Hanaki Restaurant

It was great while it lasted. From the first few days they we’re open all the way til the end. Even got to buy some souvenirs to remember them by. Hopefully they can open again. Looking forward to that. If not there’s always the other places.

So many «mleh» reviews but I’ve had several good experiences here. I love the soup bases for the shabu shabu, and although the shabu shabu add-​ins seem a little pricier than other places I’ve been, it is very tasty.
Tempura is COVERED in batter. I mean, it’s very crispy, but my normal sized shrimp comes out to the width of my forearm– but it’s all batter!
Service isn’t great, and this place seems fatally empty on weekdays at lunch time, but really good shabu shabu and pretty good ala carte items.

Hanaki closed last week! So sad to see them go :(They were really my favorite place on the island to go for shabu shabu.

Tried for the first time last week and it’s not bad… not spectacular… but not bad! The portions are a bit small but at least it’s fresh.
We had enough people to run 2 pots so we had a spicy both and a regular one. I wish they had the dual compartment pots so we could try other flavor broths like other places offer.
They charge you by the plate and each plate has a designated color so you can see how much it would be for specialty items.
I’d go back but I don’t think it qualifies for one of my must go to places whenever I’m in town.

I like that I can eat really quickly at Hanaki. There is always a seat, quick service and the meat is so good. They have a spongy tofu that I like that absorbs the ponzu sauce really nicely and all the types of noodles that i would like to add to my shabu shabu. I have been to higher class shabu shabu… and this is more like a fast casual style.
As a busy family of five these days… this is what we want just great food, no wait, good value… the prices of each plate are about $ 4.50-$ 2.50 and quick service. The shave ice is good too!

SHABU SHABU… I have eaten here 3 times now in the past 3 months and my kids eat like a horse when we SHAB it up. They are happy and satisfied and love the homemade shave ice at the end. Moderately priced and have a nice variety of items to cook. The meats are great, a lot of noodles, and the right vege’s to boot when it comes to shabu shabu.
Remember your the cook when it comes to shabu shabu so if you screw the food up blame the cook. Broth was great and we added to it if we felt something was missing.
In, out, and stuffed when we leave all in about an hour. I personally have not eaten anything but shabu shabu there so far, don’t really care to either. You eat what a restaurant is known for IMHO.

It’s Friday night and you want «hot pot», but you wanna avoid the crowds at Ichiriki, Sweet Home, and Hot Pot heaven. Hanaki is the place.
My friend and I had no wait at 6:45 PM… we picked our broths (I got kombu), and our ingredients… and started to eat. It wasn’t the BEST, but it sure beats waiting an hour just for food. The best part… we could stay and chat all night without feeling the need to leave because there were always extra tables.
Unilocal 365 Challenge #133/​365

I will start off by saying that any restaurant that serves their food on cheap plastic Tupperware is an automatic 3-​star joint.
I came here to eat with my friend after we finished class maybe 2 weeks ago… it was a «man-​date.» Anyway, we were in Manoa, since parking on campus was kinda tight and we decided to grab a bite to eat. We saw Hanaki and decided to give them a try. I recently heard that the place changed from a Japanese buffet to a hotpot restaurant. Since my friend and I both work at a nabe restaurant, we decided to see what our competition was like :)
None. No competition whatsoever. To start, the server/​manager/​host never smiled, giving us the impression that we were unwanted and a bother. After he sat us, he asked us what soup we wanted, we asked him for his suggestion, he replied «whatever you want, they’re all good.» Man, I don’t want to hear that, I want to hear which soup is the best, which soup you would choose if you were eating here.
We ended up ordering the «spicy» soup, honestly, the thing tasted like cajun seasoning mixed with water… I regret ordering that soup. After our server brought out our soup, we went to see what they had to offer in their meat and vegetable section. They had the usual, beef, chicken, lamb, cabbage, mushrooms, etc. nothing really stood out and made Hanaki unique.
We got back to our table and started to cook our food. After waiting about 10 minutes for our server to comeback to our table, we asked him for rice. Maybe that was our mistake? Maybe we shouldn’t have ate rice that day? Damn us for being such rice-​whores! All kidding aside, this was the moment that made me laugh and cry at the same time. Our rice was served to us in plastic Tupperware… no joke. My Tupperware «bowl» was green, my friend’s was orange. I looked to my friend and we both said «WTF?» Maybe we looked 5 years old and they didn’t want us to break their dishes…
I didn’t realize I wrote so much, I think I write more when I’m angry. Sorry.
I won’t write about the food because it was nothing special, the prices were the only thing that kept us there eating.
So, we start off giving Hanaki 5-​stars. We take away 2 stars for using Tupperware was dishes and we take one more star for the lack of service. Hell, if I didn’t know what it was like to work in a restaurant, this place would get one star.

