These Dishes Are Works of Art

Hello fellow Ibarakians!
How was your Halloween weekend? Mine was a busy, but fun weekend! Last month, my parents came all the way from the U.S. to visit and stayed for about a week. We took a little trip to Korea before heading to Mrs. Ibaraki Eats’ hometown of Naka City.
One day, we decided to treat my parents to a nice lunch, so we took them somewhere familiar where they could enjoy some great food and have a wonderful experience. That place was Hitachinaka City’s very own Hanamiyako!

Hanamiyako

Hanamiyako is a washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) restaurant located in the Sasancho area of Hitachinaka City. It can be difficult to reach by bus or train, so I highly recommend coming by car.
Before I continue talking about the restaurant, there are a few things I need to let you know. First, the owner is a friend who has known Mrs. Ibaraki Eats for many years. That being said, I will do my best to remain as unbiased as possible, but I just wanted to put that out there.
Secondly, when I write about places and events in Ibaraki, I usually try to keep things within a reasonable price range. However, if you plan to visit Hanamiyako after reading this post, please be prepared to spend some serious money, and I mean a lot.
Doctors and lawyers from Tokyo visit this restaurant for business lunches and dinners. Even our meals featured in this post cost us more than 10,000 yen each person.
Although Hanamiyako is quite expensive, you get what you pay for: delicious, artistically crafted dishes that are hard to find anywhere else in Ibaraki.

Inside

We visited Hanamiyako for lunch, which we had reserved many months in advance. If you want to visit Hanamiyako, please keep in mind that they only accept reservations.
When we walked in, we were greeted by the owner’s wife, who was dressed in a beautiful kimono. The owner, Taisho, also came out to welcome my parents back to Japan. This was their second time visiting Hanamiyako, and they were happy to see him again.
After greeting us, Taisho returned to the kitchen, and we were escorted to the dining room. Hanamiyako has a traditional tatami dining room featuring a hanging scroll with a Japanese haiku, ikebana flower arrangements, and lacquered tables and chairs. The ikebana arrangements are usually designed to reflect the current season, adding a lovely touch to the room.
We weren’t given a food menu because Hanamiyako serves course meals that must be ordered in advance, which we had already taken care of when making our reservation. However, they do have a drink menu featuring a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

First Dish

Our first dish arrived at the table, and it was a reflection of the current season: autumn. It looked like a bird’s nest filled with autumn treats, which was exactly what it was meant to be. The dish featured sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and a bunch of other foods that I was pretty sure I was trying for the first time.
I don’t remember exactly what kind of egg was included, but I do remember it being incredible. The tomato was excellent, the chestnuts were amazing, and everything else inside that little bird’s nest was fantastic.
By the way, the bird’s nest itself was edible! It seemed to be made by frying thin somen noodles together, and it was delicious, too.
What a fantastic way to start our course lunch at Hanamiyako!

Second Dish

Our second dish was something very special: mushroom tea served in a teapot with edible mushrooms inside.
I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember the name of the mushroom, but the owner’s wife told us something very interesting about it. Apparently, it is an extremely rare mushroom that only grows in one part of Japan, and very few of them ever reach full maturity. That made this dish even more special.
The mushroom tea was relaxing and delicious. The warm tea felt wonderful as it hit my stomach, and it was a great way to settle in after our first course. The mushrooms themselves were incredible! They were soft, full of flavor, and practically melted in my mouth.
The first two dishes were already winners, and I couldn’t wait to see what the third dish would bring.

Third Dish

It was time for some fish for our third course. We were served sliced sashimi with soy sauce and three interesting-looking pastes. One was wasabi, another was made from an interesting yellow flower, and the third was the one that really blew my mind.
This was a Hanamiyako specialty made in-house: a blood orange paste that you mix with your soy sauce for dipping. Naturally, I had to give it a try!
I grabbed a beautifully cut piece of maguro (tuna) sashimi, dipped it lightly into the soy sauce and blood orange paste, and took a bite. The result was an explosion of flavors that sent my head spinning in a whirlwind of deliciousness!
The incredibly fresh sashimi paired with the fruity flavor of the blood orange and the saltiness of the soy sauce was an amazing combination. This is the kind of flavor experience that everyone should try at least once in their life.
Another winner from Hanamiyako!

Fourth Dish

Our fourth dish involved more mushrooms, and this time, it was a big one! This special type of shiitake mushroom had what I believe was blowtorched miso on top, with sesame seeds embedded in it. One bite was enough to enjoy the dish while it was still hot, but not so hot that it burned my mouth or anything like that. The combination of delicious miso and the soft, tender mushroom was fantastic. The mushroom tasted so fresh that I wouldn't be surprised if it had been picked that very morning. It was quite a nice fourth dish, and we still had more dishes to come.

Fifth Dish

Our next dish was almost our final one. It is a little hard to describe this dish because there was a lot going on when it arrived at our table.
First, we were given a small bowl of what looked like cooked salmon and sweet potato in a clear, thick soup. Then, the owner came out with a huge bowl of freshly cooked white rice and several different seasonings and sauces to enjoy with our shirasu (whitebait).
It was a lot to take in. The salmon-like fish in the soup was beyond excellent. It was incredibly fresh and cooked perfectly, giving it that wonderful, meaty texture when I took a bite. The sweet potato was another winner, and the clear soup was absolutely amazing. I am not sure what went into making that soup, but I could drink it every day if it were available.
The rice and shirasu were also a fantastic combination, and I even got to try different types of seaweed with my shirasu. It was quite a large dish with plenty of different flavors to enjoy, and everything was delicious!

Our course didn't end with the last dish I wrote about, but if I went over every single dish, this post would be fifteen minutes long! We did have dessert, which was absolutely magical, and we also had a dorayaki-looking dish filled with duck pâté. That was certainly an interesting one.
I can honestly say that Taisho, the owner of Hanamiyako, is truly a gifted chef. After we finished our course, everyone felt full but not overly stuffed, which is always a good sign after such an incredible meal.
We all took pictures with the owner and his wife, and my parents even invited them to visit Miami whenever they decide to go. Finally, we said our goodbyes by the entrance and went on our way, grateful for such a wonderful dining experience.

I usually end my posts with "maybe you'll see us there," but I can't quite do that with this post because it might be another year or two before I return to Hanamiyako. Don't get me wrong, I would love to visit this place as often as possible, but doing so would definitely break the bank. That doesn't mean it isn't worth every yen, though.
If you have the means and are looking for somewhere to celebrate a special occasion, I highly recommend Hanamiyako. I can guarantee that the owner and his wife will do everything they can to accommodate you, and Taisho will prepare a course that is truly out of this world!
Enjoy!

For more information on Hanamiyako, check out their website:
https://www.hanamiyako.com/

For the older blog posts, check out the WIX Ibaraki Eats.

https://regaladom24.wixsite.com/website