Hana Grill

Be careful what you are asking for, because I got less than I bargained for. I thought it was going to come with some vegetables!

The food here was good; got a Rainbow roll and a cucumber roll. The roll wasn’t fully cut so when I tried to use my chopsticks it kept falling apart. That was rather annoying but overall it’s not something that would stop me from going back. Service was quick and the staff was pleasant.

This was quite possibly the worst meal ever. Husband and I tried to squeeze in something quick before our movie started. He got sushi, and I got udon with shrimp tempura. The shrimp tempura had that old oil smell to it and the udon broth was straight up soy sauce and water with about a cup of salt. It was nasty. I felt terrible to do so, but tossed it — it was unsalvageable. Husband sucked it up and had his slimy sushi combo. Our stomachs turned, turned, turned. Thank goodness, our movie was good enough to distract us!

I went to the mall with my family for some holiday shopping. My little cousin got some sushi (I’m not sure what kind, but it had shrimp on top) and my aunts and I shared some udon. They got some with green onions and the whole soup tasted like green onion. I took a few bites and just felt it my mouth. Hard to explain.
But the lukewarm soggy tempura tasted like green onion, the soup tasted like lots of green onion and the noodles a little bit too. I like green onion but it was way too much. I went to Ice n’ Cream right by the food court, ordered some pomegranate yogurt and while eating the yogurt I still felt green oniony. Never again.
And my little cousin complained that the sushi was really bad. He also got it with this popcorn shrimp stuff (I asked him if it was tempura but he said it was popcorn shrimp. idk.) and the shrimp was really really salty. Blegh.
Food courts are gross but there are still better choices than this place. Never again.

Run away as fast as you can. There are so many better options in the food court.
For $ 9, you get a small portion of meat, fried rice that just tastes like grease and salt, and soggy vegetables. I don’t even blame the people working there; the ingredients they’re working with are just low quality.

Ya know, when you eat at a mall, you usually expect to be underwhelmed by the fare you get. This time, however, the food was exceptional — exceptionally awful. Should salmon teriyaki be slightly cool to the touch? Should it be discolored on the bottom? Should your tempura be room temperature and ossified? Methinks not, mes amis! The people working there were nice enough, but they had no business serving such an egregious assault on gastronomy. That I didn’t have a digestive revolt from my hind quarters is a mystery to me: it’s like I was spared the plague. Hana Grill: dine at your own risk!!!

Somehow nothing in this food court looked that exciting so I figured hey the Japanese place should be decent and have some variety so the combo bento thing there must be decent right?
Not so much. :P
Everything tasted kind of old and flavorless, and there was no nigiri in the bento. Meh. The Cali roll in there was the most edible, but the tempura was pretty heavy and not very warm, and the teriyaki suffered from a stale blandness.
But I got to share some of the caprese sandwich from the place next door so it wasn’t so bad.

Closed.
Out of business.
Ancient Japanese Secret. Speaky Engrish!
8 out of ten times I ate there I couldn’t understand a word the person person at the register said.

you know what?
i wanted something not so heavy and after passing sbarro, hot dog on a stick, mcdonald’s, panda express, la salsa, the crêpe place, i decided that any menu that offers «brown rice» and «rice vinegar» for a salad dressing is probably a bit more healthy than its competitors.
i just wanted a nice salad that’s not deceptively fatty.
so i got the chicken salad with rice vinegar on the side and diet coke for like almost $ 8.
I was full, satisfied, and the rice vinegar didn’t suck. Wow. and I didn’t feel guilty so I went and got two pieces of chocolate bars at see’s candies even though i hate them (see my review for see’s).

I agree with Eric… typical mall food. BUT… if you’re trying… and the keyword here is TRYING… to eat healthy, you could do worse.
I recommend trying the teriyaki chicken bowl. It’s just enough food to fill you up without killing your stomach! Basically, it’s just a bowl full of white rice and topped with veggies and chicken. For a $ 1.25 extra you can get an all white meat chickie as opposed to a mix and match. Otherwise, if you’re adventuresome, screw the extra fee and get the regular chicken. lol
You can be in and out for well under $ 10 and continue on with your Westside Pavillion shopping. Oh… if your tummy is sensitive to cabbage and you tend to «crop dust» after eating it… I suggest you take some beano before the meal or else just nix the veggies!

This is your typical mall food court fair with an emphasis on making quick and easy meals than an enjoyable dining experience. I wish food courts emphasized quick and easy but also good. There is hope at the Century City mall.
Back to Hana Grill, I had the typical teriyaki beef and tempura bento with the miso soup and spicy tuna roll. The food was marginal at best. The surprise was the teriyaki beef which was better than expected and a worthy choice as a bowl. The tempura was caked onto the shrimp and vegetables and the sushi was just okay. The miso soup was too salty. I complain but I have eaten fast food Japanese done much better at the same price