Hana Zen
O'Farrell/Cyril Magnin
421-2101
| posthoc's Late Night Restaurant Guide |
With a little imagination, one could easily imagine being in downtown Osaka or Tokyo when dining in the ultra-modern Hana Zen. At the corner of Cyril Magnin and O'Farrell, more Union Square than Tenderloin, we entered through the glass doors and started up some steps where we were promptly greeted by heavy make-up wearing hostesses who are like advertisements for grooming and glee and tooth paste. We immediately followed behind one of the hostesses to a window-side table, safely overlooking the buzzing taxis and stumbling winos.
Sleek, sharp angles dominate the interior of the place and the diffused lighting is pleasant. On the way to our table we had passed the partially exposed kitchen, the counter of which is aligned with tasty looking Japanese beers and behind which two or three somehow clean cooks assemble the fare, whispering to each other about, I imagined, culinary expediency.
The menu includes the standard Japanese fare, including Yakkatori and Sushi, as well as a diverse range of choices of appetizers or samplers. The latter includes chicken stuffed mushrooms (these go great with a Kirin draft), several eel concoctions, other unique fish and meat creations, salad dishes, soups and noodles. Overall there must be seventy of these samplers to choose from and the four or five I had were reasonably priced and quite tasty.
For dessert, we boldly tried the fried ice cream, which proved a good choice.
Other desert items looked interesting and, like most things Japanese, well balanced.
Hana Zen, O'Farrell/Cyril Magnin, San Francisco. 421-2101. Lunch 11:30-2:00. Dinner 5:00-10:30 (Open until 11:00 on weekends). Parking: Ha. Reservations: Most likely not necessary (sorry highbrows). Price: Moderate. Final Verdict: Cool place, worth it.
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