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?
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