Hana Zen

Note: This for the Hana Zen location at Pier39.
Avoid this place!
When we asked if we could get some of the specials posted at the door, our server replied that it was only for the bar, not the dining area.
The sushi is terrible quality (alot of rice but not alot of meat) and overpriced due to touristy location ($ 7/roll…typically $ 5-​$ 6 in other Midwest, East Coast, and West Coast areas). Not sure if it was a good or bad thing we only got 6 pieces per maki roll (salmon avocado and California). On top of that, the pickled ginger looked like it was reused… maybe due to slow business? There was only a hand full of tables in there during a 2pm weekday lunch for a packed tourist location.
One of us ordered the fish and chips but had to send it back to the kitchen because of hair we found fried into the batter. Server did apologize but it didn’t end the awkward moment from then on. Think he was trying to avoid our table out of sheer embarrassment.
Only thing going for this place is the view of the harbor, Alcatraz, and tourists below.
Should have tried out the Fog Harbor Fish House at the start of the pier instead. Place looked way busier, had a better interior, and probably had better food for the price. If you really are craving sushi or other real Japanese dishes, just hop on a Muni bus to Japantown (area near intersection of Post and Fillmore) which is only about a few miles away.

Time: 4:40pm/57°F cloudy
Purpose: On this day, I hatch up a plan to walk the city instead. There are so many places I’ve come across, but yet have try it out. This was due to press for time or sense of security in area. The HH special caught my attention right away.
Ambiance: This restaurant shapes like an T-​shape located on the top of First Crush restaurant. Some may feel discouraged to go people with disability may not want to go because the flight of stairs. Once you make you way up you have a choice to the right is the sushi bar with about 8 – 9 person seater along with 5 – 6 tables set up for two. The other side has about 4 – 5 tables of various counts of seating style, two closed together facing the corner as well as the kitchen. Both sides offers a view of union square and activities going on. Now if you want more to yourself then you’ll go to the right side. The left side is more of for larger groups and seatings. There’s no sun that will affect your eyes, place is completely overshadow by taller hotels and buildings.
Staff: Girl about late 20s really friendly and bubbly, engaging in questions a lot. She was the only waitress for me during the night. Started real well from the beginning, knowledgeable about their HH offerings. I wasn’t sure as to what to order yet, but she ask what kind of taste I’m feeling? In terms of my favorite food. We filter through the list and came to a conclusion after a short brief 3 minutes or so. She came back filling my cup of green tea every 7 – 8 minutes. Not sure why, but she ask what nationality I was. She insisted that I must be mixed. I say, okay what ever you want me to be then. She started laughing!
Cleanliness: Grade A-​, sticky tabletop as, I lifted elbow it was a tad grimey. Chairs had crumbs from lunch time crowd. A tell tale sign that it wasn’t look after last patrons left.
Eats/​Drinks: Chicken wings 4pcs/​$ 4, spicy crunchy tuna roll $ 5.75, and draft Sapporo $ 3. Four piece wings were delicious piping hot with skin crispy when brought to table. The sauce was not too sweet, but a mild balance of sweet and tangy like. Definitely a hit versus the traditional buffalo style hot wings. Tuna roll was delicious as fresh as it can get everything made in front of you. Roll held its shape never fell apart to the slightest touch. Exterior was crunchy all around not one part left touched. Spicy level was on par balance with a good hint of spice mixture embedded with tuna. The garnishment of tobiko was a little off, I suspect it was smelt roe used. Restaurants tends to use more because of lower cost with identical looks. All in all, I would certainly come back for HH again.
Main Features: Beers during HH bottle or draft $ 3.
Products/​Services: *Disclaimer* since I came here for their HH only. I took a snapshot of their menu on HH offerings. Checkout picture below! Next visit will be for regular entrees follow by an update. Takes plastic, full table service, no Wi-​Fi.
Punch Lines: Union square, average seating, sushi counter, pleasing flavors, Japanese chefs, good HH prices, warm service, friendly knowledgeable, kitschy décor, no slum dog, drool worthy, calm vibe, imaginable toppings, business lunch, lively atmosphere, zippy service, causal and delicious, can’t go wrong, unpretentious, satisfactory.
Tradeoffs: One of three Japanese places within union square area offering HH premium beer at below competition prices.
Final Thoughts: I realize that sometimes when your not driving there, are things you don’t need to worry about. Things such as meter, tickets, finding a spot, vandalism, towed aways. It was pretty fun to explore on foot being a local there are places and events that you normally don’t see or hear of. Good way to do some shopping and grab some light bites without any hassles.

