Hanai Vancouver

Gave this place a shot since it made the Michelin Guide, and I hate to say that I don’t really know how it made it on the guide. Vancouver is a hub for Foodies - so the local standard is high. This fell short of our expectations. We ordered a cocktail each, and the Ohana Menu ($60pp Chefs Tasting Menu). They ran out of passionfruit to make our feature cocktail and just made an ingredient substitution to lime for us - it wasn’t great. The Pog was a delicious cocktail though. We arrived for a 7pm seating, but didn’t leave until 10:05pm Positives: - The food is unique, and the intention behind each dish (story) was more memorable than the food itself. - The food was cooked well, and tasted good Negatives: - Service is way too slow. They did mention at the start that they only have 2 chefs. Suggestion to limit seating if you cannot handle the headcount… We had to rush our server towards the end.

My new favourite restaurant for quality drinks and delicious fusion food. Our server Michelle was phenomenal and very helpful when it came to recommendations. The food is served as small dishes meant to be shared. We especially enjoyed the squid luau and kimchi dip. Can’t wait to visit again!

We wanted to check out this place for a while and we were very happy that we did because we had a great experience. We were greeted by a friendly waitress in a stylish interior. We decided to sit outside and absorb and summer sun and enjoy some drinks. I grabbed the featured drink which was strawberry collins, and a glass of beer. We also got the happy hour chicken rice bowl which was cooked to perfection. The pickled daikon also cut through the richness very well. I got the yaki udon which was very saucy and thick. We enjoyed the meal very much and would definitely come back for some more cocktails and menu items.

Hanai absolutely fills the Ugly Dumpling sized hole in my heart - and my belly! The food is completely different of course, but the warmth, service, and attention to detail are perfect, and the food and cocktails are delicious. The two slushy drinks are both must-try and the sake list continues to be full of gems. Personal favourite dishes were the kimchi dip (although I did need an extra cracker to get all of the dip), squid luau (great with the fun rice to sop up the sauce), and kalua pork (so tender and flavourful), and I also loved the butter mochi for dessert. Dishes are small and shareable, perfect for two people to order 6-7 dishes. Can't wait to go back to try more!

this spot has been on my list for quite some time, and i’m so glad we finally got to try. very warm and friendly service, we had the tasting menu option to try a little bit of everything - highly recommend! the potato salad, half chicken and the chocolate mochi cake were delicious. will be back for more!

Ohana menu is a must. delicious from start to end. Portions were perfect for my party of 3. i especially enjoyed the grilled humbolt squid with thai chilli spices..absolutely fantastic. Huli chicken was cooked perfectly. Pickled celery was surprisingly good. Highly recommend. Id like to try their hot and sour oxtail soup..so hope they bring it back in the fall/winter!

I had the best time here! The service was excellent!! I sat at the bar cuz the wait for a table was over an hour long but the bartender was the best host! He made some really great recommendations for us. The kimchi dip is amazing!!! Ask for more crackers if you run out. All the food that we ordered was amazing! And the slush drinks also great!! Loved the whole vibe of this place! Definitely would come back!

Bright place with good vibes. I loved the slushie cocktail which was tart and refreshing and boozy. All the dishes are designed to be share plates and they're all tasty. The half chicken is a great deal and I recommend you get that with a side of purple rice.

