Hanami Japanese

Tucked between a cheesecake shop and the side of a pharmacy lies a cosy Japanese restaurant, Hanami. It provides a selection of bento boxes, sashimi, sushi and udon noodles all at the start of the Beaufort street strip in Mount Lawley.

I've wandered around there for a quick bite after my boxing sessions, possibly because it's healthier to get sashimi and sushi then indulge in an italian meal further down the street. You are able to just do a quick unexpected drop in on weeknights without booking, but I wouldn't recommend trying to do that on a Friday night or the weekends. The restaurant is small and very popular so bookings definitely recommended.

One of my favourite dishes at the restaurant would have to be their Rapture Sushi Roll. It has lovely pink fresh sashmi salmon on the top with deliciously and perfectly cooked sushi rice (it's an art ok! the amount of times places get it wrong is unbeliveable!), which is wrapped around tempura prawns. This roll is NOT for the fainthearted and the roll of 8 is a struggle to finish - I've only ever managed to eat maximum of 5.

Rapture Roll

Their bento boxes are very generous.

I had the unagi don - the eel were deboned, tender and cooked perfectly. It had a generous amount of teriyaki sauce. There was a bowl of rice, miso soup, japanese salad, bean sprouts, and a few slices of fruit.

Unagi Don

Their udon noodles are also claimed to be amazing as one friend said when she tried it the last time we had a group catch up. However, on the occasion when I had a camera (namely my phone), it was after a boxing session, so another bento box that was grabbed was the katsu don, which had its amazingly japanese mayo and bbq sauce on the side (which I think is a better solution then not giving anything, seeing as katsu don on it's own can become too dry!).

Katsu Don

 

Overall, I quite like Hanami for local Japanese - it's quick, it's resonably priced, and it is one of those Japanese restaurants that I can frequently go back to and expect consistently great food.