Hanako Japanese Restaurant

Prices are up there, but you can’t deny the food here is original and delicious. The food was easy on the eye and tasted great. It’s an aesthetic experience. The chef knows what he’s doing.
I had the bento box C. The miso soup was delicious, not salty and with plenty of seaweed instead of onions, the way it’s supposed to be. The tempura was crispy and well cooked, but i like my batter a bit fluffier.
The teriyaki was definitely the highlight of my meal. These guys use bok choy instead of bean sprouts for the teriyaki, and it complements the sauce and chicken perfectly. Big thumbs up for that. I really like the teriyaki sauce as well, it’s thick and adds a nice layer over the dish. No complaints about the quality of the rice and chicken. ¹⁰⁄₁₀.
The salad was not as fresh as I’d like it to be, but the greens tasted clean and crisp, plus the dressing and toppings compensated nicely.
Menu is limited, but it seems like everything on it will live up to my expectations.
Only 2 people doing all the cooking so it may be a while til your food comes.
The waitresses are pleasant, but not very attentive.
I will come back here for a fancy date.

If you’re looking for good quality sushi in Surrey, hanako is the place to be. It’s a cute small restaurant, with friendly wait staff and good food. You can instantly taste the difference in rice quality compared to others. I enjoyed their crab salad, hanako roll, dynamite roll, classic California roll and their sashimi. All the items are always a delight. Highly recommend this place if you’re searching for good sushi in Surrey.

Their sashimi is very fresh. The serve the best hamachi I have ever tried in Vancouver. Yes it s a bit pricey but if you appreciate fresh sashimi u should give it a try.

I came here as a celebration for the Chinese New Year. I seriously love this place! My family ordered chicken teriyaki, caterpillar roll, dragon roll, green tea ice cream and seafood pancake. We all loved the food! The rich creamy texture of the ice cream was fabulous and the dragon roll tasted like heaven! The staff were friendly and the whole restaurant was great! My favourite thing are those little pod like eating spaces with those sliding doors. The only downside was that the food were a little on the expensive side. Nevertheless the food was still great!
I will definitely come back!

I started my entry mentioning how pricey the beer was in my tip. I was pretty surprised. To their credit, it was growler size and it is large but I wish they would have a smaller option.
Nevertheless I ate at this establishment recently and was compelled to go by the strong Unilocal reviews. I had go Mae, the dynamometer roll and their spicy tuna roll. These were all very typical dishes to order in any sushi restaurant and to be honest, I have no complaints. Yes, the true strength of a good sushi roll is largely based on the quality of the rice, how they rolled it and the meticulous nature I assembly but I felt Hanoko was no different than other Japanese places.
I felt they could have done better in terms of the quality of the menus. First, it’s a tattered piece of laminated paper that have me am intense desire to wash my hands after handling it. Second, more items please? Maybe some pictures? It just seemed to lack creativity.
Service was good and the ambience was fine as well. I just left feeling as though I’ve had better. I may come back and try it again but my wife prefers the place across the street.

It’s difficult to find a restaurant that serves a wide range of sushi such as aji, botan ebi, or uni in town and this place offers one of the top authentic and fresh sushi in the area. I’m willing to come back for another set next time.

Hamachi Kama was so buttery and flaky. Not one bone. You must try for yourself!
Fish was fresh and simple. No crazy rolls just fresh crab, salmon and tuna. Superb.
And of course hot sake and beer. Try some lemon in your sake, a must.

Great quality and very fresh food! The service was attentive and it was nice to have our tea refilled regularly.
The uni nigiri was amazingly fresh and worth the $ 5.50. The spot prawn was just as fresh. The tempura style fried spot prawn head was wonderfully seasoned. The chicken teriyaki was cooked really well. Flavourful but not drenched in sauce.
My only complaint is the lack of attention to details. The chopped scallop roll was hastily assembled and was the weakest item during my dinner.
Overall, it is worth a visit when I am willing to spend a bit more for quality raw seafood.

Although it is pricier than the rest it is well worth it.
If you prefer large slabs of sashimi, a vast selection of specialty rolls, or all-​you-​can-​eat grade sushi u may prefer going to akasaka or guildford sushi a few blocks down.
At hanako, the chef takes special care in preparing everything delicately and properly. It is evident not only through taste but also in presentation. No bells and whistles with their menu. They have all the regular items you would find at a home-​style japanese restaurant. Cant compare it to miku/​tojos but still a high level for what it is. And especially in surrey. All ingredients used are fresh!
Menu favorites:
Crab Salad
Gindara Fillet
Beef Carpacio
Chirashi Don
Dynamite Roll
Sockeye Salmon Sashimi
The restaurant is small and clean. The wait staff is always friendly and helpful.
I come back here again and again and crave it on a regular.

