Hanazen by Yukuse Takada is a brand new idea opened on the twelfth of March 2023 in Chijmes. The restaurant was based by Chef Yusuke Takada who is thought for the 2-Michelin starred La Cime in Osaka. While La Cime is a French brasserie, Hanazen takes on a special method. In Hanazen, the kitchen is helmed by Chef Karasawa, the pinnacle chef in Singapore.
Hanazen focuses on char-grilled objects for its dinner omakase, which it gives for S$250++ for 16 objects. The restaurant additionally has an alfresco house which is deliberate for serving brasserie-style lunches sooner or later.
The char-grilled dishes at Hanazen are ready with French touches. This signifies that sauces determine closely in every dish, and as a lot thought of as highlights in their very own proper. Ingredients are air-flown from Japan a number of occasions every week so objects within the omakase might change once in a while. The dishes talked about listed here are consultant of the dinner I had on the time of my go to throughout a preview a few days earlier than the restaurant formally opened.
Hanazen’s Daily Soup
The meal begins with a transparent, flavorful broth which makes use of kombu dashi and hen bones boiled for six hours. This palate cleanser adjustments day by day.
Singa-Dog
The Singa-Dog is Chef Yusuke’s native tackle his authentic Boudin Dog. This small black sphere consists of hen floss and hen liver formed right into a black battered ball. The blackness stems from edible bamboo charcoal and buah keluak sauce.
Beef and Tuna Tartlet
A tartare of uncooked Wagyu and akami is delicately commingled with guacamole in a crisp beetroot tartlet shell garnished with julienned ginger flower (myoga) and crimson amaranth leaves.
Panna Cotta, Clams and Udo / Croustillant and Nanohana (2 programs)
Two programs are mixed right here – the Panna Cotta which is offered in an attractive wood field is impressed by Singapore’s kaya toast. The delicate savory pandan flan is studded with seasonal clams which possess a pure sweetness. The second course is a layering of bread tuile and nanohana buds and topped with caviar. One is meant to crush the bread tuile on the panna cotta
Sea Fois Gras, Choucroute and Urui
Ankimo or monkfish liver, in any other case generally known as the foie gras of the ocean, is steamed with sake and cognac, served chilled in a refreshing, tangy sauerkraut-like choucroute dressing and topped with the younger inexperienced shoots of urui, a Japanese inexperienced vegetable symbolic of spring. The urui’s crisp grassy notes cleanses the palate when eaten with the wealthy, fatty ankimo.
Prawns and Chicken Tail, Porcini Sauce
Designed to be eaten in three bites, with the primary on the plump piece of Gambero Rosso prawn and the second chunk on the lobe of fatty hen tail. In the third chunk, have each the prawn and hen tail collectively. The dish comes with a creamy porcini mushroom sauce that enhances the prawn and hen tail.
Grilled Octopus, Mustard, Olive Sauce
The subsequent course is meant to be hen hearts on a skewer however as I don’t eat these, mine was changed with grilled octopus as an alternative on a skewer. I appreciated the mustard and olive sauce mixture that possessed a pesto-like high quality.
Nodoguro, Fukinoto, Miso & Grilled Turnip (2 programs)
Another 2-in-1 course, a small chunk of blackthroat seaperch is poached in a extremely umami fukinoto miso sauce and garnished with yuzu strips. Despite the relatively sturdy taste of the miso sauce, the fish doesn’t get too salty as its slippery texture repels a portion of the sauce from its floor. On each side of the fish are two greens that possess bitter notes – the fukinoto and grilled turnip.
Abalone, Mushrooms, Gyoja-Ninniku Butter
I not often get to eat abalone that doesn’t include some heavy sauce. This specific course permits one to style the pure flavors of the shellfish, with no gravy to distract.
Chicken Liver, Raisin Sauce
Creamy hen liver will get a candy/bitter dimension with the dollop of raisin sauce constituted of 3 kinds of raisins and additional sweetened with tamarind and white wine.
Chicken Wing, Konbu, Yuzu
Looking like a mere dot, a small piece of deboned wing is served with equal proportion of pores and skin and meat and calmly drizzled with furikake. It is greatest eaten instantly whereas nonetheless scorching to understand the flavour of the hen.
Lamb, Yoghurt Sauce
Baby lamb shoulder is used for this course resulting from its tender and milder profile. It comes with creamy herbed yogurt sauce on the aspect.
Chicken Skin, Spices, Gochujang
A threaded skewer of hen pores and skin is grilled low and sluggish to attain its crispiness and char, because the fattiness and collagen within the pores and skin is rendered fastidiously to retain a super texture.
Wagyu, Jus de Boeuf
The final meat dish is the A5 Wagyu ribeye. Tender and flavorful, my solely gripe was the dimensions. It was simply completed with one chunk.
Soumen, Warabi, Dashi
The carbohydrate dish is one other spotlight right here, with the somen successfully combining the wealthy umami taste of dashi with the comforting style of hen broth and garnished with coriander and the stalk of a wild Japanese fern. It is elevated with
the addition of hen oil that provides depth and richness to the dish. This was actually good and I may really feel the wealthy taste sticking to my tongue for a number of seconds even after gulping down the soup.
Kyoto Uji Matcha Ice Cream, Fermented Banana
Hanazen makes its matcha ice cream inhouse and this dessert is served alongside fermented banana ice cream. The ice cream carried the sturdy bitter taste of inexperienced tea, simply the way in which I prefer it.
Hanazen Financier
I liked the financier which was grilled completely with a crispy exterior, possessing a light perfume led to by hen oil.
Verdict
All objects at Hanazen are exquisitely ready, regardless of char-grilled dishes usually having a extra informal status. The sauces went nicely with every dish and one may see the cautious thought that went behind every sauce pairing, taking taste profiles under consideration. If I’ve any complaints about my meal right here, it could be on the dimensions of the programs – some extraordinarily tiny or mixed with different programs that I wouldn’t depend them as separate programs. Given that the worth is at S$250++ per individual, having bigger parts and extra true standalone programs might do the trick.
Hanazen
30 Victoria Street
Chimes #01-22
Singapore 187996
+65 9820 2963
Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Sunday, 6PM to 11PM