Intro:
Knowing that they no longer serve all-​you-​can eat shrimp tempura, we went to Hanaki anyway, just to see what the shabu shabu thing was all about. We went with another couple and it turns out they were on a low-​fat diet while my hubby and I were on a low-​carb diet. Because of the selection, neither couple had to compromise their diet (even if there was temptation).
Food:
There were a bunch of different broths to choose from, including miso, konbu, sukiyaki, spicy and healthy (herbs and ginger and stuff). We chose spicy, and it was spicy! And tasty, as well. Our friends chose the konbu, which was flavorful. We went to the two giant refrigerators and picked our ingredients: prime rib, stuffed mushrooms, choy sum, bean sprouts and tofu. When my husband opened the plastic wrapped tofu, the tofu plunked right into the middle of the boiling hot soup, splashing and scalding my arms and chest. Good times. The combination was delicious. Our friends, chose shrimp, fish cake, chicken and watercrest. They also ordered two bowls of rice (which looks amazing to anyone on a low-​carb diet). Everyone was satisfied with their meal.
In addition to shabu shabu, there are other choices, including donburi and udon. And you can get side orders like the shrimp tempura (huzzah!) and teriyaki chicken. I’m delighted that when I’m not on a low card diet I can come back and eat my favorite shrimp tempura. Mm.
Hanaki offers free self-​serve shave ice with the shabu shabu. I asked them if they had sugar-​free syrup and the answer was no. What do diabetics (and people on low-​carb diets) do? I guess they can eat ice and azuki beans. The beans were sweet so I fear they were prepared with sugar. Oh well.
Service:
The service was good. When she found out it was our first time, our waitress explained the entire process, from choosing a broth to self-​serving ingredients, to the variety of sauces available on a table to experiment with. She told us how long to cook the veggies and meat and would often come by to check on us. The waitress also informed us that we could get unlimited refills on the broth. Since the spicy broth was a little too spicy for me, we asked if we could change broths, to one that was the same price, and she said no.
Misc:
The restaurant was clean and the electric burners on our table were spotless (until after my husband spilled soup everywhere). The restrooms were brightly lit and clean as well.
Overall:
A fun experience, especially if you like shabu shabu. The only other shabu shabu place we went to was the one on Kapiolani Blvd. years ago and they didn’t have broth, the soup was water-​based and kind of tasteless.. .Anyway, when we left Hanaki, I was full in a bloated way. I wasn’t necessarily satisfied-​full. However, I will return again so I can try other menu items.

BEST Shrimp tenpura! ONLY… and seriously… ONLY if they serve it fresh right out of the fryer. If it arrives warm… it’s so-​so.
I miss the old Hanaki when it was a buffet. Good… Crab legs galore!!!
Now it’s a hot pot /​shabu shabu type of place.
it’s good, but it all depends on the soup base and the cook (YOU)!!!
Service is excellent, unless it’s super busy… then it’s just good.

3.25 out of 5 stars!!!
I really miss the old days where when we had a shrimp tempura itch that we couldn’t scratch… we would end up here! Hidden in the confines of Manoa Marketplace… is or WAS this gem. Hanaki has «followed trend» and converted its Japanese buffet into a «Shabu Shabu» restaurant. they have two huge coolers where one can pick meats and veggies/​noodles. They also have a sauce bar which mainly consists of ponzu sauce and chili paste. They don’t really skimp on the service but dont go the «extra mile» as well! As long as my water is FULL its all good!
Broths were so so…(Shoyu, miso, sukiyaki, curry, and some others which shall remain nameless) Anyways, They need to ditch the gas burner and go with electric! The gas burner ran out on our table and had to be refilled… of course its unpredictable but a pain nonetheless.
I love the fact you can choose what you want and the fact that there is NO LINE! Great for the quick in and out dinner!
The price was kinda outrageous! For a glorified bowl of RAMEN it was $ 40 for 2 people!
I will still frequent this place but not very often!

