Its another Sunday and another adventure with The Club. What was supposed to be all planned Wingman and Wabi-Sabi food trip turn out to be a panic after we discovered they were closed on Sundays. So all of us went into a panic on where to move it, BetweenBites finally suggested, called and made reservations at Kagura in Little Tokyo but the table they gave us was outdoors and it was lunchtime.
We got there early so we looked at Hana and found empty tables inside, enveloped a little by aircon but still not cool enough but still better than sitting outside.The place was quite small and our group filled up around half of the place.
Hana is popular for their Takoyaki (octupus ball), so we had two orders of six pieces each (P120 for 6 pieces) to start while waiting for the others to arrive. The balls were crispy outside and the batter was chewy inside with lots of katsuboshi (fish shavings) on top. Ponzu/mayo sauce could have been more generous but this is by far the best takoyaki I’ve had in Manila.
Since its possible to order from different restos in Little Tokyo, we ordered one Okonomiyaki with pork, squid and shrimp (P310). It was served on a hot skillet and was large enough to share among 2 or 3 people. I’ve been trying for ages to come to try this after reading about it. I love cabbage and there’s certainly alot of it in this savory Japanese pancake.
Browsing thru the menu, we decided we wanted to order one more dish to share since we had the Okonomiyaki but knew we wanted noodles. Wary of eating ramen except for Ukokkei and Ramen Bar, we chanced upon Yakisoba (P200), which Irene and I shared. It was above our expectations, the noodles were very flavorful without being oily like other places’ versions. Abundant katsuboshi adorned the top of the noodles giving a playful character as the shavings danced with the heat. The vegetables mixed very well with the noodles and gave a nice crunchy texture.
We were quite surprised when Peter and Ro picked up the check to celebrate their birthdays along with Keira’s for a triple October celebration. All of our orders were excellent and we’ll be happy to go back for more Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki.
Hana Restaurant
Little Tokyo Compound
Don Chino Roces Ave., Makati City
339.3855
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Madz,
yes, there is a definite taste difference in Hana’s takoyaki, the inside is soft and chewy, and I don’t think there’s any veggies inside and it has “tako”(octopus) inside.