| Nice, bright Sushi Boat restaurant with a nice selection of cheap rolls |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 6/28/2005
Rating: 8
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One of our users said Hanamaru was one of her favorite spots and I cant blame her. Located in Sunnyvale, this sushi boat has quite the selection of specialty rolls at great prices. I havent seen this many rolls since Arikato.
Im not too big of a fan of sushi boats anymore as Ive grown accustomed to ordering Nigiri or sashimi. It doesnt mean I dont enjoy tempura rolls or anything but getting a really fresh cut of fish just hits the spot. Since prices were relatively cheap, we were going to order an enormous amount of food and feast like pigs
tempura bento box - this box lunch should be enough food for the average person. Comes with rice, salad, 4 maki pieces, 2 tempura shrimp, and an assortment of veggies. Its good stuff, good price for what you get
hamachi with green onions - I have mixed feelings on this, fish tasted ok but the texture of the fish was too mashed up in a blender. I like my fish pieces a little larger (Picture #12).
Forgot the name - tempura shrimp, spicy tuna, green leaf. The roll was ok and a little sloppy on the form. 3 of the pieces were falling apart. I wasnt a fan of the green leaf and would have favored cucumbers or avocados. Good amount of shrimp.
Blue Fin Toro - check out picture #6. This thing was melting on the serving board. Gistenling oil, beautiful marbling, nearly breaking apart when I lifted it to my mouth. One bite...juicy and good indeed but the unfortunate part was the chewing. For a Toro roll, it was chewy and from my past experiences with Toro, it should melt in your mouth with little mouth work.
I hope i dont sound like Im complaining too much but I did enjoy my lunch. I would visit Hanamaru anytime for lunch as the value is that good. The fish for todays visit wasnt the absolute best but its much better than a lot of the more expensive sushi places out there. A $6.95 Blue Fin Toro is a hard item to beat.
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RETURN VISIT for Jason! 5/31/2007 - 7 Rating: Place was super busy today and had to sit at the sushi bar. Waitress took forever to place our orders, the sushi boats were nearly empty, heard people complaining about the long waits, one couple left, it was ridiculous. By the time we got our bento boxes, I just wanted to get out. The food was good and cheap but today's service was a disaster. They needed to have 1 more sushi chef behind the counter and another waitress. I've been here 4 times and this terrible service is out of the ordinary for Hanamaru. I'll give them another try just because I like their food. |
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 6/28/2005
Rating: 8.5
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Hanamaru was a wishlist request that pointed us to try out the rolls particularly.
We get there and the place is quite clean inside. Promising. A lot of handwritten pages on the wall tell of all of the specials. Reminded me a bit of the sushi boat at Miyake. The friendly sushi chefs greeted us as well.
I went with the Salmon Teriyaki bento box, the Santa Cruz rolls, California Rolls, and Local Girl Rolls.
Salmon Teriyaki- quite solid. Probably among the best I have had. It was very fresh and flavorful. Not dry at all. The teriyaki sauce poured over it was also quite tasty. I even ate the drenched lettuce that accompanied the salmon.
The Santa Cruz rolls were a bit off for me. The green eggs on the outside just didn't suit me, but the scallops and prawns inside were top-notch and was a great combination.
The California Rolls were large and full of crab and mayonnaise. The combination, while good, was not among the best I have had, but probably about average or above average slightly for a california roll.
The Local Girl was my favorite. Spicy (the roll with the red sauce on top is the Local Girl). It sounds kind of silly, but the spiciness mixed with the prawns and vegetables really sold me on it and made it my favorite.
And we're not getting to the prices yet. The rolls weren't large like Sushi Coast, but the prices were not far off. It was a great deal and I ate to the point of bursting (much like an experience at Sushi Coast, Arikato, or Miyake). And at the end of the meal, I wasn't broke. Great job Hanamaru.
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Reviewer: Grace
Total Reviews: 42
Reviewed: 11/3/2005
Rating: 8
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This is my friends' favorite sushi spot and he brought me to eat here last year. I read the review and I remembered that I liked the place, but I didn't remember why so I went and checked it out on Tuesday.
They have a really good selection of rolls, with the standard ingredients. They get creative with many of their sushi rolls, but they don't do anything that's considered 'out of the box'. I really like their sashimi carpaccio with the 'extreme good sauce' which tasted like soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and vinegar. It tasted really good though, as simple the combination.
