Hanami II

A) the giant roll is absoluetly delicious!
B) the smoked salmon sushimi is a touch salty.
Overall the food is okay but not splended. The décor is lovely. Modern and clean.

Hanami is the only place in town to satisfy your Sushi itch. Hanami I in Clinton or Hanami II in Branford, take your pick, they’re both great. Fish is ALWAYS fresh unlike the other sushi joints in town. Likewise, presentation and staff friendliness is unmatched. Be sure to hit this spot if you’re a sushi lover, you won’t be disappointed!

Real friendly staff and high quality sushi, plus some good cooked items. I like the Seafood Udon and the seaweed salad, and the sushi variety is nice. Great for takeout also.

Usually hit clinton but headed to movies in north haven. Had sushi and was good. Service was just ok. Waitresses hanging by sushi bar talking to chefs and had to ask them twice to come over and order something.

Yum. Fresh, clean, and… yum. I need to go here more often! I can’t afford much sushi right now, but I prefer here. We went not too long ago for a date night, and the drinks were so beautiful and the sushi fresh and delicious. I will have to try the all-​you-​can eat. We sat at the sushi bar, and there were only a few other people there (about 10 pm).

Best sushi we’ve had on shoreline. Friendly staff too. I always order chirashi. They are terrific about food allergies.

Although we have ordered from this restaurant in the past with acceptable but not outstanding quality Japanese food, a take out order today hit a new low. Two items were missing and the food received was barely edible.

Just went for Father’s Day. On Sunday they have all-​you –can-​eat sushi. Most Sundays opening is at 3:30. My youngest doesn’t like sushi but likes their soup and noodles.
1.Greeted long distance from across the room by waitress. Told us to come to a table from a across the room?!
2. Rules Rules and more rules — They give you two sheets for the entire table (Don’t explain anything to you you are just supposed to know) From there you pick what you want to have for the rest of the dinner. You have to cross reference the rolls on the menu if they give you one (waitresses don’t really like to do much for you) YOU MUST NOT WASTE FOOD (on the menu). Everyone must either do menu or all-​you can eat — no exceptions (unless you complain)
3. Service is lousy and they tack on 18% whether you like it or not
4. They skimp on the portions (Got 7) yes 7 pieces of calamari for the appetizer
You are left to feel like they are cheap and not service oriented.
The food is good but not stellar. The fish is fresh so hopefully they are not cheaping out on that. We like the one in Clinton, but even there the waitresses are poor. AT least there you can give them the appropriate tip for the service.
Both Hanamis have the worst service!!! These waitresses would not make it in a regular restaurant. You need to be nice and actually care about customers. They are supposed to serve… but they don’t very well at all

Everything is phenomenal. This beats nine east by a long shot. Even NYC should be worried.

Hanami is… fine.
For their prices, ambiance, and location, the place should be better. There’s much tastier sushi on the shoreline for less money (try Wasabi in North Branford). Granted, I ordered Hanami’s takeout, but I don’t think it would matter.
Their Philly Rolls are nothing special. The cream cheese is overpowering and the salmon less than fresh. Their California Rolls are average, and the crunchy tempura they use for the New Haven Roll seems like astronaut food.
If you want a more enjoyable sushi experience, go elsewhere. You’re better off.

I visited this restaurant with my family while passing through the area. As a family that loves to try Asian food everywhere we go, we were not impressed at all by the food here. Some of the specialty rolls were interesting, but nothing blew our minds. The teriyaki style meals were very average and we all agreed the sauce was overly sweet. I’ve definitely had better elsewhere.

Never a let down. My go to place in Branford– prefer it over all the others. I like the interior, food is good, service as well.
I saw no one had had left a review in a while, so I thought I’d let you know Hanami hasn’t fallen off and that it’s worth your money.

Excellent sushi, saki and service. I’d recommend this restaurant to any one. Very friendly service.
2^nd time here!

I really wanted to like this place as I’ve heard good things. Décor was nice but strange — side alcove had chairs stacked up and it was just kind of odd.
We ordered calamari, gyoza, miso, various rolls, pieces& sake. Our waitress had a real challenge with English so was unable to tell us much about the specials. She did not write down our order and our gyozas never happened as a result.
Calamari. Good but a lot of oily residue. Panko crusted not batter.
Sushi rolls: new haven, California & tempura roll were ok but tempura roll had a strange burnt taste and would have benefitted from a bit of cucumber.
Sushi dinner was ok but nothing better than what we’ve had elsewhere in new haven county. There was no explanation of what pieces you would get and the waitress could not articulate what we received.
Will we return? Unsure but probably not.
Not bad but not great.

We decided to go here for my boyfriend’s birthday on a whim, as we had to find something close to where we live in East Haven.
We were pleasantly surprised — the inside décor was wonderful, service was fast, and the food was excellent. I ordered a dinner Bento box with Shrimp Teriyaki and it was excellent for the price. All of my favorite things –shrimp tempura, shumai, egg roll, California roll … all included. Fresh and tasty, too.
He was extremely happy with his meal as well (wish I could remember exactly what it was)! but we would definitely recommend this place. I am looking forward to going back and trying the Bento box with sushi or sashimi.
The only reason I am not giving it five stars is because the service was a little gruff. We were with our month old son in his carrier, and he did not make a sound the entire dinner. (We were completely prepared to get food to go or to soothe him if need be). I am not sure if this was the reason that the service seemed so impersonal, but I just can’t give it 5 stars for that. Otherwise, great experience!

