John Hornick Chef’s Apprentice
Google
There are two types of chef-driven creative cooking: memorable and forgettable. Most is the latter, and usually very expensive. Chef Fukuda-san’s Hai Noon is the former (memorable, to be clear), and priced to please. If you subscribe to my YouTube channel you know I do a lot of Japanese and Japanese-ish dishes. That’s exactly what Hai Noon is: Japanese that’s mostly Japanese-ish. Whatever you call it, the well-curated menu is somewhat small but expertly executed. Everything was delicious, mixing Japanese and Western flavors. The small-plate format is good for both sharing and trying several different dishes. I’d say we ordered at least half the menu for four people. But don’t expect sushi, which is a very small part of Japanese cuisine. Be sure to read the photo captions. The restaurant itself is inside the retro-named and retro-themed Papago Motor Hotel. We entered the dining room through the cool, small bar, but I think you can skirt the bar and enter through the lobby too. The dining room is straight out of the 1950s, which was hinted by the vintage airstream RV parked outside. The decor and slightly Polynesian atmosphere and wall of semi-circular booths are really a hoot. We drank sake with our meal, a 720ml of a good Junmai Daiginjo, which was reasonably priced. There was only one other 720, for substantially more Yen. I would like to see a bigger selection of 720s. Even the other sakes on the list, but in bigger bottles, would be great. We’ll be back!