Lei of the land at Hawaiian Hana
GO surfing for great Hawaiian food in Melbourne CBD at this new Lt Collins St eatery — a warm, candy-coloured world better suited to boardies than brogues.
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ALOHA! I’ve always wanted to say that and thanks to Hana, a new beach head for Hawaiian food in Melbourne, I can ... and mean it.
Such a welcoming place. To step into Hana on a winter’s day, in a congested space that once housed Hairy Canary, is to enter a warm, candy-coloured world better suited to board shorts than brogues. A daydreaming place that will have you thinking about cresting surf, leis and lomi lomi massages before you even sit down among the fern-frond wallpaper and pineapple lanterns and order a tiki cocktail.
Hana’s head chef Mario Manabe explains: “When you travel round the Hawaiian Islands, you get this feeling. We wanted to bring a bit of that to Melbourne.’’
Manabe, raised in Hawaii, has special affection for Maui. Hana is named after a coastal town at the eastern end of that enchanted island — 40 minutes flying from Honolulu — and his tight lunch and dinner menus have been inspired by the food he and owner Matteo Bruno encountered over there.
Not just at sit-down restaurants either. Food trucks, farmers market stands and beach shacks have all lent shape to Hana’s mod tropical slate, from crunchy croquettes ($4 each) and baby squid with sorrel and sour onion ($22) to cabbage trimmed pork shank ($48) and a grilled lobster with carrot and cardamom puree ($46).
What makes Hana especially intriguing is the way the kitchen places raw seafood instead of hot dishes at its core. Think hiramasa kingfish with jalapeno and lemon ice ($32); tuna, watermelon, coconut and lime ($34); and picked crab with tempura apple and ginger ($26).
Think, most of all, of poke (pronounce po-kay). This word describes a ubiquitous free-form fish salad – most commonly marinated tuna – which new wave chefs, like Manabe, are sprucing up. Hana’s poke salads at lunchtime run to salmon, citrus and macadamia ($18.50) and kingfish with charred snow peas and apple ($20). Night time is the right time for poke, avocado and tapioca crisps ($24), which comes with a smack-in-the-mouth hit of yuzu.
Manabe also sends out snapper ceviche ($28), a Peruvian-style fish dish wallowing in ‘tiger’s milk’ (the juices of the seafood marinade co-mingling with citrus).
Wash all this down with a cocktail. The Hana Colada ($22) is a Jamaica rum-powered tiki treat complete with swizzle stick and a little umbrella while the Honolua Bay Sharknado ($21) will have you sipping from the gaping maw of a ceramic Great White.
Speaking of discomfort ... Hana could invest in sturdier chairs. And proper lighting. Deciphering the menu here was tricky with only teeny candles and cursive neon script to go by.
Barely six weeks old, Hana also needs to stabilise its service. Staff, while keen and eager, looked to be all at sea sometimes. Perhaps their minds were on wave breaks off Waikiki.
Manabe — a former sous chef to Curtis Stone — has his work cut out sourcing summery ingredients over a Melbourne winter. His wagyu with charred vegetables ($38) will be more tantalising when sea asparagus can be substituted with spears from the land.
But no need to change the pork shank. This is Hana’s big kahuna, a whopping tomahawk of meat encased in a blistered crust which — when cracked open — emits a gust of steamy, porky goodness. Not to mention a whiff of pineapple.
Yep, Hana is sending out good vibrations. You won’t hear slack-key guitars here or waves crashing on a distant shore. But on the right day, in the right mood, Hana can plonk you on Maui.
Dive in.
Hana
212 Little Collins St, city
Ph: 9654 4860
hanarestaurant.com.au
Open: Mon-Fri noon till late; Sat from 4.30pm
Go-to dish: Pork shank, apple and cabbage
Rating: 13.5/20
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