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April 7, 2001 HANA'S RESTAURANT
Food *** Pricing: dinner for two, not including tax & tip: about $85 Atmosphere There's nothing quite like an old beach house near a windswept marsh for evoking that sweet old Grand Strand nostalgia. And there's nothing quite like Hana's Restaurant north of Mount Pleasant – in fact, maybe there's nothing like Hana's anywhere. It would be hard not to love the funky East-meets-Low-Country retro sensibility that this place brings to Murrells Inlet! Aesthetically, Hana's pays homage to coastal Dixie's drowsy charm and the perfect simplicity of the Far East. With its live oaks and distant marsh view, the restaurant's exterior is enchantingly and unmistakably Low Country. Inside, it's an appealing experience of two very different cultures joined in a tender embrace. As we arrived, the wonderful kitchen fragrances blended enticingly with the clean marsh-filtered air. The sushi bar and open kitchen are strategically located in the center of the L-shaped dining area. Windows on one beige beadboard wall are hung with shades in muted colors; on another, they're draped with muslin; on still another, they're framed with pretty white shutters stenciled with dragonflies and climbing vines. The floor is slate tile; tables are set with floral squares over crisp white linen and small vases with little silk buds. Fans turn briskly from the tongue-and-groove slats of the ceiling, and track lighting throws a soft glow over each table. Antique mirrors, decorative kanji, and pressed flowers in ornate little frames provide interesting visual diversion. The enormous Italian blue glass trophy won by Hana's in the Renaissance Gala of the Beach this past January dominates a corner of the room. When we first arrived, the latest Sting CD played on the restaurant's stereo system; however, as Hana's filled up with diners, the ambient music became inaudible. The place heats up quickly, too. At the end of our leisurely meal, the air in the dining room was quite warm, and dense with smoke from the kitchen.
Food Diners at Hana's are provided with both a standard Western-style dinner menu and a long sushi menu. This means it's completely acceptable to order a spicy tuna roll with one's rack of lamb, if one so chooses. On its own, the dinner menu has enough variety to hold anyone's interest. For appetizers, we debated over the potstickers ($5.50), the pan seared Japanese scallops with corn pudding and leek butter ($7.25), and the Southern fried oysters with poblano corn salsa and applewood bacon aoli ($7.95). We finally decided to try one of the specials: our beef tataki ($10.50) was beautifully arranged on a flat blue and white square, with a fiery ponzu sauce in a little bowl and tiny green onion confetti and purple onion julienne as garnish. The beef was raw through, except for the thin seared outside layer, and we simply loved it. We also tried the tempura shrimp and vegetables ($6.50) which consisted of three large shrimp and a 'nest' of julienne vegetables, including onion, crookneck squash, and zucchini, served on a handsome earthcolored ceramic rectangle. The batter was not quite delicate enough, and the resulting "nests" of deep-fried vegetables had undercooked batter in their centers, permeated by the strong onion flavor of the oil. Before our entrées arrived, our server brought four small slices of bread with a saucer of pale green olive oil, and a plate of chilled field greens with carrots and red onion, served with a good garlic vinaigrette. The sashimi dinner ($17.95) was a treat. It consisted of thick cuts of fresh raw salmon, tuna, squid, swordfish, and snapper, cunningly arranged in a giant enameled boat with cucumber, lemon, wasabi, and preserved ginger as garnishes/condiments. We also tried the 12-oz. pecan-encrusted pork chop over winter squash with applejack butter ($19.50). Thickly encrusted with crushed pecans and served over fresh green beans with little cubes of squash, the fat chop was succulent and delightful. A few intriguing vegetarian dishes are offered at Hana's, including steamed edamame (soybean) pods ($4.75) and crisp eggplant with Gorgonzola and tomato ragout ($14.50).
Desserts The desserts alone are easily worth a trip to Hana's. Their white chocolate bread pudding ($7.00) is served on a long rectangular glass plate, and consists of a tall hill of bread, custard, and cream; a flowing design of incredible white chocolate sauce runs the length of the plate, which is garnished with fresh edible flowers. We were also pleased with the raspberry chocolate truffle tart ($5.50), a sliver of heaven made with fresh tart berries and served on an enormous glass plate. Unfortunately, Hana's offers only bitter automatic drip brew with those amazing desserts. We'd have loved some espresso, or at least good fresh coffee! Spirits From Sho Chiku Bai ginjo sake ($10.50) to an extraordinary Quintessa ($125/bottle), the wine list contains a number of esoteric gems. Medium-bodied and fresh, our Brancott Gisborne chardonnay ($5.50/glass) was enjoyable, with a subtle herbal flavor and aroma; this New Zealand import is very nice. We also tried another wine from the lands Down Under: a merlot from Wyndham Estate in Australia ($4.50/glass) with strong aromas of black cherry and oak, and a finish with soft tannins and a bit of smoke. Service The energetic and informal waitstaff at Hana's was dressed in black shirts and trousers, with long aprons striped in red and white or blue and white. Our server was courteous and knowledgeable about the dishes and spirits on the menu. He was visible every second we were in the restaurant, and though quite busy, he was quick to respond to our needs. Summary Everything we tried at Hana's was superb, with just a few exceptions. The sushi bar blends with the open kitchen and dining area quite seamlessly, but the sushi itself does not. The incredibly high quality of the dishes on the regular menu would lead one to believe that the sushi bar would follow suit. Unfortunately, while the fish was impeccably fresh, and the cuts nice and thick, some of the prepared items (the tamago, norimaki, and tempura) didn't seem to be created with the standard of love that obviously garnishes every dish produced in the other half of the kitchen. Several pieces of the sashimi were not completely cut apart, leaving us with a sense of incompleteness, that quality that some Japanese call 'toughness' when referring to sushi. Be aware that each piece of sushi on the nigiri menu is sold individually, and not in two-piece servings. The coffee could have been better, too. Otherwise, we greatly enjoyed our evening at Hana's, which offers an excitingly unique menu and some of the cleverest presentations we've encountered in our travels. The elegant ceramic, pottery, and glassware are used cleverly to show off each dish to its best advantage. While there is a clear distinction between the Eastern and Western-influenced dishes on Hana's menu, the transition is smooth and offered without pause or apology: smoked squid salad and Caesar salad; miso soup and seafood bisque; sashimi and Muscovy duck breast. Dionysian food in an Apollonian atmosphere… frenzy and tranquillity… East meets South. No matter how you choose to categorize it, an uncommon dining experience awaits you at Hana's.
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