New Hatchin Japanese Grocery & Hana

So, after my Ortigas Japanese shopping spree, The Cat and I went to New Hatchin Japanese Grocery in Makati. Wow, I can't believe how often I've passed by that street and never noticed they were there. When we got there, they had already ran out of takoyaki and the takoyaki stand had already packed up. But never mind, I was looking forward to Hana's takoyaki. They better be available, dammit!

Entering Hatchin was like being warped to some corner of Japan. Everything was Japanese, everything was in Japanese. I was looking for some sakura denbu but could only remember the "sakura" part. Well, you can imagine it wasn't exactly easy to look for sakura denbu by just describing it as "sakura-something that you use to turn rice pink". The Cat was laughing at me for my epic fails the whole evening! Anyway, since The Cat (a.k.a. neko-chan) knows kindergarten level Japanese, I kept asking him to figure out what something was - what's this? what's that? Don't know? Bad kitty!

I bought some naruto, and a box of the plastic grass thing you see in sushi servings. Also bought The Cat a green tea mochi. Kitty like. He was also pestering me to get the unagi (his favorite), but methinks I should buy that later since I still had a LOT of stuff in the freezer/ref. Also, I don't know how to cook it. Yet.

We then went to Little Tokyo, and the first restaurant we see is, tada! Hana! Well, of course takoyaki would definitely be ordered! The takoyaki was delicious! It has real octopus bits inside and has a more complex flavor than the takoyaki we normally get at the malls. One bite and you know that this one's authentic! At P100 for 6 pcs, it's affordably priced. Will definitely be going back for it.

The restaurant is a small one, and would probably seat around 20. But with that being said, you can really feel the authentic Japanese vibe! You can also see the cook preparing your food, and some Japanese customers, regulars, we presume, talk to the cook. It really is a nice place to hang out if you were Japanese. Quite homey.

Here are pictures of the food we ordered at Hana. The food was good. Not wowerrific good, but delicious and well-prepared. We ordered the Cream Fish Mullier and the Sukiyaki Beef platter. We asked for the house tea which was also nice. It was barley tea. The taste might take getting used to for some, but it has a clean and flavorful taste.

New Hatchin is located in Sacred Heart St., right between Kamagong St. and Metropolitan Ave. in Makati. Little Tokyo is along Pasong Tamo (now known as Chino Roces Ave.) near Makati Cinema Square.