Hanamidori Plaza Singapura(Closed)

Hanamidori Singapore is a Japanese restaurant in Plaza Singapura specialising in serving “Mizutaki” – a type of chicken hot-pot. The restaurant looks beautiful. The waitresses were  dressed in kimonos.  We felt like we had been transported all the way to Kyushu, the place from which Mizutaki originates.

There are normal seating as well as the Japanese ‘hole-in-the-floor” type of seating. You can opt for the latter to get a more authentic Japanese dining experience and to enjoy the view. The light wood decor exudes a zen-like calmness in the restaurant. Each table has a built-in induction heater to fire up the hot pots.

The Mizutaki hot-pot is like our steamboat meal except that the main focus is chicken. The broth is made from their specially selected chicken and the meats that are available for immersion in the broth are different types of chicken meats. There are also vegetables and tofu available. For those who are not into hotpots or if time is short, there are some non-hotpot dishes available like chicken tonkatsu or fried chicken. But do note that the main dishes are mostly chicken related. For lunch that day,  we collectively ordered two such dishes and two of the hot-pot set meals.

The mizutaki katsu set ($18.90) came with fried chicken pieces, cold tofu and a bowl of their famous chicken broth with vegetables and dumplings.  Basically you should try this if you have no time for the hotpot as the dumpling soup is like an abbreviated version of the hotpot. The fried chicken was well fried and crisp. The soup was really flavourful and rich. A specially made vinegar “Ponzu” is provided for dipping the chicken items. It was very delicate and reduces the heaviness of the chicken,  similar to the effect of the vinegar with xiao long bao.

The chicken katsu set ($16.90) was a simpler meal with a miso soup replacing the Mizutaki soup. This was quite a common dish you can find at any good Japanese restaurant. Without the mizutaki soup, one does not experience the uniqueness of a speciality restaurant like Hanamidori Singapore.

The main attraction was the Mizutaki hotpot itself. We opted for the Hanamidori Hana full course set which costs $26.90 per person (minimum two persons).  The meal starts with some cold appetisers,  chawanmushi and some grilled salmon and tiny scallops.   All these starters were fine and the chawanmushi and grilled salmon being very good.

Next, the hotpot was prepared for us. The various chicken items were inserted into the boiling broth first with the minced chicken meat being expertly rolled into balls in the process.  You can then add in the rest of the ingredients at your leisure just as you would at a steamboat meal. We basically threw the lot into the pot at the same time. The induction cooker was very effective and keeping the pot at a constant boil was easy.

The final pot looked quite attractive before we started eating from it. It was delicious. It was not just the special chicken broth but the Ponzu vinegar dip that was the secret weapon. Somehow anything that was dipped into it, from pieces of chicken to mushroom and leek, all tasted very good.

After we thought we were finished with the hotpot, a pleasant waitress comes along with a big bowl of rice, an egg and spring onion. Porridge was next! She carefully fished out any leftover debris from the broth and added in the new ingredients.  As you can imagine, this was really good, tasty porridge and the leftover broth did not go to waste.

In summary, the $27 full course mizutaki meal at Hanamidori Singapore is probably one of the best value for money meals you can find in Singapore. The food for two pax can actually be adequate for three people – further reducing the cost to $18 per person.  Do note that the meal will take time and is best enjoyed at a leisurely pace.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 4
Value: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 5 TOPs 

Hanamidori Singapore
#04-01 Plaza Singapura
68 Orchard Road
Singapore 238839

Tel : +65 6333 9287

Nearby Stations : Dhoby Ghaut, Bras Basah

The Ordinary Patrons
Singapore Food Blog by Ordinary People looking for Places to Eat