As Duchess of the place, i should write a review huh?
I am a big fan of noodles, from WHEREVER (Ramen, Spaghetti, Phở, you name it!). thank god the «hot pot» trend came about. Although Ichiriki and other hot pot places have been around for awhile, the trend has sprung many new restaurants. I obviously like tthis place enough to have this many checkins. eh?
So let me give you the breakdown plain and simple:
REASONS WHY SOMEONE WOULDN’T LIKE IT HERE:
1) It’s not Sweet Home Café — Duh, it’s called HANAKI.
2) they can’t get over the fact that it used to be a buffet, and it’s not anymore. GET OVER IT, people change, places change, but they still make awesome bentos!
3) not a big «sauce» selection or awesome dessert like SHC. — do i have to say this again? it’s called HANAKI, NOT SWEET HOME CAFE. so get over it! if you want to eat there. go eat there!
REASON WHY I LOOOOVE THIS PLACE:
1) because they are located in Manoa Market Place they have a vast selection of parking. I don’t like driving in circles, and have people staring at me like im some sort of idiot.
2) EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. they’re always super nice when i come, always asking if we are okay, and always there when they see my bottle of beer has subsided.
3) yeah it’s empty, but i’m sorry, i wouldn’t want to wait in line for 2 ½ hours when im freaking starving to death.
4) i love their soup selections; «Hanaki» is my favorite. If i wanted to eat oil, i would’ve gone to Pizza Hut.
5) Their prices aren’t as high as «other» places. and as a college student on a budget, i’m FINE with that.
6) I like the «make your own shave ice» thing. it makes me feel like a kid again! plus. they have good azuki: D
It would be nice if Hanaki would have a nice sauce selection and dessert like «the other place», but they don’t, & i’m not judging them on that. Maybe one day they will? *hint hint*nudge nudge* :P

So Hanaki is now shabu shabu place? This restaurant has gone through a handful of different changes… none of which stick… and from the looks of it this one wont either.
So the concept is pretty much the same as sweet home or hot pot heaven. Pay per plate, self serve, mix your own sauce, free shave ice. Except… pretty much thats all there is too it. We got the hanaki and herb broths. The broth has nothing jazzy about it, in fact it was sorta bland and not too impressive. After you’ve tasted the flavor explosion of sweet home, this place is like a joke. There was a fairly large variety of veggies and meats though, I’ll give them that.
The mix your own sauce bar was also laughable. Theres probably like 3 ginormus bowls of either ponzu sauce, house sauce and shoyu. I was kinda confused as what I was supposed to mix? There’s some hot sauce, peppers, green onions and ginger, but thats about it. Again, disappointing!
Probably one of the great things about this place is that there isn’t a crowd, so you could zip in and out whenever you like (probably attributing to the fact that its not that good). However, the service is alright, not friendly at all and they pretty much leave it to you to figure out what’s what and where’s where, so good luck!

So another place to add to the ever so popular hot pot style food.
This was my second time here, as my first was when it just changed to a hot pot type place. I didn’t really enjoy my first visit there so I figured I would try it again before I reviewed it.
For the broth there were couple choices: curry, konbu, hanaki style, spicy, miso. I went with the spicy and it was pretty good. It was $ 5 a broth which isn’t too bad.
The sauces had a couple: seasme miso, shoyu, ponzu, house sauce, satay, chilli sauce. We went with the house sauce and added some cilantro, green onion, and grated daikon. It ended up also being pretty good.
The food selection was decent, with most of your common veggies and they has the various balls (beef, fish, lobster, squid). They had some seafood and the usual meats like beef, pork, chicken, lamb.
The cost for the plates are 2.50, 3.50 and 4.50
This was the biggest complaint. I don’t mind spending that much per plate but for the amount they give. The portions are really small and nothing like the taiwanese style place. They come in bowls that are barely filled and was pretty disappointed to see how little they give. The meats especially was very small. I was thinking to myself, its gonna cost a lot to be satisfied of meats, so I got more lobster balls and other stuff like sausage to fill up.
They had shave ice but nothing like the other places. It was just a bowl of shaved ice that you go up to and grab what you want and add syrup. The ice was pretty melted already so it was already slushy.
I think the second time was my last coming here. Food was ok but way overpriced and that is probably the single reason I wouldn’t return. There is a lot better options taste wise, price wise, and overall experience wise.

