I usually get the Hana Combo A (7 piece nigiri) and have always found it fresh and delicious. I had Udon once and also loved it. I'm no food connoisseur, but I always enjoy my meal.

The staff is very friendly and polite. Once my father went in to pay as it was my birthday dinner. Unfortunately, my father's memory and mind is deteriorating and when I went inside, I found out he had made a mistake and was a little confused. The young man helping him was so polite, kind, and respectful, showing no annoyance at having to repeat things and explain something seemingly so simple. It's hard enough getting old and to know your brain isn't working like it should can be very depressing and embarrassing. I'm very thankful for that staff member for not making my dad feel stupid or make a big deal of it. Because of this, we were able to laugh it off (hopefully) on the car ride home and chalk it up to not being used to calculating tip in restaurants because of the pandemic. (My mom has been extra cautious and they have only done curbside) I wish I could have somehow thanked that staff member that day.

[Picture: Hana Combo A (7 piece nigiri) plated AT MY HOUSE...