Every Friday buffet at Hafadai’s Hana resto

That’s right. It’s not every other Friday but EVERY Friday, when Hafadai Beach Hotel’s Hana Restaurant in Garapan treats customers to a feast of delightful Japanese food unparalleled anywhere on island.

Check it out to find out, says restaurant chef Koichi Komine in an interview.

Every Friday from 11:30am to 2:30pm, it’s at Hana Restaurant where diners can—at a very affordable price—keep going back for their favorite sushi and tempura of many kinds, assorted grilled seafood, soup and noodles, and several other mouthwatering food selections.

Sushi selections include tuna, salmon, shrimp, mahi, squid, hamachi, spicy tuna roll, California roll, spicy salmon roll, futumaki, inari sushi and others.

Tempura shrimps, eggplant, okra, carrot, and pumpkin are part of the menu.

Fresh seafood salad—shrimp, oyster, mahi, boiled squid and matching vegetables—are plentiful for customers to choose from.

“People will be pleased to know that we have more items on the menu than before. We have more food items on the table,” said Komine.

He said new offerings include fresh lumpia with smoked salmon, crab meat, and cucumber, which is cooked in front of customers.

“It’s guaranteed fresh,” he said.

Other new additions on the buffet table are mahi teriyaki, chicken teriyaki, chawanmushi or a tofu-looking concoction of steamed egg with shrimp, chicken, mushroom, and fish sauce.

New food items also include oden or Japanese hot pot, which includes egg, radish, fried tofu, bamboo shoot, and fish cake.

The restaurant also added assorted fried items—pork, tuna, chicken, and potatoes—as well as seafood yakisoba with squid, shrimp, and mussel.

The buffet table also includes a special vegetable, shrimp and tuna salad bar.

The old-time favorite miso soup remains on the list.

The lunch buffet includes ice cream and refillable ice tea drink.

A real treat

Komine, who has been preparing Japanese food for 16 years now, said the lunch buffet is a special treat at $12.

With the quantity and quality of the buffet food, actual cost per head is estimated to reach $30.

The sushi selection for one is telling, he said.

“These are all quality fish meat we source from Japan. We also get from the local market,” he said.

Komine, a master in sushi-making, said he is very particular with the quality of fish used.

He said he personally inspects fish and meat for quality.

“If they want to taste real sushi, you come here,” he said.

Komine is said to be the only Japanese chef in a Japanese restaurant on island.

Healthful food

Komine, who discovered his interest in sushi-making in high school, said the Japanese diet is actually healthy, dispelling concerns of some people about eating raw fish such as sushi.

“It’s actually healthy food. Look at the Japanese’ long lifespan,” he said, adding that Japanese cuisinealso uses less oil.

Komine said the restaurant has homemade salad dressings and sauces, which means that “it’s healthy.”

“We do our own sauce. We choose our ingredients well to make sure we are giving you healthy food,” said Komine.

Something new

The chef said he prepares something new every Friday to give people additional choices.

“I observe people’s choices. We give you your favorite food. We also offer you something new each time you come here,” he said.

Noreen Guerrero, Hafadai Beach Hotel food & beverage director, said the lunch buffet is a treat for the local community.

“We want to give the local community something special every Friday. It’s a reward,” she said.

She said the hotel is coping well amid the economic decline since Japan Airlines pulled out due to the local patrons.

She also credits the hotel’s strategic location in Garapan.

“We’re pretty stable. It’s partly because of the hotel location,” she said.