I had a few things off the sushi boat, and I ordered an I love you roll, and a Philly roll, which caused some confusion. In my experience, a Philadelphia roll usually consists of salmon, cream cheese, and avocado. Sometimes they used smoked salmon, but usually fresh. A New York roll is more undefined, but usually some combination of the these popular combinations:
Smoked salmon and avocado
Crab salad, cucumber, tobiko
Smoked salmon, cream cheese, apple
Cooked salmon, mayonnaise, apple
Smoked salmon, cream cheese, scallions
Crab, tuna, cream cheese
Shrimp and avocado
Anyways, at Hanamaru their philadelphia roll was salmon, cream cheese, and asparagus, while their new york roll was salmon, cream cheese, and avocado. I didn't see the New York roll on the menu as I usually don't order it, so I was asking for a philadelphia with avocado instead of asparagus, and I think I really confused the sushi chefs as the one I made the request to, called over the other chef and I had to repeat my request again. They both had these 'HUH?' expressions on their faces when I was trying to describe what I wanted. I was watching them make my rolls and I saw asparagus being put on, and I had to remind the chef to do the switch. Later on, I was looking at the signs on the wall and I noticed the ingredients in the deep fried New York roll, and I understood the confusion that occurred.
Anyways, other than that, the food was really good. My only complaint was that all the rolls I had fell apart on the sides. It might be caused by the ample amount of filling they put into the rolls, or maybe they don't use any water when they press the rolls together. Every roll that I picked up with my chopsticks had the side fall open, and sometimes the ingredients in the roll would fall out as a result. It was kind of irritating as I like my sushi to stay together, but the food itself was of a good quality. The staff was very nice, although I had to ask for a water refill several times.
Overall, I enjoyed everything I had there. They don't have a lot of entrees to choose from other than bento boxes, and teriyaki. I think they could expand on their cooked food, and incorporate some more creative rolls, as well as working on keeping those rolls together. I had rolls made by both sushi chefs, and all of them had sides that weren't properly closed. However the portions are big, and the prices are good. I would love to go back again, once I figure out how I drove over there in the first place.
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Reviewer: jsatre
Total Reviews: 75
Reviewed: 6/28/2006
Rating: 8
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Sorry - I'm not a fish fan. I know, I know... This is a BENTO BOX girl.
I called in a take-out order of 2 bento boxes. Mine consisted of Beef Teriyaki, Tempura and Gyoza. At $7.95 this is a fantastic deal. Most Bentos' run more like $10
The lady who took my order said 15 minutes, but that was a little optimistic. No problem, I visited Fuji Bakery 2 doors down in the meantime. Five minutes later and my food was ready to go. $17 something for 2.
Inside was a healthy portion of tempura and I am impressed that after a 10 minute car ride, they are still hot and crisp. Warm dipping sauce was in a separate container. Broccoli, Squash, Zuchinni, and 1 large shrimp (I gave it away).
The Gyoza were still warm and lightly pan fried. Nice crispy exterior gave way to a warm moist interior of pork, vegetables and ginger. Certainly above average and they looked handmade. I received 3 medium sized Gyoza in my box.
Salad was pretty good but I like more ginger in my dressing. It did have sesame seeds, a 1/2 slice of lemon, cucumber, and tomato on top of a bed of iceberg/spring mix. A nice unexpected hint of lemon was in this dressing.
My beef however was a little chewy. This is definitely sirloin and could have use more marinating to tenderize it. The teriyaki sauce was very good, in fact I dumped my rice in. Rice came along in a separate hotdog foam container. more rice than I could finish.
I did hear 'it was very good' about the teriyaki chicken. I'll order that next time.
Overall for the value, Hanamaru delivers. Friendly and fast service for take-out. I will certainly return every so often when the craving for Japanese hits. |
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 12/30/2005
Rating: 8.5
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Decided to mix things up and eat out as much as possible before the end of the year. Wanted to try the various sushi spots in the bay area as this afternoon I had Sushi Tomi and this evening I had a list of 4 Japanese restaurants to choose from. I scanned over the reviews with my friend and we finally settled on Hanamaru. She was skeptical at first as she rather sticks with the Japanese restaurants she knows and already trusts. Her biggest concern was the freshness and quality of the sashimi.
We arrive around 5:30 and there are several patrons around the sushi boat and some seated at the tables. We decided to go with the tables as the rolls on the sushi boat did not look plentiful for us. After scanning through the menu, the prices here are decent as majority of the rolls are 3.25 and they have a nice dinner bento selection under 10.00 that would typically cost well over 12.00 at most places.
