Hanami is the food kitchen in the Japan Pavilion that is best known for one food item: Frushi!
2023 Hanami Outdoor Kitchen
While this may be the item that brings people to Hanami, the booth has plenty of other items for guests to try, including several that are new to this year’s festival! The 2023 Flower and Garden Festival runs from March 1st until July 5th, 2023, with food booths focusing on farm-to-table ingredients through international cuisine.
This year, Hanami has brought back the beloved Frushi along with two new food items and three new drinks! We just had to stop by to see if we could discover a new favorite.
Menu
This year’s menu includes two savory dishes as well as one dessert for those with a sweet tooth.
This year’s Hanami menu!
They are also offering three new beverages that sound like they’ll be on the sugary side as well, but our taste buds will be the judge of that!
Food
The first new menu item is a Creamy Shrimp Udon. This soup features thick udon noodles, shrimp, and spring vegetables in a creamy sauce. You can purchase this for yourself for $9.
Creamy Shrimp Udon
The sauce was perfectly creamy and the shrimp was very well cooked. What we like about this shrimp is that the tail of the shrimp has already been removed so it was super easy to eat. The noodles had great texture, as did the vegetables, which added a satisfying crunch!
Next up is the Hanami Sushi! This comes with three different types of Nigiri sushi: lemon-cured salmon, soy-marinated tuna, and cured mackerel. Each piece of fish came on top of a molded oval of rice, and you can get the array for $8.
Hanami Sushi
If you don’t enjoy raw fish, this might be a skip for you. Plus, if it’s a hot day, you have to eat this dish right away to avoid the fish being ruined. The mackerel tasted very fishy, so keep that in mind as well.
Last but not least, the Frushi! This dish takes the concept of sushi and converts it into a dessert which you can snag for $7.50. Frushi is made up of strawberry, pineapple, and lychee fruit all wrapped up in sweet rice and a pink soy wrap and garnished with whipped cream, drizzled raspberry sauce, and toasted coconut. In past years we were really impressed with this dish, but how did it measure up in 2023?
Frushi!
This treat is a fan favorite for a reason! Although it looks a bit intimidating, it really does taste like dessert. It’s a light and refreshing roll that tastes almost exactly like strawberry milk! This is delicious and a great option if you’re dealing with a picky eater.
Drinks
Time to move on to the drinks! All three of the drinks at this food kitchen are alcoholic, and each has a different fruit featured in their recipe. First off is the Sakura Cherry Blossom Pilsner! You can purchase this for $5 for a 6-ounce cup or $9.50 for a 12-ounce cup. You can also get their Hakushika Hana Kohaku Plum Sake. This blends Junmai Ginjo with Japanese plum and is available for $9. The drink we tried this year was the Nigori Dragon Fruit Sake Cocktail which is $7.75. This fruity cocktail contains Japanese sake and hints of dragon fruit.
Dragon Fruit Sake
You can’t taste the sake at all! This is a very sweet drink and comes un-chilled – unideal for a hot day, but you can always ask a quick service location for a cup of ice!
Overall
We thought the offerings at Hanami provide a great array of options for those who enjoy Japanese or seafood! While the creamy shrimp udon and the frushi were our favorites, we think there really is something for everyone here!
Hanami Spread
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Are you a fan of frushi or do you prefer classic sushi? Comment your pick below!
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Happy Eating!! The description of the shrimp udon says the tails are removed from the shrimp but there’s a tail in the picture? I’m hoping that is an old picture rather than an incorrect description? Thanks!
Nom Nom Nom 🍤🍤🍤