My husband and I went with some friends to try the Ohana menu at Hanai on Commercial Drive. Ohana is a Hawaiian word which means "family"; the menu is aptly named as it is a Family style multi-course tasting menu. Oh wow...what a tasting menu! Multiple courses with multiple dishes within each course to try. Favourites: Cucumbers with a furikake sour cream dip - We all loved this dip, including my husband who's usually not a big fan of sour cream. It was served with cucumbers but when the cucumbers ran out and we still had some dip left, I started dipping other foods on the table into it, and everything I dipped tasted even better with the furikake sour cream on it! Vermicelli noodles with a vegetarian sauce: I'm not sure what this sauce was made of. Based on its appearance, my best guess would be olive oil and soy sauce. Whatever it was, it tasted amazing on top of the vermicelli noodles. I'm Pescatarian which is why the restaurant offered me this Vegetarian sauce. There was actually another sauce on the table for the other 3 people in our group who were all meat eaters. However, even the meat eaters tried the vegetarian sauce and seemed to like it better than their sauce. They said the Vegetarian sauce had more depth of flavor to it. Yellow zucchini with...I don't even know what the sauce was made of but it was awesome! Fun Rice: There was a green sauce on the table that was made up of taro, coconut milk and swiss chard. I kept eating the fun rice together with this sauce and it was a heavenly match. The two desserts: Yes, not one but two. We were so stuffed already and then they brought out not one, but two desserts for us! One of them was called Kulolo. It actually appeared on the printed a la carte menu. It was described as "Dolce amore fior di latte, shoyu caramel, sweet kulolo." Hanai serves Hawaiian food but they seem to be borrowing a bit from the Italians for this one. Doesn't "Dolce amore" mean "sweet love" in Italian? Well, whatever they did to the Kulolo...it was sweet and I loved it! I don't have a name for the other dessert. It had about 4 different layers in it, if not more and it was divine. Hawaiians seem to enjoy using taro a lot. Taro seemed to be a recurring theme in these desserts. They certainly took their time in serving us our food. We arrived shortly past 6:45pm and when we left the restaurant it was about 10:15pm. We were there for nearly 3 1/2 hours! Apparently there are only 2 people working in the kitchen, so I suppose that might account for the slow pace of things. Our server did notice that my little pot of hot water was low, or even empty and offered to top it up for me a couple of times. That was good. It would have been nice if they'd checked on us a bit more often though and refilled my hot water a few more times as 3 1/2 hours is an exceptionally long time to spend at a restaurant. Service: Good. Parking: Free parking if you're lucky enough to find any, otherwise it's paid parking. Location: On Commercial Drive with lots of other businesses nearby.

another foodie adventure date with a - this time to cutest hawaiian shack on commercial drive! a was def in her element and took a stroll down memory lane with the menu and dishes. we were greeted and seated right away - we were a little late due to traffic but all was good. we had the pleasure of having the owner serve us - she was amazing, funny and knowledgeable. she made us feel right at home and true to the restaurant's name - hānai, which is hawaiian for adopted family. the restaurant def gives off chill, beach vibes with the open kitchen concept and patio space outside. the awesome weather that we're having lately helps add to the warm, tropical vibes. note that the drinks and food menu rotate as the seasons go by - we were told that this was the new summer menu when we sat down. for drinks, a had the salted guava daquiri - dangerously good and refreshing. if you know what dried salted plums are as asian snack, you'd understand what notes are in this cocktail - perfect summer drink! i had the tropical showcase and sandstorm on jupiter. tropical showcase was reminisce of an aperol spritz - light, citrus and fizzy. i'm a gin girl so L O L. sandstorm on jupiter has a bit of kick to it due to the togarashi "salt" plus the lychee and ginger beer combo somehow gave me strawberry vibes?! a and i took the easy route and had the ohana menu. OHANA MEANS FAMILY - thank you lilo and stitch (lol). you basically almost the entire menu minus a few things here and there. to start, we had the limu butter. it was a tall shadow potato ube bun with smoked seaweed butter. a is now super excited to check out the bakery cuz it's right near her hood. the bun was soft and pillowy - warm too! the smoked seaweed butter had strong seaweed umami note that complemented the potato bun perfectly. next was a selection of house pickled veggies, boiled peanuts, fried capelin and a cucumber kewpie dip. the cucumber dip is not on the menu. this is also the start of a's memory trip lol. the house pickles were very colourful and draws your attention right away. i liked the gochujang radish the most. boiled peanuts was something that i DID NOT have before - i've seen/heard of it but never tried. the peanuts were savoury, still slightly crunchy - i can see how this would be a staple for some as a side dish to congee. the cucumber kewpie dip is a staple to hawaiian households - you always have it with ritz crackers. the cucumbers and water chestnuts along with the kewpie mayo reminds me of chicken salad - weird ik. the fried capelin was crispy and spicy (frm the togarashi), the calamansi added a bit of tang to the dish, and ofc the kewpie mayo just summed the dish up into an awesome bite. up next was the bravechild mixed salad with grilled humboldt squid. the squid was the def star in this round - grilled perfectly, smoky flavour and the salsa verde added a tang and kick to the dish. i devoured the cabbage slaw on the bottom! the bravechild mixed salad had strong dill notes tho a and i didn't really like the dressing it came up. there were strong seafood notes from the crab fat, and we're not sure if it fitted in with the salad. then came the main ensemble - if you're asian, once you see this spread, it basically shouts home. we had the hot&sour oxtail soup, the fried kingfish steak with furikake rice. we are literally just missing the stir fry veggie then we had a home cooked meal just like how mom makes it! the oxtail soup had def south asian notes - more pho and less hot&sour but still flavourful! the oxtail - my fav - was done perfectly as the flesh essentially fell right off of the bone. the fried kingfish is pan fried fish with caramelized fish sauce - another staple dish that we grew up with. nice golden brown outside, flaky and fresh fish with the salty fish sauce. the calamansi and pickled cabbage slaw helped to add sourness to the dish. the furikake rice also helped to soak up some of that saltiness from the palate - it ofc just ties everything up together as rice does! what's a meal without dessert?! we ended our journey - stuffed - with the chocolate mochi cake. the asian take on the brownie but better. the cake was made of rice flavour so there was more chew than the normal brownie. the scoop of stracciatella ice cream frm dolce amore next door was literally the icing on the cake! the shoyu caramel was def something diff - i was not expecting such strong notes of shoyu! such a nice dinner and the homey notes helped to make the experience hit closer to heart! i'll def drop by again to see what the next menu holds!

