Reviews for Hana Japan Steak House in Berkeley, CA
Fascinating chef's cooking show by the table, kids will definitely love it. Tasty of food is fine but not too special. The... location of the bayside sunset view nearby is beautiful. The building and the interior itself is a little old though. Read more
I finally got a chance to go here and it was good, but the restaurant could use a major restoration. The place has an old smell... to it and it just looks old. They should really consider removing the carpet completely. I probably will not go back. Read more
It’s not very good but the setting is nice at least. Found it to be too salty and vegetables were poor quality. Definitely... feels like a throwback to a different era of restaurants. The service was good. Read more
I Will not be visiting this restaurant again. The chef burned the rice. Not sure if the photo Does it justice but the eggs... inside the rice and the rice was burned in several places. Worst part The chef saw he burned it but continued to serve it. Weall sat there not wanting to be rude and complain to his face. For the price we paid (over $150) we should have said something.Nothing had any flavor. Needless to say we needed soy sauce and salt…lots of it. On the plus side the chef was nice. Lookingat all the positive reviews I expected at the very least good food. Read more
As you can see from my photos, dinner at Hana Japan Steak and Seafood is an experience. All the food is cooked on the hibachi... at your table. The chef is skilled with his knives and makes a wonderful, often humorous show as he prepares your food. Tablesseat 8 to 12 or more. Miso soup and a small Japanese salad are included with dinner. A person having a birthday gets a free mealif seated in a party of four or more. I went to this restaurant with my husband and another couple. A family of four who werehaving a birthday sat at our table and proved to be charming table mates. Our steak was prepared to perfection and we liked ourchoice of rice and vegetables. The bar provided excellent alcoholic beverages. The waitstaff was lovely. The downsides of thisrestaurant are: 1. I wish the restaurant served a scoop of green tea ice cream to close the meal, but they don't. The onlydessert option was a frozen macaroon cookie. 2. The restaurant is not really conducive to conversation. Other tables with largerparties decided to try to talk to someone at the opposite end of the table while others continue to speak over each other. 3.The carpeting and overall feeling of the restaurant is shabby and does not spark joy. 4. The restroom could use an upgrade orat the very least a deep cleaning. Read more
My picky eater enjoyed their pot stickers. I asked for a speciality cut perfectly aged house ribeye steak, but I think they just... gave me a regular steak as it was just piled with other steaks. If I'm ever in the area again, I would eat there again. Read more
We come here for most celebrations. At one point when I use to watch the games the bar is a great spot. Made reservations over... the phone a day before, you can also book reservations online. Checking in you must have all party members present. Onceconfirmed it determines when you’re seated. Cristie was our server and Tenzin was our chef. Tenzin is naturally funny andkept us laughing as he prepped our meal. I splurged and ordered the lobster / shrimp combo without rice. The others orderedchicken or shrimp with the fried rice. If you have a food allergy they really do cater to your needs. The meal comes with soupand salad. And for your birthday, come within five days of your birthday, show them your ID and you receive ten percent off yourmeal plus a slice of green tea cake. Service was awesome. The continued to make rounds to refill water or ask if there wasanything else needed. 10/10 it’s a no fail dining experience. Parking lot also has security cams. Read more
I think it makes sense that the chefs have varying personalities but ours was basically machine-like... Until my friend got... excited to see a chef she had seen previously. That is when our chef decided to ask her if she wanted him, the other chef, tocook our food. I've never seen anything more awkward for any of the 9 of us (full table of four parties of two, plus our chef).He very awkwardly said, just kidding, super fast after snapping at her, but the guy hadn't made a legitimate joke the wholetime. Until that point, I was genuinely giving him benefit of the doubt because it seemed like it was his first night. To behonest, when he asked if we wanted the other chef to cook our food, I almost said yes. The manager afterwards said "he didn'tmean it like that". Okay ???? In addition to that, there were two birthdays and two first timers at our table (I'm in both ofthose groups) and even though they asked twice about birthdays it was literally never acknowledged after that. Not one word.They were just trying to see if we were trying to get the free dinner deal (neither party qualified nor were we asking for thedeal). The other chef kept interacting and asking questions calling their celebrant 'birthday girl' all night. At our table, theother birthday party ordered an appetizer, and it was mistakenly given to the other table which had just been seated next to us.They didn't get it until halfway or more through the meal. Overall it was a really lackluster experience in which our food gotcold as he cooked and we were bored and felt disrespected, or at best poorly served. I felt awful for my friend who was excitedto show me her favorite place to celebrate. I wouldn't risk trying again due to the expense of the meal. Read more