Out for lunch with the boys

Hane is atypical of pseudo Japanese joints that dot the midtown landscape.I believe previously I had reviewed their tough grilled meat.

This time, I went and had lunch with Suanstein and Dave at the restaurant. Suanstein actually was willing to eat outside his cubicle!!! Amazing.

Service was fast and friendly. As usual, the tables were pretty much squashed together so be forewarned. However, they were big enough to have room to eat...which most places do not bother with.

The bento lunch specials come with miso soup and shumai If you got the regular bento special - it comes with soup and salad.

The miso was very very bland - like water...and not clean water at that. I didn't bother with a picture because it was just watery, with bits of seaweed and tofu floating in its murkiness.

The salad was typical green lettuce...with ginger dressing over it. Nothing special.

Now...the shumai. Suanstein was right. It tasted just like some pre-frozen stuff from the supermarket aisle, reheated to a tepid warmness and prettily arranged for your visual pleasure. It came with six, generous serving size, but rather tasteless.

Shumai

Suanstein ordered a teriyaki box so I didn't take photos but Dave ordered this beautiful row of lobster tartar, cooked lobster with wasabi aioli sauce. It tasted decent to me but I do prefer a good lobster - whole or chopped as opposed to this.

Lobster Tartar

I went with fried chicken. Basic, and yet, it was very tasty. And I lied - there is the teriyaki bento special in the back with rice. Salmon teriyaki - a basic dish in these restaurants but I hear that this place makes a decent salmon - not crazy fishy tasting.

Teriyaki in the background! My bad! I did get a shot!

Here is the fried chicken, with shredded seaweed. Pretty presentation, I must say but the chicken was very tasty. There was no rice but you do not need it with all the shumai!

Fried Chicken, Yum!

Hane is decently priced for the area but nothing special. As always, I prefer sushi/sashimi in an authentic Japanese joint and that means going further away from work, which is why we always end up at these type of places!



Hane Sushi
581 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10016
tel: 212.682.8388
Hours: Still I haven't remembered to find it.