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| - Japanese cuisine meets Spanish tapas. In reality, Japanese cuisine is already served tapas style with dishes such as sushi, tempura, and sashimi. However, I certainly don't mind (and appreciate) Hapa reminding the public and creating their own tapas-inspired dishes along side traditonal favorites.
Ebi Mayo...4.5 stars. Tempura prawns in a spicy mayo sauce. A very tasty dish, though I would've liked the prawns to have a bit more crunchiness. The prawns are coated in the mayo sauce but I've had this dish elsewhere where the tempura still retained its texture...perhaps the dish sat in the kitchen a bit too long.
Beef Short Ribs...5 stars. Excellent! Simply the best Japanese short rib dish I've ever had. It's not rocket science, just thinly cut short ribs grilled to perfection...crispy grill marks but still tender and flavorful. Even the fibrous tendon around the bones were easy on the palate. These were the tiniest ribs with the thickest layer of beef I've ever seen! The protein literally sticks out 3" or more away from the bone.
Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps...3 stars. This dish isn't terrible but nor was it great either. I was looking forward to trying this but was left a bit disappointed. It's all about the meat (or filling) when it comes to lettuce wraps. The porkbelly was grilled nicely but just didn't have the flavor I was looking for. In fact, the porkbelly had very little flavor, at all. The protein was also too firm. A more flavorful braised and flash-grilled cut of porkbelly would've been perfect (think Ki Modern).
Buta No Kakuni...5 stars. Braised porkbelly in a sweet soy broth served with bao (steamed rice flour buns). Nice thick cubes of tender porkbelly. By themselves, the porkbelly doesn't have much flavor, but when you wrap them in the buns and dip them in the soy broth, it's heavenly! A fun and well balanced dish.
Wagyu Steak Bites...2 stars. Sautéed wagyu steak cubes served with a side of maple polenta and fermented serrano sauce. The steak cubes were surprisingly over cooked, well done at best. If Hapa corrects this, this dish would easily be 5 stars...here's hoping it was a one-time mistake. The sauce is spicy but flavorful; loved it! The polenta offers a nice escape from the rich steak and spicy sauce.
Dynamite Roll...3 stars. You can certainly taste the freshness of the tempura prawn, cucumber, kaiware, wasabi mayo, and teriyaki sauce; however, the sushi was extremely delicate. If you're not careful, the roll will fall apart on you. Here's hoping this was another one-time mistake, as I really like this place.
Green Tea Brulee...4 stars. A nice take on an old favorite. The brulee custard was a bit thicker than the original variety but was none the less tasty. The bites of brownie and raspberries were a nice touch.
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