{"id":23466,"date":"2013-12-04T07:50:18","date_gmt":"2013-12-03T23:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/?p=23466"},"modified":"2017-05-05T17:02:05","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T09:02:05","slug":"han-japanese-restaurant-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/zh\/2013\/12\/04\/han-japanese-restaurant-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"CLOSED: Han Restaurant, Odeon Towers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Han
\nOnly people who have been to Japan’s tempura restaurants understand why Nicole (pinky piggu<\/a>) and I were willing to part with $75 each<\/strong> to eat deep-fried food for lunch. That’s 35 Old Chang Kee’s chicken wings. (Dinner goes up to $250+.) In Japan, you sit at the bar and let the chef feed you, deep-fry item by item, omakase-style, till you cry stop. My tempura experience at Kondo<\/a>, a 2-Michelin-starred restaurant, gave much bliss and I was hoping to replicate the joy at Han.<\/p>\n

\"Han
\nStarter: Hirame and salad in background<\/em><\/p>\n

The entrance was promising, eluding a Zen-like feel and the decor<\/strong>\u00a0transported me to Japan. There are three areas to choose to sit:\u00a0dining area<\/strong>,\u00a0sushi bar<\/strong>, and\u00a0kushikatsu bar<\/strong>. Since Han specializes in\u00a0Naniwa<\/em>\u00a0(Old Osaka) cuisine, especially kushikatsu, we naturally sat at the kushikatsu bar. Kushikatsu isn’t tempura: tempura uses batter while kushikatsu uses batter and bread crumbs (panko<\/em>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Han
\nScallop dipped in sweet plum sauce<\/em><\/p>\n

The restaurant is helmed by Chef Seiichiro Arakawa <\/strong>who worked at one-Michelin star A-Bon in Japan.\u00a0There are quite a few options for lunch (click here for lunch menu<\/a>). Instead of choosing the kushikatsu 7 sticks set<\/strong> ($75+), I very intelligently chose Ohmi beef tendon omelette rice & kushikatsu 3 sticks set<\/strong> ($45) and kushikatsu 3 sticks<\/strong> ($18), which gave me 6 sticks of kushikatsu and an omelette rice at a cheaper price than the 7 sticks set. I am \u7701\u94b1\u738b!!<\/p>\n

Originally, the beef omelette set comes with 3 sticks of pork but I requested for 6 different sticks and the chef acceded to my request. Thank you, chef.<\/p>\n

\"Han
\nI found everything, besides the kushikatsu, delicious. The salad<\/strong> was fresh and had a tangy, appetizing sauce. The cold starter, a cooked flounder fish (hirame<\/strong><\/em>), came creamy. The\u00a0miso soup<\/strong> was outstandingly delicious with a hint of char, as good miso soups should be. The\u00a0omelette<\/strong>\u00a0rice<\/strong> was so addictive that I, on a diet, swallowed it all. The rice was tinged with tomato to give it a sweetness, and the\u00a0beef<\/strong> was so tender it melted as one with the rice. Just a lace of curry to give life to the dish. Even the\u00a0dessert<\/strong> (choice of green tea biscuit<\/strong>, black sesame biscuit<\/strong> or yuzu sorbet<\/strong>) was fantastic: the yuzu sorbet<\/strong> was refreshingly, face-scrunching sour and the\u00a0black sesame<\/strong> had a nice char flavor.<\/p>\n

\"Han
\nNow the bad part, their specialty, kushikatsu, deep-fried in lard<\/strong>, was disappointing. Though not at all greasy, out of the 6 sticks–Kyushu pork<\/strong>, lotus root, unagi eel, scallop, angel prawn<\/strong> and\u00a0tomato stuffed with cream cheese and topped with sundried tomato paste\u00a0<\/strong>(pictured above)–I only liked the tomato and the scallop. The tomato was bursting with warmth, like gentle sunshine after a cold rainy day and was milky, sweet and just a bit of acidity for balance. The scallop was dipped in sweet plum sauce, an invigorating call to the senses. Its texture was more similar to fish-flaky than scallop-shred, which I thought was special but Nicole objected. She preferred the prawn to the scallop, but I thought the prawn could be fresher. The other sticks were limp and colorless.<\/p>\n

\"HanThe\u00a0service<\/strong>\u00a0was very attentive. When I dropped my chopsticks, they took the initiative to get a new pair for me. This is the best kind of service–being taken care of without asking.<\/p>\n

Although I didn’t receive the joy I was hoping for, the ambience<\/strong> and service<\/strong> were done perfectly. The\u00a0food<\/strong> was okay but overpriced. If they lower the price, especially for lunch, they might have a booming business. We paid $150 for two, or $75 for one<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Han Japanese Restaurant Singapore<\/a><\/h1>\n

331 North Bridge Rd, Odeon Towers #01-04 Singapore 188720
\nT: 6336 2466
\n12-3pm, 6-11pm
\nfacebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Rating: 3.563\/5 sticks<\/strong><\/p>\n

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