Expensive, small menu, small items.
I suggest that my boyfriend and I go to this place because the ratings her B-​O-​M-​B. I saw the menu, handprinted on black construction paper and a smaller laminated menu. Strange, I thought. Maybe they were going to the kitschy, rustic vibe.
I ordered the spicy tuna roll, chopped scallop roll, assorted tempura and my boyfriend ordered the chicken teriyaki.
Everything was just so average. I’ve had the same quality food from a food court, for a fraction of the price. I wanted to try something different but there were no pictures indicating which was what, so I ordered my boring usual. Maybe I’m biased and sick and tired of spicy tuna and chopped scallop. Maybe this isn’t a fair review.
My boyfriend’s chicken teriyaki was decent at best. It was just so average. *sigh* We were expecting bomb-​dot-​com food, but mediocre-​joker was what we ended up with.
On the other hand, the service was prime-​time. The lady and the young girl working there were accommodating and kind. They were attentive but not hovering over us.
The total of the bill was ~30 dollars + $ 5 tip = $ 35. Kind of expensive for a kind of decent meal.

Our favourite sushi restaurant in Surrey. We have tried almost everything on the menu and not a bad experience yet. One of my favourite is their nabeyaki udon. It’s hard to find good udon (most places just give you some cooked noodles in msg water and a few pieces of bland meat) but this one is loaded with goodies like green onion, enoki mushrooms, egg, shrimp tempura etc. Service is very friendly.

I had fresh fish and fresh oysters. An absolutely fantastic meal only topped by the service provided. I had tried another sushi place as they are littered all around the area, and while the size may be small the quality of the food is top notch.

The food was decent, and the fish were fresh. We had live lobster sashami and the miso soup they made with the head of the lobster were just awesome. I thought prices were good but it could be that I’m from the States. The same meal we had tonight would have easily costed 30% or more back home.

Given the relatively sketchy region of Surrey immediately surrounding this restaurant, I was floored by the high level of service and food quality presented by Hanako Japanese Restaurant. Prior to visiting Hanako, my most recent Japanese food experience was at Miku, and I have to say that the flavor and texture of food at Hanako is nearly on par with Miku.
We ordered a variety of sushi, the chicken teriyaki, and green tea ice cream for desert. The sushi came out very quickly, and was both well formed and fresh — didn’t fall apart when eating it. Many suburban Japanese restaurants present you with oversized sushi rolls which contain far too much rice, this was not the case at Hanako. The chicken teriyaki may have been the best I’ve ever tasted — flavorful, crispy, and all around delicious. The green tea ice cream was also excellent, not overly sweet and I wondered if it was made in house.
Our server was friendly, respectful, attentive, and all around «served» to further our positive experience at the restaurant.
Pricing was very reasonable for the meal and service received, just over $ 40 for two people after tax and a generous tip. It’s clear this restaurant is a mainstay for many families in the area, and I definitely plan to return in the future.

Okay, I reviewed the comments here and thanks for the pictures. Sushi & sashimi were very fresh. Crab salad & oyster motoyaki… Hmmm… so, so. Spicy scallops were good too. Shrimp Tempura was ordinary, nothing special.

Came here only because of the reviews. Really, really disappointed. Out of all sushi places I’ve been to, this is one is by far the worst. The rice… If it was cooked any longer, it would of been pudding! And that makes for some horrible rolls. The teriyaki chicken was literally half fat and it too was soggy! Even the salad had enough oil on it to make it uneatable! And he prices! WTF?! This place should of gone under a long time ago!
If you think of coming here, save you time and wither go across the street or to the mall instead.
The only reason why i gave it 2 stars was because the server was nice, polite and attentive. If it wasn’t for her, I would of given the place only 1 star (only because you can’t give it zero)

Love all their salads! Everything is always fresh. I wish they had more specialty rolls. This is the only reason why I switch btw Hanako and Akasaka. Akasaka has a lot more options.

After reading other reviews, I don’t think I fully appreciate authentic Japanese food. While the food was tasty and fresh, I found it to be expensive.
I probably won’t go back.

Try not to let Surrey influence in any way, but seriously, these guys would rival any of the other Korean-​operated sushi joints in Vancouver but shouldn’t even mention that: its still cooked Japanese style, as you can see from the smaller sushi pieces. And you’re paying for quality.
The California roll: real crab meat, made well, fresh avocado… but another surprising piece was the wasabi: fresh, light, fluffy… not the hard crap you see at those AYCE lol.
Flounder sushi: thought it was uburi-​style but nevertheless, fresh.
Tamago: one of the top 3 I’ve ever had; it has to be made in-​house, which you can tell from the pic. And not overly sweet if I had to compare to others.
Free wifi too.
Can be a bit of a find off the main road, but it’s behind the Wendy’s, tucked in the corner of this busy plaza… also a Vancity, another Korean restaurant, Domino’s pizza…
next time i’m at the Guildford mall, I’m here!

I like the food here. It is without a doubt the best Japanese restaurant in Surrey and I would give it a five star but their take out service sucks. The price is high but the quality justifies it. The chef knows what he is doing and is on par with Tojo or other high end downtown sushi place. Hanako does not do much fusion but tries to stick to classic west coast style. The dishes are presented in a simple but elegant way. It is a small place so it gets packed. Make sure you make reservation. I recommend their Hanako chirashi don, deluxe assorted sushi, awaebi, oysters, lobster salad, aji, … you get the point. They also carry high end stuff like blue fin tuna toro. Their tempura udon is so so.