Dinner with the gang again and we (when I said we I mean Mr Burberry) felt like Japanese. He chose Hako for a Saturday dinner and of course Melbourne was pouring down raining. We got inside it was actually quite cosy. It felt really modern and fun inside.

Kitchen

Bar

There was a set menu for $80 and we thought “hrm, we’ll just pick whatever we want”. Anywho, after much deliberation (Mr Burberry just picked everything) and hunger pains kicking in, we ordered!!! I got the rice cracker green tea and it came in such a cutie patootie teapot. The tea was lovely and tasted like…you guessed it, RICE CRACKERS!!

Rice Cracker Green Tea – $4

First up, prawn tempura. I’m not a fan of tempura usually since it’s really oily for me but this was very good. It didn’t feel that oily, very light and the dipping sauce was the perfect balance.

Prawn Tempura – $18.50 (3pc)
Prawn tempura wrapped in crispy thin pastry served with warm ginger dashi sauce

To feel healthy we decided to get the Japanese warm salad with shitake and oyster mushrooms with a light soy onion dressing. The mushrooms were amazing, cooked perfectly soft and the dressing was AMAZEBALL!! Recommended salad dish.

Japanese Style Warm Salad – $17
Japanese style warm salad with shitake and oyster mushrooms served with green beans with light soy onion dressing

 Since we were at a Japanese eatery, gotta have the sashimi! The variety of fish was quite fish and I was quite impressed (I can’t have tooooo much raw food or ma belly goes bubbly). If you’re not into the spicy/hot wasabi, don’t make the same mistake and get your sashimi that’s touched a bit of the wasabi (don’t worry, gots tea!).

Sashimi – $41 (16 pc)

Cute Soy Sauce Bottle

The gang of course LOVEESSSS pork belly so guess what we had next?? ICE CREAM! NOT! Braised pork belly with ginger broth and tofu (nooooo….not tofu!). The pork belly was tender but the broth I found was a bit bland though. The others enjoyed the tofu though.

Braised Pork Belly – $21
Slowly braised pork belly with thick ginger dashi broth

DUMPLINGS??? YES PLEASE!! We got the pan fried pork and cabbage dumplings and it wasn’t too bad! YUMMY!

Pan Fried Pork & Cabbage – $13 (6pc)

Next was beef ribs and this wasn’t really good. It didn’t come out on a bone (WHAT THE???!!) and it wasn’t tender AT ALL!

Slow Cooked Beef Ribs – $29
Slow cooked beef ribs with daikon, carrots & onions in a caramelised sweet soy peppercorn sauce

The next dish was REALLY GOOD! It was the wagyu beef tataki with sliced pear AND IT WAS AMAZEBALL!! A recommended dish YO!

Wagyu Beef Tataki – $19.50
Wagyu beef tataki served with thinly sliced nashi pear and cucumber in goma oil and light sweet garlic soy dressing

 

The crispy chicken thigh fillets were soooooo GOOD as well! The chicken was so tender and the sauce was DELICIOUS!

Pan Fried Crispy Chicken Thigh Fillets – $22

We still weren’t full so we decided to get CARBS (BULKING!!)! We got the Japanese rice mix with veggies and mushrooms. This wasn’t really good. It was really dense, soggy and flavourless…what a shame.

Japanese style rice mix with vegetables & mushrooms – $12.50

Finally, it was DESSERT TIME!! I got the chocolate pudding and it we were told it would be a 25 minutes wait (yes they tell you that on the menu!!). When it came out it was in a real cute saucepan and was SUPER HAWT!! It wasn’t too chocolatey so it didn’t make me feel sick and the honey vanilla ice cream WAS THE BOMB!

hot chocolate pudding served with honey vanilla ice cream and berries – $13

One of the girls got the thin brick layered pastry with white chocolate mousse and I didn’t particularly like it. It didn’t tickle my fancy. I preferred my chocolate pudding better.

Layers of crispy thin brick pastry with berries & white chocolate mousse – $13

Overall, there were some good dishes but nothing I would rush back for. Be warned though, portions are VERY SMALL and you’ll need to double whatever you’re ordering to get full.

310 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tel: (03) 9620 1881
Website: www.hako.com.au