Went for dinner, selections for shabu shabu seemed limited. There was about 7 types of broths to choose from, had the Hanaki broth and spicy broth, all brothes for $ 5.00. Plates ranged from $ 1.50 for rice, $ 2.5 red plates for veggies, $ 3.5 green plates for mushrooms, $ 4.50 for meats. Prices are kind of expensive for the amount of food. Many dipping sauces/​topping to choose from, again Hanaki sauce, ponzu, green onion, diakon, chili sauce, etc.
Beer and sake prices looked okay, but didn’t partake.
Service was friendly and fast. I was surprised when the waiter said if we wanted to take home the left over broth, he said some people do that, that a first for me hearing people taking home the left over broth.
Side notes, did see well know chef by the initials DK dining with family,
I think I liked Hanaki better as a buffet place.

This review is only for their lunch bentos because, really, I could care less about time-​consuming shabu shabu during lunch time when I need something quick and delicious.
I’m glad to see that although Hanaki has abandoned their buffet in favor of shabu shabu, they have kept their lunch bento menu! This menu is available from opening (11? 12? I forget) to about 2pm, I believe, but if you have any questions, just call ‘em.
I usually just get the 1 choice bento (karaage chicken) because the portions are quite big. Comes with a generous serving of white rice and side of salad with Thousand Island dressing, of course. When I went the other day, the owner explained that it takes a little longer to prepare since all the food is cooked to order, so I waited about 10 minutes or so.
When you’re looking for a quick lunch option in Manoa Marketplace, this is my top recommendation. Other places at the shopping center are delicious, but they tend to be packed during lunch time and Hanaki has just the right amount of foot traffic to make it worthwhile.

Okay, I’m pretty biased about Nabe because I’m a loyal follower of Ichiriki, but I was pleasantly surprised by my experience at Hanaki. Just coming off of a horrible experience at Sweet Home Café, I was unsure of what to expect at an ala carte shabu shabu house.
The service at Hanaki was efficient and friendly, the assortment of items was plentiful and the broth (konbu & seafood) was quite good. My daughter enjoyed the karaage chicken and my son enjoyed the free shave ice. I think it was a big risk to change the entire restaurant to this format because I enjoyed the Japanese buffet before but Hanaki’s is a great option for our family. Compared to SHC, they have ample room, friendly staff, and you don’t have an over bearing mamma-​san reminding us of the 90 minute time to eat.

Hanaki renovated into a Shabu Shabu place. Its okay. Nothing too special about this place. We got the spicy and miso broth both which were quite good, hence my rationale for more than 1 star.
This place is pay by the plate just like Genki and the plates are 2.50, 3.50, and 4.50. Its decently priced but the portions are small. We got the tofu, shimp balls, prime rib, pork, fish cake, mochi, baby bok, and mushrooms. All were okay, nothing that impressed me.
FORGET THE SHAVE ICE, go enjoy dessert someplace else. The ice was hard, tasted weird and the syrups were watered down. definitely not satisfying one bit.
They charge you for rice which is a little unsettling. There are plenty of tables so you won’t have to wait but this place is easily forgettable.
This place won’t last long unless they change something. From what i hear, sweet home will destroy this place.
I thought I would gain some respect back for a place that was at one time a decent buffet, but nah not so good. I won’t be returning to Hanaki.

Hanaki has recently changed from being a regular buffet to a shabu shabu type place. They seemed to have copied the same concept as Sweet Home Café but its not quite the same.
They have a bunch of small dishes that you bring back to your table and cook in your selected broth. The spicy broth didn’t have much flavor but was quite hot from the chili oil on top of the soup. Overall the food is pretty decent when you dip it in your own sauce. Just doesn’t measure up to Sweet Home Café.
Good but not great. I think they still have to work out the kinks.

Yikes! I should’ve gone to Paesano like I originally planned. I wanted to treat my wife to Japanese food, but wanted a friendly place for the kids, too. What a disappointment. It’s a buffet, yes, but I’ve had better. What’s wrong, you ask?
1. The teriyaki chicken is basically just sliced chicken, sliced the way you would expect in Chinatown, and it seemed to be not so much marinated as just a glob of teriyaki sauce pored over it.
2. The karrage chicken was overcooked and bland.
3. The baked salmon was too dry with no flavor (and I normally love salmon)
4. The California roll sushi, which is my son’s favorite, did not have avocado in it.
5. The spicy ahi tuna sushi didn’t taste even close to the real thing you would get in a sushi restaurant.
6. The tempura batter was greasy.
I could go on, but you get the picture. We didn’t see too many people there, and of those we did see, there was a preponderance of people who appeared to be morbidly obese, so maybe just eating a lot of food is the draw for this place.
Years ago, this was a fairly nice Japanese eatery, but sadly, it is just posing as a Japanese restaurant now. A repeat visit is not in the cards for my family!