We both decided on an order of the NY Rolls (tuna, avocado, cream cheese) and Fried Unagi (seaweed wrapped unagi with fried bits of tempura pieces, cucumber and rice). I wanted to get some Toro but the price on the menu said seasonal and to me thats usually pricey but after we ordered I noticed the price of Toro on the chalk board as being 3.25 for 2 pieces and Blue Fin Toro was 7.95. We also went with the bento box 1 which consisted of choice of beef or chicken teriyaki, salmon teriyaki, and tempura.
Our salad and soups came out first along with our water. The salad was OK for me as the dressing pretty much was watered down to the bottom, although the dressing did taste pretty good. The soup was much better tasting with seaweed pieces and bits of tofu but still standard. My friend ate all her salad as she kept commenting on the dressing as being one of the best but the soup was just OK for her, nothing special as she put it.
While waiting for our food to arrive I observed the scenery and noticed the sushi chefs behind the counter were much more younger and hip than compared to the sushi chefs at Sushi Tomi. The sushi makers at Sushi Tomi was an older generation where as the sushi makers here were younger and had a hip attitude to them, greeting customers and striking up conversations.
After a short wait our sushi came out. The Unagi had 5 pieces and the NY rolls had 6 pieces. The NY rolls were great. Large chunks of tuna sashimi with cream cheese and avocado and just the right amount of rice. If anything I was able to taste the tuna sashimi more so than any other ingredients. The Unagi was hard to grasp as the seaweed did not do a good job of wrapping everything together. There was a touch of rice in each with cold unagi and warm bits of tempura specs. I loved the crunchy and softness of the roll but the rolls fell apart much too easily.
Our bento boxes arrived shortly while we were working on our rolls. This bento box was loaded. Even though it was under 10.00 and we had a lot of selections we still received a lot of portions. Two shrimp tempuras along with some veggie tempuras, the salmon teriyaki was perfect as it was not over cooked. The beef was almost perfect as it was not rubbery and was easy to bite into without much effort. I loved how they drenched the beef with teriyaki sauce to provide plenty of flavors with every bite. The tempura was crunchy and served direct from the deep fryer so it was very hot initially.
Final bill was $35 for two people. For the amount of food we got I considered this a bargain. I would defiantly come back here but I did have a few complaints with the service.
1. The water for the people who ate at the tables was not refilled while someone went around to each person refilling waters at the sushi boat bar.
2. No one bothered to remove our empty sushi stand, soups bowls, and salad bowls when the bento boxes were served. This left us with limited room to navigate. They waited till everything was done at the end.
3. The rice is served in the bento boxes rather than a separate rice bowl. Its difficult to eat rice out of a bento box with chopsticks. Plus theres never enough rice at Japanese restaurants, but thats a strike for all Japanese restaurants.
Pluses: Good value, great prices, authentic taste. Accepts Visa and MC. Plenty of parking.
Minuses: Hit and miss service in some areas.
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Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 84
Reviewed: 5/1/2007
Rating: 7
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The interior is nice but not too formal. Handwritten signs behind the chefs give it a homey feel. Kind of nice compared to the spotless, urban feel of some sushi places. I ordered the teriyaki combination lunch with cal roll and tempura veggies. The food was very good, but the portions were kind of small. Chicken had a lot of skin which I peeled off several pieces. $10 total, slightly above normal. Rated 8.0 so far. Made a note to try the sushi next time.
On my next visit, the restaurant was very busy. I was by myself, so I sat at the sushi bar and ordered a crunchy roll (excellent) and some nigiri sushi (all good). The waitress quickly takes my order, but the wait for my food is kind of long. Even my miso soup, which should've come out right away, takes at ten minutes. By the time my food all arrives, the sushi bar has cleared out quite a bit and there is a lot of space. Then three guys walked in, and the waitress decides to squeeze them in to the three spots between me and the wall (even though there are now 10 free spots on the other side of me). What's up with that?? Suddenly it's too cramped to read my paper and I end up sliding over to an open spot. Then my sushi and soup finally arrive, and the waitress takes this moment to tell me that they are out of some of the nigiri items I ordered. Why couldn't she have told me this 15 minutes ago? So I tell her I want to get something else, and I start scanning the menu as I eat. She says OK, but then never returns (I see her serving people on the other side of the room and can never catch her eye). I finish my food and my patience wears out, so I finally just grab a plate off one of the sushi boats, even though I really wanted to order something I found on the menu. I finally snagged the bill from a different waitress who wandered by. The sushi I got was very good, but I am so annoyed with the abominable service that I'm not sure if I will return. Full Point loss. |
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