If you live in Surrey, or know people who live in Surrey, then you probably have heard what a great Japanese restaurant Hanako is. I admit, I’m a Vancouver downtown type of girl, but I’ve fallen in love with Hanako. With love comes commitment – I’m committed to driving out to Surrey (a long drive for ET and me) just to go to Hanako.

The food at Hanako is amazing. The sashimi is fresh and top quality. Prices are not cheap but still in the reasonable range (~$60 for ET and I). I highly recommend all Japanese food fans try out this restaurant, even if you have to drive for a bit to get there.

On a recent visit with some friends, we had the following:

A crab salad with crab (of course!), tomatoes, radicchio and vinegarette. This is my friend’s favourite and she has all the reasons to like this dish. It’s a pretty and very tasty dish.

UNI! This could easily be the best Uni sashimi I’ve had so far. The Uni tasted so fresh that as it melted in my mouth, I can smell and taste the ocean.

I wanted to get Toro sashimi but it was all sold out. Waaaaaaaaah! :”’( That was a big disappointment because I know this restaurant has very good Toro. We order Hamachi and Salmon instead and they were a good consolation.

Various rolls – all up to standard.

The spider roll was up to standard. There was an adequate portion of crab in the roll and the crab stayed crunchy.

Deep fried soft shell crab. This dish was only so so. I have had better soft shell crab at other Japanese restaurants. It’s all in the fying – the batter has to be light and yet crispy.

Like the soft shell crab, again, the tempura could be improved. The batter was a little too heavy. I guess this restaurant is not the best at fried dishes.

This is Ankimo, which is Monkfish liver and also known as “foie gras of the sea”. As the description suggests, Ankimo is soft, lightly sweet and slightly buttery. I think comparing this with foie gras might be unfair, as Ankimo doesn’t exactly has the rich buttery taste of foie. However, it was still a rich dish.

Finally, agedashi tofu. Strangely enough, this was cooked perfectly. A perfect warm ending to a cool meal.