This is a sister restaurant of Dachi which is what drew me in in the first place. It's an incredibly cute restaurant with great drinks and service but I would not come here for the food (unless it's dessert). Here's what we ordered: Drinks 5/5: we had 3 drinks that night and each of them was delicious. I liked that there was a selection of natural wines that you wouldn't be able to find elsewhere Butter mochi 4/5: the first time I had butter mochi and it inspired me to make my own. The mochi wasn't very sweet and it had a delicious texture and bounce to it; however, I did find the rhubarb compote too sweet for my liking Somen salad 3.5/5: nothing extra-ordinary but really well done. Nicely made noodles with a well-balanced variety of veggies. Our tamago was burnt Adobo potatoes: 3/5: I found these quite salty and hard. Chicken lau lau: 3/5: While the chicken was nice and easy to pull apart, I found it a bit too bland despite the sauce provided Fun rice: 3/5: Something that was recommended to pair with our chicken but I would opt out of next time

New restaurant on Commercial Dr with a Hawaiian concept. Each dish was really unique and nothing like I've had in any other restaurants in Vancouver. It was 4 of us and we ordered everything on the menu + two drinks each and it was a good amount of food. Note that portions are small here. Next time I'll probably skip the pickled vegetables and the Kimchi dip but recommend getting everything if this is your first time here. Servers were super friendly and knowledgeable about the dishes and gave great recommendations for drinks! Will definitely be back!

Hanai has been a new restaurant that I've been meaning to try in a while. My friend was able to make a reservation for a Saturday night at 7:00pm - definitely make a reservation online because a lot of walk-ins were turned away. The restaurant itself is quite cute and aesthetic. Service was not bad as well. But the food... it was truly just mediocre. Shoyu beef - thinly sliced beef with cabbage underneath. This dish was pretty small for the price you're paying, but at least tasted good. Crab fried noodles - again, small portions, but at least yummy. Squid luau - the server actually recommended this dish and recommended it with the bread, but wow, we didn't even finish this dish. It was actually so unpleasant that I had to tell another server we did not like it at all. It was like 5 small tiny pieces of squid chopped up on top a huge pile of coconut Swiss chard taro sauce. Was I supposed to dip the squid in it? The sauce was like creamed spinach - was i supposed to eat the sauce? A very confusing and truly bad dish that I will tell my friends to stay away from because it really ruined our meal. Butter mochi - the saviour of our dinner. Very tasty coconut brown butter mochi with charred pineapple pieces on top of a sweet pineapple sauce. Oh, another tip, if you get cold easily don't sit near the patio door. It's a sliding door and the servers leave it open all night to get to the patio guests.

