Read on twitter that MissPiggy was hitting this; and I had mentioned at the time, I’d cross the road to burlington plaza and eat some dumplings instead… well, finally made the rounds and hit this for dinner last night.

Hana Hana is located at 5/209 Thomas St and is beautifully fitted out contemporary japanese dining food hall. The interior is very stylish with some quirks and perks that makes a visit worth it if you like your gimmicks. see also:HOMETHAI; they order on an ipad! Here at Hana, at the entry is 3x touch screen ordering panels. You pick your mains here; and pick up at the end; as well as pick your pieces of fried goodies (a concept familiar to fans of menya mappen).

Hana Hana ordering cartoon and menu. Price guide from $4.90—> 10.90 for the ramens. There’s a variety not found at Menya. If you click on the image, it opens a bit bigger so you can look at the prices

dark ceiling, ply panels, mosiac tiled walls, concrete floor, birdsnesty lamps, long communal tables all finished in a dark wood. Its a great space. Very long – lots of seats.

electronic touch panel ordering system. Udon/Soba, Ramen, Rice and the rather amusing half sizes. Look at her, she’s having fun. One peculiar thing however is that despite the advancement in ordering system, the very friendly waitress still had to run up to make sure people understood what they were doing. She did that with me and with everyone who entered.

paired seats out the front.

fancy tulip + japan map in tile. modern angular framed portal in ply.

timber herding posts to direct you through the meal pickup area. Meal counter has serviettes, curry powder and chilli powder. Table not seen on the right holds water in mugs so you can help yourself.

tempura hotcounter. Almost everything here is $3. The chicken katsu was $4. And there was some sort of soup in a cup. Seafood hodge Podge $4. The selection varies btw $3-$5. One thing you’ll immediate note however if you do go to Menya Mappen, is that the chunks of tempuraed bits here are not as substantial. The prawn was small and I didn’t want to pick it at $3. The chicken was substantial and $4. So I got that instead. They also have cold sides that I didn’t look at.

beef curry and chicken kastu.

Beef Curry. Didn’t want to pick a UDON/SOBA/Ramen as i tend to get these so I went with the beef curry. To be honest, the beef wasn’t flash (tasted a lot like boiled beef that they put in sauce) and the curry was a tad watery; I’m more used to goey thick japanese curry. I’d rate this 6/10. Rice and Pickle were good

Chicken Katsu. $4. Cheaper and more value added than the others. The one thing I didn’t like about it. Looks how glisteny and oil coated it is. That’s all grease. Not tempura sauce of anything. Kind of gross. Not bad to eat but this might be the oilest piece of japanese fried chicken I’ve had. Had to servietise and blot off a lot of the oil.

Right now. Visit 1. Mappen’s a lot better. More substantial portions on the tempura-ed goodness. But it doesn’t do rice/curry and other dishes that Hana hana does. This will do. Back tomorrow for lunch. Worth a visit. Its cheap enough to not quibble.

My meal was $10.90 for a big bowl of curry+rice+chicken. The value proposition is through the roof.

$ chinatown Japaese soba udon