Hapa Days

I was in Little Italy to see a special screening of Back To The Future at The Royal. So I took advantage of the cheap "Hapa Hour" at Hapa Izakaya to grab some dinner. It's not half-price anymore, but you do save a couple of dollars per dish. Looking over the menu, I selected Saba ($7), Agedashi ($4), Ika ($6), and Ishiyaki ($7).

There's a lot of interaction with the waitress. When she brought out the Saba dish, she completed  the process by doing a quick sear of the mackerel with a portable torch. The fish itself was reasonably tasty with an earthy flavour. Unlike other restaurants, the fried tofu of Agedeshi was coated with a spicy sauce. So there was a nice kick to the dish. The tofu had a nice crisp skin providing a nice contrast to the soft interior.

The Ishiyaki, a stone bowl filled with rice, came topped with a fried egg and other ingredients. But the waitress quickly mixed it all together, primarily so that the prawns would finish cooking. So I was warned not to eat right away. While waiting, I tried instead the grilled squid (Ika). The mayo that came with the dish didn't do much for me. But the squid was soft and chewy. Next time I'll ask for extra grill time because the end-pieces that got a bit more flame had a nice fragrant taste. Finally, it was time for the rice. I chose the Nasi Goreng version of the Ishiyaki so there was a definite Thai/Malay feel with its spiciness and slight hint of cilantro and other curry spices (and plenty of crispy shrimp). It was slightly too much food but I couldn't leave off all that deliciousness.