Hanaichi Japanese restaurant @ Fort Bonifacio

Unlike other districts in Manila like Makati or Malate, there aren’t too many Japanese restaurants yet in the Bonifacio Global City. That’s why we happily tried Hanaichi at this condotel called The Luxe Residences on 28th street corner 4th Avenue.

I felt something familiar about the place the first time I stepped there. And then I remembered that this was where the short-lived Spasso Italian Wine & Tapas Bar used to be.

The sight of young Japanese women dining on the night of our visit warmed me up to the place. It establishes trust when I know, for instance, that the owner of a Japanese restaurant is also Japanese. Prices would be high, but at least am assured they won’t screw up the tonkatsu or tempura (although there really are good Filipino chefs too).

First, you’re served a complimentary appetizer. It’s rather paltry and varies each time, depending on what’s available in the kitchen. I get seasoned fish on my first visit and the blue + white earthenware is what attracts me. 🙂

Hanaichi’s menu is quite extensive. Perhaps, it really is a do-it-all kitchen. But one thing hubby and I would recommend is their ramen. Good noodles, great-tasting broth and ample servings for the price.

This bowl of tempura ramen (P340) looks bigger in real, with two large pieces of ebi tempura and two pieces of breaded vegetables. I wasn’t able to finish this (since I wasn’t so hungry!) but I relished the soup nonetheless.

The cha su ramen looked awesome. It’s soy sauce-based noodles traditionally served with five slices of roast pork. But this chasumen bowl at Hanaichi obviously has more than five slices. They sliced the pork belly more thinly and styled it like a flower.

You’ll never go wrong with vegetables and the horenso gomaae (boiled spinach with sesame sauce) was delish. I think I can finish two servings of these 🙂

The satsumaimo (sweet potato) tempura (P180) was good as well, but wasn’t really sweet as one would expect. Maybe they just used the local variety.

Hanaichi also has donburi, teppanyaki and bento meals. One time I had the Yaki Sakana set which is listed in their lunch menu. Fish + rice + miso soup + mini salad + kobachi + mini fruits. Everything else was good except the salmon which was unforgivably dry. I don’t know if the cook was in a hurry because they were closing for the night, but they could have made it more palatable with a good brush of teriyaki sauce or some other.

A drink-cum-dessert to end the meal. I love anything with azukin (red beans)!

Hanaichi Japanese Restaurant
The Luxe Residences Ground Floor
28th Street corner 4th Avenue
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
Tel. No. 556.0070

Operating hours:
Monday-Friday
11:30am-2:30pm (lunch)
5:30pm-10:30pm (dinner)

Saturday-Sunday
11:30am-10:30pm