Hanai is bright and sunny. We walked into a mostly empty dining room at 6 on a Thursday and ordered the family-style fixed menu, which is a ton of food for $60. Cocktails are exceptional and the wine program is standard natty-and-unusual Dachi work. The dining room has a brightly coloured ceiling and whitewashed slats on the windows, and the servers were welcoming and helpful. Hawaiian food -- itself a big mashup of native, East Asian, and English/American influences -- really resonates in BC. Five months in, you can tell the kitchen is hitting its stride. A plate of house pickles sung with bright flavours, sharp and distinct from vegetable to vegetable. A cold noodle salad came with umami-packed slices of dashi omelet that would have been remarkable even on their own. The kalua pork was the best mainland version I've had. For dessert, they served comforting little slices of pie made from ube and coconut custard. A few of the ten-or-so dishes fell flat. Boiled peanuts were hit-and-miss, where the hits were richly infused with broth and the misses were, well, peanuts. Turnips and beef each came with amazing sauces, but were lacklustre themselves. The green salad was good, but very simple. Why five stars instead of four? Hanai could have chosen a much easier, much more boring method of transplanting Hawaiian food into East Van. The menu forgoes many of the typical signifiers of "elevated" hipster chow, opting instead to draw on a deep taproot of nostalgia. Thank goodness -- Vancouver doesn't need another tartare with taro chips, or another amberjack crudo. What it does need is more of that kalua pork (preferably in plate lunch form, alongside a few of those boozy slushies, on a leisurely Saturday afternoon). Ultimately, I like Hanai's food, but I like its project and point-of-view even more. Any new restaurant has a couple belly flops, but Hanai is making creative leaps with aplomb, and I'm eager to see where they go from here.

New the Drive but they should really have gone to somewhere else where people are willing to pay large amounts for very little food I have been to Hawaii many times and know that they would fail miserably there (Hawaii has really good drink prices) Avoid like the plague and go to any of the other fine restaurants on the same block

Even though I'm an adult now, I grew up drinking pog in Hawaii and was delighted with the adult frozen beverage pog on tap! The kimchee cracker dip was amazing, and my 12-year-old son started munching on the sardine appetizers before he realized that they were whole fish. After realizing, he continued to enjoy them. The space is airy and relaxing and the staff is welcoming and communicative. The menu is original and our favorites were everything but especially the shoyu beef, the fun rice, the kalua pork, and the somen noodles. Oh, and the charred cabbage was also excellent! And the butter mochi was amazing. The relaxing atmosphere was just what we needed after driving up from Seattle with our friends. Next time we are in town we will be back!

Excellent service! A fabulously different food and pairing experience. Well worth the visit and we will be returning!!

When I realized there was an AUTHENTIC Hawaiian restaurant near my son Robe's daycare centre (Donny's Dog and Child Daycare Pit) I immediately called my best friend Dolt and demanded he make a reservation (I would have done it myself but the call function on my phone was completely destroyed after I slipped on an egg in my home kitchen and consequently threw my iPhone 3 as hard as I could into an open stove that I had just preheated to 450 degrees). Dolt refused to eat with me (he is studying HARD for his big test to become a professional clown) so I walked into Hanai alone and without a reso. I LOVED the atmosphere and literally thought I WAS in Hawaii. I became very disoriented and panicked that I did not have my passport to get back home. Luckily, one of the kind and gentle staff assured me that I was just eating in a Hawaiian "themed" restaurant and had not actually entered another country. Needless to say, this was a memorable and delicious meal that I will not forget. Thank you Hanai!

I had heard about Hanai from a colleague and was so glad we made the decision to try it out. The food was delicious and the service was fantastic. The four of us tried the Ohana menu which was bit of everything in the menu plus a few off the menu dishes. Everything was done well and was quite fresh. Made me wish I was in Hawaii! Thank you so much for giving a truly unique experience!!