Hatsuhana

...is located at 17 E. 48th Street in NYC's Midtown. "M" and I went there last week to take advantage of Restaurant Week. "M" had a bottle of Kirin beer ($6.50) and I had a glass of Pino Grigio ($10).

For $35/pp we received the following:

- Clear Soup with three Japanese Mushrooms - very light

- Tuna Carpaccio - extremely tender

Bento Box with

- Seared Bonito with garlic and radish infused soy sauce - almost tasted like seared tuna

- Cooked salmon and edamame in a robust soy gelatin with seaweed salad - very good

- Tempura flakes wrapped in broiled eel - excellent

- Bluefin toro - extremely tender

- Sockeye salmon with citron pepper paste - spicy

- Sea scallop - tender and slightly sweet

- Pressed kelp cured halibut - tender

- Yellowtail - very tender

- One roll of your choice ("M" had spicy salmon and I had eel and avocado)

Followed by green tea and dessert - homemade coffee jello with vanilla ice cream. This indeed tasted like coffee and was very good.

Everything was excellent and tender. This restaurant lives up to its fine reputation. And the dining rooms (upstairs and downstairs) were packed.