This would have been a 4 star if it wasn’t for the mean little waitresses. My waitress’ attitude changed from indifferent to annoyed when I asked to substitute the miso soup and salad for a seaweed salad. You’d thought I asked to change the chef. After I assured her I would pay any difference, she reluctantly obliged my request and moved on. Although she didn’t smile once during the service.
The sushi chef was really nice. He gave us some complimentary tempura white fish (probably striped bass) with a great balsamic sauce. The sashimi lunch was a very generous portion. Especially on the lunch special menu.
The inside was very elegant and clean. Maybe a little too nice if you have wild kids :)
On the fence whether to go back or not but if you get a nice waitress, you should love it.

Always good.
I was born and raised in Japan, and the fish measures up as well as anything in the area. I stick to the classics, however, so I can’t speak to the weird American roll combinations. Tuna, yellowtail, salmon, shrimp, eel, and other «plain» rolls and sushi were very good. Portions were generous, and service was prompt.
Sauce on the eel was overly sweet and dark, but the fish itself was excellent.
Yellowtail belly (on special) was outstanding!

Exceptional service and super fresh sushi are the hallmarks of this under appreciated restaurant. Weekly specials keep even the regulars from getting bored! Truly the freshest ingredients in the area, and as any sushi lover will tell you, FRESH makes all the difference!
Update: Unfortunately, the customer service has deteriorated in this former favorite. The two stars I’ve removed were purely for this reason. The food is still exceptional, and it’s still very clean. You rarely see anyone dining there anymore, so I’m gathering I’m not the only one experiencing this disappointing change.

I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent sushi at Hanami II. There were tons of interesting special rolls to choose from, and even some of the more basic rolls were a little unusual like the yellowtail jalapeño roll. The explosion roll was especially yum.
The service was great. The waitress was very attentive and the tea was piping hot.
The décor was more lounge than restaurant with white pleather booths and walls covered with mirrors and red lights.
Prices were average, though there are great deals available for lunch. I’m definitely looking forward to going back.

FREE DRINKS.
LET ME REPEAT: FREE DRINKS.
Free Sapporo, Kirin, Sam Seasonal, sake, plum wine, red wine, white wine, unlimited. For a limited time only. At least the next few months, we were told. Also, for dinner only with the purchase of food. They charge for drinks at lunch. I believe this is a promotion they’re running to attract more business as they recently opened.
Someone told us about this place last weekend and raved about the food and especially the beverages that are on the house. We decided to check it out last night for dinner to see if it was too good to be true. It wasn’t. It was for real.
We walked into an empty restaurant around 5:30, being the early birds that we were since both of us were starving. My first impression: «Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Branford anymore…» It felt like we were in an ultra modern airport lounge or something, with the white furniture, steel/​metal accents, green glowing lights. Then you look out the window and it’s Branford again. Odd but interesting.
Onto the food. The sushi-​phobic and miso soup-​hating boyfriend ordered the steak hibachi special which came with rice and sauteed veggies. There really isn’t a hibachi area, that I noticed anyway, but the chefs appear to cook it up in the area near the small sushi bar and its brought to your table. I ordered the Sushi Deluxe.
Prior to the arrival of our food a complimentary dish of sliced raw fluke was brought to our table dressed in a light gingery sauce. I enjoyed it a lot and sushi-​phobic boyfriend tolerated it as it had a very mild flavor. We appreciated the fact that it was on the house.
Boyfriend wolfed down his rather large plate of food as soon as it arrived while I gingerly and mindfully tasted each piece of sushi. There were two pieces of salmon, two tuna, a white tuna, an albacore (does that make four pieces of tuna then? I have never been great at math, despite the stereotype), cooked shrimp, yellowtail, mackerel, and fluke. The pieces of fish ranged from very fresh to average freshness.
The albacore tuna was seared, which was odd to me, and also seemed to have been spiced, perhaps to mask the lack of freshness? That was my first thought. A few other pieces of fish seemed to have spices also. As a sushi purist, I wasn’t a fan of that. The salmon, however, was excellent, buttery, and wonderful. I would have been happy eating an entire plate of it.
Between the two of us we had several Sapporos. 12oz ones for me because I drink slowly and want to keep things cold, and 16oz ones for the guy. 22oz was available as well. Lots o’ beer. None showed up on our bill — yes!
I guess they don’t have dessert or if they do it’s not customary for them to offer dessert menus at the end of the meal as they brought out our bill when we were finished with our meals and accompanying our check they gave us sliced oranges, which was a nice and refreshing touch.
The sushi is somewhere in the middle in terms of quality but the free drinks definitely elevate the star rating to what it would have been without it.
(Note: The sister restaurant and original Hanami in Clinton is not running the free drinks promotion.)