Poor little food blog, I promise I didn't mean to neglect you all week! I've just been so busy and not eating anywhere exciting or new, not to mention my home cooking attempts are not much to blog about yet.
So Brad and I decided to remedy this last night and make this little blog a little happier!
Since we were meeting with his friends at Robot bar, he suggested finding something around the area. After tossing up between The Deanery and Hako, I settled for the latter.
Hako is on Flinders Lane, tucked away right next to Bligh Place and although it is a rather decent sized space, it's rather discreet and still somehow hidden from the outside.
Stepping in to Hako took you into an almost warehouse space, lovely high ceilings and simple minimalist decor. Kinda zen-like when I think about, quite appropriate, but still romantic and atmospheric with the slight dimmed lights and tea candles scattered across the tables.
Hi Brad!
As soon as we got the drink menus, I pretty much asked straight away for Umeshu, plum wine. It's been absolutely ages since I've enjoyed this drink, at Hako, they popped in a wedge of orange which made the drink sweet and quite refreshing.
In good Asian style, we got a couple of dishes to share:
The nasudengaku, deep fried eggplant with miso paste, is something I almost always jump on if I see it on a menu in a Japanese restaurant. Or well, I'll jump onto almost anything eggplant really.... but this was done so well! Generous with the miso paste, which when scraped out with the eggplant just became a soft melting, delicious mass.
Nabeyaki udon, which came with egg, tempura and chicken. The noodles and soup were fantastic, although I'm not particularly well-versed in udon, but I appreciated the springy texture of the noodles, not at all soggy. The tempura sweet potato was also delicious, however it took us quite a while to find the two pieces of chicken hiding somewhere at the bottom of the bowl. I think a little more chicken wouldn't have hurt too much!
And to finish off, since the two of us are quite big sushi fans, we had to (or at least I did) try the Moriawase set, a sushi and sashimi combination. I do highly recommend this so that you can try a bit of everything, although it is a little bit pricey, it is really quite worth it! You get a plate of sashimi, sushi and a hand roll as well.
I think it's been way too long since I indulged in some really good sashimi or sushi, since whilst $2.50 hand rolls are great, it's not quite the same.
The tuna and salmon sushi and sashimi were just to die for, the texture was so smooth and the flavour soooo rich! I kind of wish I had asked what the other fish was, I had completely forgotten to! The ebi (prawn) sushi was also particularly sweet.
Overall, Hako is a really lovely dining experience. It's not pretentious, it's very 'Melbourne', with good food and good service. I love Japanese places with Japanese waitresses, the one who explained to us the specials was so sweet and attentive, although then I begin to lament that I didn't keep up my Japanese skills after I left high school....sighsigh.
I plan to possibly drag David here for lunch soon to compare the experience!
So Brad and I decided to remedy this last night and make this little blog a little happier!
Since we were meeting with his friends at Robot bar, he suggested finding something around the area. After tossing up between The Deanery and Hako, I settled for the latter.
Hako is on Flinders Lane, tucked away right next to Bligh Place and although it is a rather decent sized space, it's rather discreet and still somehow hidden from the outside.
Stepping in to Hako took you into an almost warehouse space, lovely high ceilings and simple minimalist decor. Kinda zen-like when I think about, quite appropriate, but still romantic and atmospheric with the slight dimmed lights and tea candles scattered across the tables.
Hi Brad!
As soon as we got the drink menus, I pretty much asked straight away for Umeshu, plum wine. It's been absolutely ages since I've enjoyed this drink, at Hako, they popped in a wedge of orange which made the drink sweet and quite refreshing.
In good Asian style, we got a couple of dishes to share:
The nasudengaku, deep fried eggplant with miso paste, is something I almost always jump on if I see it on a menu in a Japanese restaurant. Or well, I'll jump onto almost anything eggplant really.... but this was done so well! Generous with the miso paste, which when scraped out with the eggplant just became a soft melting, delicious mass.
Nabeyaki udon, which came with egg, tempura and chicken. The noodles and soup were fantastic, although I'm not particularly well-versed in udon, but I appreciated the springy texture of the noodles, not at all soggy. The tempura sweet potato was also delicious, however it took us quite a while to find the two pieces of chicken hiding somewhere at the bottom of the bowl. I think a little more chicken wouldn't have hurt too much!
And to finish off, since the two of us are quite big sushi fans, we had to (or at least I did) try the Moriawase set, a sushi and sashimi combination. I do highly recommend this so that you can try a bit of everything, although it is a little bit pricey, it is really quite worth it! You get a plate of sashimi, sushi and a hand roll as well.
I think it's been way too long since I indulged in some really good sashimi or sushi, since whilst $2.50 hand rolls are great, it's not quite the same.
The tuna and salmon sushi and sashimi were just to die for, the texture was so smooth and the flavour soooo rich! I kind of wish I had asked what the other fish was, I had completely forgotten to! The ebi (prawn) sushi was also particularly sweet.
Overall, Hako is a really lovely dining experience. It's not pretentious, it's very 'Melbourne', with good food and good service. I love Japanese places with Japanese waitresses, the one who explained to us the specials was so sweet and attentive, although then I begin to lament that I didn't keep up my Japanese skills after I left high school....sighsigh.
I plan to possibly drag David here for lunch soon to compare the experience!
310 Flinders Lane
Melbourne
9620 1881
Melbourne
9620 1881
Posts
I like your photos and Hako is right near my work, so will head there soon. Can't believe I've missed it.
ReplyDeleteJetsetting Joyce
I had the pleasure of visiting Hako about 12 months back. Your photos brought back memories of a really nice experience. Thank you!
ReplyDeletethe place looks really excellent, and the food oh my god, better better, I would like to go to this place
ReplyDeleteas soon as possible, it looks really amazing...thanks for this post and the recommendations..