One star is for the happy hour and the prices. The other star is for the non-​sushi items, spring rolls, gyoza, that are good. The lack of the other stars is for the sushi. The crunchy tuna is an unrecognizable deep fried thing that takes away the beauty of sushi. Do yourself a favor and eat sushi somewhere else… but everything else, go ahead and enjoy.

Yum!
I stopped in by myself for a quick bite. I was greeted and served by a really friendly waiter. He was on top of his game and memorized my whole order without writing it down… I wouldn’t have been able to :-) It is a relatively small and understated place with a great selection of sushi. The food came quickly and it was exactly what I had hoped for as far as taste and quality. The crunchy spicy tuna roll was great and very filling. The prices weren’t super cheap but still fair.

The sushi was good! Maybe too expensive for what it is.
I was thrilled to see so many options on their menu.
There was no wait around dinner time for the bar which was a great seat near the windows.
Cool restaurant.
The Polish host was probably the nicest part of my time here. He had that apologetic smile. The sorry for making you wait look. We were there for maybe 20 seconds? He was on it. I hope he gets a raise.
The servers however, seemed to avoid us. I asked if it was better if we ordered from our waitress or the chefs directly and our girl said it’s better to order from her. But her and the other girl just kept running around. I guess it was really busy… A little. «I’ll be right with you» wouldn’t hurt. Or even hold up a finger. as in «One second». It’s nice to be acknowledged when you’re searching desperately for staff. You don’t even have to smile.
With all the places in the city for sushi, I’ll go somewhere else.

Solid, no frills Japanese restaurant near Union Square. We had a late, jet lagged dinner. We split a good rainbow roll and then had udon and soba noodles in brother with tempura. Not bad at all…

Great service and food! We stopped in a late dinner and enjoyed a few rolls, miso soup, sake, and a few appetizers. The rolls were nicely prepared and just as spicy as we had hoped. Our various plates were well-​timed but everything arrived pretty quickly. I’m sure there are a million Japanese restaurants to choose from in this neighborhood, but this one is a definite yes!

I’ve been working in the downtown area for about 3 years now and I didn’t even know this japanese place existed. Yay for japanese food! :)
I liked their yakitori alot. prices are a bit higher than san mateo, but you really don’t need that much to be full. The chicken wings came with 4 wings! It was really good =) I enjoyed the saba shioyaki as well. I’ll definitely be back in the future!

Was pleasantly awesome! Try the dragon or crunchy tuna, they were great! Service was great, the waitress had a good sense of humor. The reception lady was nice too.
Overall, Hana Zen is a great affordable sushi place in SF.

When I first walked into this restaurant, I thought it looked very nice and a good place for talking. The hostess was really nice and let us choose any seat because hardly any customers were there. That should’ve been our first red flag!
After we were seated, we browsed at the menu. We saw only about 10 items on the Happy Hour menu, most of them were edamame, gyoza, or very small appetizers. When the waiter came to take our order, my friend and I wanted to order the bento box, however the waiter said that it was only served during lunch time! What kind of Japanese restaurant only serves bento boxes during lunch???
To my dismay, I decided to order Chicken Teriyaki from the Kids Menu instead. At first the waiter was really nice and let me order it, then he suddenly changed his mind and said no, and that there was another Chicken Teriyaki dish that didn’t come with rice or miso soup but for $ 3 more! Obviously I didn’t order it, so I just went with a spicy tuna roll.
My mom got the Rainbow roll, and none of the fish was fresh… My mom even complained, but the waiter pretended not to understand [because my mom has an accent] and basically just left the table.
DO NOT COME HERE! I’m sure there are way better sushi places in San Francisco, this is just not one of them.

