Sushi, Yes. Everything Else.. Maybe.

September 18th, 2007
By: Steve G

Downtown Bothell is pretty small. Maybe only about the size of a few blocks. While the real estate may look very small, there's a small handful of colorful restaurants and stores that give the area some life. A Japanese restaurant called Hana Sushi is one of those spots. But does it deliver on quality sushi or is it just another

While the streets do have a hometown feel to it, the inside of Hana Sushi is a little more polished. Marble top tables and an authentic sushi bar are the highlights of this small restaurant.

The menu is a little scarce on the entrees, but it offers up enough selections in sushi to give Bothell a little taste of Tokyo. Bryan tested out the Bento Box with Chicken Teriyaki and Tempura. Grant was in the mood for some sushi and had the Paradise Roll and Salmon Nigiri. To round things out, I went with the Tonkatsu with a side of miso soup and salad.

The bento box was a little disappointing for Bryan. A bit too gritty and lacking in taste, the chicken teriyaki wasn't the greatest quality. The teriyaki sauce added a bit of flavor, but not enough to overcome the chicken's shortcomings. On the other hand, the tempura was a quite different story. It had a wide variety of shrimp and vegetables and the batter was fluffy and slightly crisp. What surprised Bryan, was the lack of excessive oil even though it was deep fried. Like a knight in shining armor the tempura saved the day for this lackluster bento.

Sadly, I can't say I had much luck with my tonkatsu. Mildly tasty at best, it seemed to lack in the portions and the taste. With a very thick and crunchy shell, I thought it would have turned out great, but the pork ended up tasting for dry and stringy. The tonkatsu sauce had that real tangy and salty taste, but it wasn't enough to change my opinion about it. It's a worthy effort for bothell, but I've had better versions at other places.

The sushi was the best items at Hana Sushi. The paradise roll consisted of tuna, shrimp, salmon, white fish, tobiko, avocado, cucumber, radish sprouts, mayo, and chili sauce. Whew. That's a lot of ingredients to put into a roll. Grant was a little skeptical about the ingredients as it didn't appear as large a roll as they made it out to be. Aside from that, the fish quality was fairly good and it held together pretty nicely considering how much fish they put into it.

Overall, Hana Sushi is a decent Japanese restaurant. Prices are a little bit higher than what you would find in other places. Fairly good for what you'll find in Bothell, as the area doesn't have a large variety of Japanese in the area. We wouldn't recommend the entree dishes as they are all a little bit lackluster, but the sushi is really good quality and worth a try if you're in the Bothell area.