Teaching My Kids More Refined Dining

When it comes to eating, my wife and I always strive for the best. My other half is a gourmet cook who prides herself as someone very skilled in culinary arts. I, on the other hand, consider myself well-travelled, reaching as far as Asia and even Egypt. I started exploring the world since high school when I was an exchange student, spending a year in Japan. Now, as a merchandiser of a popular fashion brand, I also need to source materials and get trends from all over the world. So, when it comes to eating foreign food, I am quite well-versed. Be it casual dining or an elaborate romantic dinner, my wife and I are no strangers to knowing what good food is and what constitutes a great dining experience since we started dating in college.

The thing is, my wife is so good in cooking that my kids, 7 year old twins (a boy and a girl) , are not really that conscious (yet) of the pleasures associated with eating out. Their lunches and dinners are lovingly prepared by their mother, and they never seem to get tired of their mom's cooking, as much as my wife doesn't seem to run out of ideas on what to serve her kids. They're exposed to meat loaf and chicken as much as they know what's in a good authentic taco or a hearty sushi. I'd rather hell freeze over first before I get them craving for French fries and burgers. So, fast food is definitely out of the question.

But I definitely don't want my kids feeling deprived and not knowing how to act and what to do when eating in public. I know they need the exposure so they would know how to behave in a restaurant, what and how to order, and just the feel of being served and eating outside the house and school. But since I don't want them eating junk in a fast food, I knew my wife and I have work cut out for us.

Our dilemma with exposing our kids to eating out was solved when she told me about the restaurant she and her mom ate in that week. It’s a Japanese restaurant called Hana Zen in Union Square.  She mentioned that they also have a store in Pier 39. It was a light bulb moment for me – why not get our kids their first experience in eating out where they could enjoy something different, Japanese food while enjoying a beautiful dinner at the water front?

My initial doubts of Hana Zen in Pier 39 being more of a romantic dining place rather than a family-friendly establishment were relaxed when we finally got to eat there. Sure, there were a good number of couples enjoying dinner by the bay with picturesque sights, but there were also some groups of friends, obvious tourists, and other people enjoying the sights and the great food. I was pleasantly surprised with what Hana Zen served. They aren’t just some run-of-the-mill establishment that serves American versions of Japanese food; they actually serve great tasting Japanese dishes using authentic ingredients, cooked skilfully, and prepared with excellence in mind. 

I am proud of my babies as they behaved very well in Hana Zen, and they appeared very excited when they ate the rather strange food. With that dilemma over, I can go back to Hana Zen for a different reason – it’ll be our wedding anniversary next week! 

Paying a Price for a Great Japanese Dining Experience

Fancying myself as a connoisseur when it comes to good food, I am very particular about what is served in restaurants, particularly those that serve international cuisine. For me, no matter how great the ambiance is, or how appropriate the décor and service are for a romantic dinner, all is lost if the food they serve is lousy.

Figuring out how to know if a restaurant is any good can be a challenge, and knowing if a Japanese restaurant is above par would be almost impossible. We have to admit, as Americans, we probably would not know how to separate a really good Japanese restaurant from a bad one. Don’t worry; it’s not our fault. I mean, we did not exactly grow up having sushi and chicken teriyaki for dinner. We need more exposure to the authentic stuff to know whether what we’re eating is really good or not. Alas, only a few of us have gone to Japan, or really have eaten food cooked by a Japanese master chef.

So, how do you know if the Japanese food you eat will enhance your either posh dinner date with a loved one or casual dining experience with friends and not be the cause of a spoiled evening?
My first rule is to always trust referrals, but not just any referral. As I’ve said earlier, I wouldn’t really count on someone who grew up being fed with meat loaf and mashed potatoes every day to be well-versed on the flavors of Japanese food. Those Yelp reviews of people complaining about how a Japanese restaurant like Hana Zen on Pier 39 is so expensive despite their good food and service are not helping, let me tell you. 

You cannot complain about expensive food when it is delicious, and that’s a general rule, whether you are enjoying French, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, or Japanese food. And if you want quality dishes from the Land of the Rising Sun, you better be ready to shell out extra. Japanese cuisine, much more compared to other food from anywhere in the world, relies heavily on the freshness and authenticity of ingredients. Japanese food is distinct, and substituting components like seafood and even wasabi, that unique Japanese green condiment, to lower cost will noticeably affect the quality. It doesn’t even take someone with refined taste buds to notice a marked difference between fresh wasabi and its packed counterpart or rolls prepared with authentic Japanese rice and those with generic sticky rice. And do remember that authentic ingredients prepared with utmost care by well-trained chefs are costly.

When I first heard of Hana Zen, I was bombarded with online reviews of the place being a great location for an intimate dinner at the water front, if only they would lower the steep cost of their food. The fact that people were claiming that Hana Zen’s food is quite expensive for their own good aroused my curiosity even more, and I had to try the restaurant myself. My dinner by the bay experience was definitely more expensive than the usual diner meal, but I fully expected that. I was paying for food of top notch quality, breathtaking scenery, and professional yet friendly service. What else could I ask for?

For those who want Japanese food for less, Hana Zen is not for you. But then, you couldn’t really say you had a noteworthy Japanese dining experience, could you?