Tempura shrimp roll! Delicious and fairly quick service. To walk down the street to get there was a bit freaky but the restaurant itself was an oasis. Fantastic lite lunch.

Cute little combination yakitori and sushi place. Friendly servers. Reasonable prices. The sushi was nice, though nothing absolutely blew me out of the water.
Still, if you’re in the mood for these two particular things, and you’re walking down the street, I’d pop in again. I’m not convinced it’s the best in the city, but you could do far worse.

We shared some izakaya items here for dinner. It was good. The service is ok. We were seated quickly on a Thursday night but they were out of black cod. The eggplant was ok, the monkfish liver was ok, the chicken skewer was good, and hamachi kama was ok. The ground chicken eggrolls were tiny but ok and the bacon wrapped scallops were bouncy.
I’d come back to try their other items on their extensive menu.

I came here for the first time for a birthday party couple of weeks ago. We had a reservation and the staff were extremely accommodating and friendly. The waitress was nice and kept checking on us.
Food was delicious and were nicely presented. My friend ordered I believe it was the beef teriyaki and oh man it was yummy. The chicken wings are good too. See my food pic I posted.

I stopped by for lunch at 11:30 on a Thursday, and was the only one there. At first, I thought this was a bad sign, but they had just opened for the day. It was more busy by the time I left.
The service was great and attentive. I had a nigiri sampler plate that came with a spicy tuny roll. The tuna wasn’t very spicy, but was all right. Everything else was totally adequate.
I’d give this place 3.5 stars on the food alone, but the service pushed it up to a solid 4.

When we first walked in, we were greeted by the hostess. I believe she said her name was Adele. She was extremely friendly, and when we asked her if this place was any good. She made us feel like we made a good choice coming in. She also came by a couple times to see how our meal was going.
The nigiri was good, but the pieces were very small. I also ordered the chicken teriyaki. I can’t lie, it was pretty dang good. I don’t know if I’d say it was $ 20 good, but I’m not saying it’s not.

Got the sushi rolls (Hamachi scallop and Cherry Blossom) which were good/​filling/​average. Server was nice and attentive and helpful in deciding menu selections.
Liked the Lychee sake cocktail (sweet) and the grapefruit-​hi sochu chu-​hi drink (not so sweet if that’s your preference… Tastes like vodka and grapefruit juice).
Prices a little on the higher side.

Hana Zen is a decent place to grab sushi if you’re in the neighborhood.
The food is good, but not great, as is the restaurant in general.
I thought everything was a bit more expensive than it needed to be. Best thing on the menu was the yakitori stick appetizer.

Ordered:
From Yakitori section:
Scallop wrapped in bacon; very tasty, though a bit on a dry side.
Chicken Heart: also dry, has a bit of that game-​y taste, wouldn’t recommend.
Bacon wrapped salmon: request it to be half done so that it would come out moist and tender.
Mushroom: also on the dry side.
From Sushi side:
Ikura with quail egg: very good
Uni: very very fresh, definitely would recommend this one
Ice Dragon roll: very crunchy with the cucumber and jalapeño, but the tempura shrimp was soggy and didn’t taste like it was fried fresh. Also the size was also a one-​bite size, making the roll overpriced for a specialty roll.
They do offer some nice selection of sake, so that was a plus.
Overall an expensive but not so great dinner experience. Not authentic Japanese. Servers were quick and friendly, but the food in general was a bit lacking. Only thing that was memorable was the fresh uni, and my company.

We typically stop into Hana Zen every year for a team dinner when in town for a convention. I could make an entire meal out of the Yakatori. We had the beef, chicken and salmon. Big fan of the beef but really loved the salmon wrapped in bacon.
Sushi is «ok» — good quality and fair price for San Francisco. Won’t blow you away but won’t disappoint. Service is typically fast.

Great authentic Japanese style restaurant with master chef in charge. Just off Union Square