Hanami Sushi Bar and Grill

We decided to try this place with my daughter on a Sunday night. It's a big restaurant very nicely decorated and super clean. The place was almost empty so we got service right away and a very polite waitress.
I ordered a house salad which was great while my daughter loved her miso soup.
Then we shared 3 different sushi rolls. The Arlington was yummy, the eel and sweet potato one was so good that my girl tried eel for the first time! She loved it! The last one was a salmon/avocado roll which was as tasty as the rest! Well prepared, fresh and good proportion of fish to rice.
A bit pricey including tip but worth it! We will be back!

We've been to Hanami more than a few times and we had takeout once or twice, we love sushi and as Belmont residents we really want the restaurant to succeed.

The food has been excellent, the service has been spotty.

Last night, on my way home, I called the restaurant to place a takeout order at 8:50pm. The website says they are open until 11pm on Saturdays. The girl that answered the phone told me the kitchen was closing in 10 minutes which I found strange. What kind of a restaurant closes the kitchen 2 hrs before closing time? I said great, I would like to order takeout. I was told that I needed to place my takeout order online.

I wasn't sure if she understood me correctly so I repeated that I would like to place a takeout order. She told me I needed to order online. What? I cannot drive and place online orders at the same time. That's what phones are for.

I ended up ordering sushi from Super Fusion in Watertown who were more than happy to take my order over the phone.

To the management and owners of Hanami, you need to train your staff to be more professional and friendly if you want repeat customers.

First time here on a Saturday night. We were seated straight away. Very warm and friendly hosts and staff. Great table service!
Food was great! We had pork gyoza, veg tempura, and ramen for main course. Just what we needed on a chilly, rainy night.
Ambiance very nice! Spacious, but needs more soft surfaces to absorb sound, which is why one star taken away. The musical entertainment (guitar player singing some Elvis tunes and the like), was out of place and way too loud for my 50 year old ears. It was more fitting for a bar with cheap eats and beer. Maybe think that one through better in the future.

Love to find great places only 10 minutes away from me. This is the crown jewel of Belmont eateries.

Hanami is exactly the type of place that the area needs. It's vibrant, with great good and live music nights. It was packed on a Saturday night.

The menu has many options. You can find staples like miso soup, vegetable tempura, crab Rangoon and pork gyoza. However, I came for the sushi to be the main attraction.

A must order is the Tuna flight. I ended up ordering 2 of these just for myself. It was a tough decision since there was also Toro Toro roll on the menu which sounded awesome.

Caterpillar roll was great. Individual Nigiri pieces were divine. Himachi melted in my mouth. Salmon was so good too. I will order all of these again and again.

The list of specialty rolls is so creative. It was hard to pick. The signature Hanami roll was good, but the uni was very mushy. My only complaint is the uni. At $28 for this roll, it's probably one I would not repeat.

Shrimp tempura roll was crispy. Unagi roll was pretty awesome as well. There are so many great options for sushi.

The highlight was Gizelle, who made our experience so much more fun. She was so friendly and fun, and very engaging. I will make sure she's my server every time. I'll be back for the service and the food.

Excellent experience all around. Definitely check this place out. I'll be back.

I went in a few days ago with some friends and they sat us almost right away. The restaurant is big and spacious with beautiful decor! Our server was very sweet and funny and had some very good suggestions on the menu! The menu has a little bit of everything which I wasn't expecting from a sushi restaurant. Ultimately i decided on the Red Dragon Roll and the Spicy Salmon roll. Neither were spicy as stated but they were delicious and very filling. Saturdays they must have live music which was a nice and unexpected surprise. Definitely recommend!!

This place is so freaking cute, Nord was my server. He was cool and knowledgeable and had a love for Taylor Swift. The sushi rolls here are ginormous, so if you typically get more than one, you might want to think about that because they are big. I couldn't even get through a whole roll. I also got salmon to go it comes in a little cute bento box, and it's so freaking good. And it comes with mixed vegetables rice and a salad. The only negative thing I have to say is my son got his plate before me so I was watching him eat and by the time I got mine he was done so then he was watching me eat. I always feel like that's weird when you're dining. I prefer for you to just hold the food and bring it back when everybody gets their plate so everyone eats together. Other than that everything was great it's a cute little place, plenty of street parking. That's the nice thing about Belmont after about 5:00 p.m. or when the other businesses close, there's not that much traffic or cars taking parking. Oh, this is a small little detail, but their chairs are so comfortable as soon as you sit down it's like a cloud for your bum.

It is also a little pricey, so prepare yourself. Also, I noticed that they do not have red wine on the menu, though they have a full bar. It was two options of white wine, plenty of sake, and again, probably anything else you want.

This place is not worth it. Took about 8 min to be greeted by a server. We got some sushi which wasn't terrible. But The spicy tuna is more flakes than it was tuna- rip off. But what really got me what the soup. I got the bone broth soup with udon noodles. Says it come with veggies- it' came with one mushroom, a few pieces of spinach and a radish worst of all the chicken was FROZEN CHICKEN! like Tyson chicken breasts. Couldn't believe it. All set with this place and wouldn't go back.

Two stars only for the live jazzy music that was nice.

Forgot to mention that I paid cash at check out and the lady asked if I needed change and did the tip math in her head... it was awkward and I felt very rushed

New Japanese restaurant in Belmont!!! We visited for the soft opening and tried their sushi, ramen, and a couple hot tapas. Overall, the quality of the fish was excellent. The sushi was very fresh, flavorful, and soft. We also enjoyed the baked hotate gai. The hamachi collar was good too, but some spots were too bitter and burnt for our taste.

I liked the interior of the restaurant -- so clean and new! The waitstaff were nice, but seemed a bit confused and disorganized, though I'm sure that will improve with time.

We look forward to visiting again and trying some of their other dishes!

For the love of all things, DO NOT EAT HERE. Every dish was the very worst, most flavorless version of itself. Rice? Dry. Curry sauce? Watered down flavor with something lumpy added. Like a thickener. Tonkatsu? Dry & chewy. Pork belly yakitori? No yakitori sauce, dry and inedible. No sauce on the chicken yakitori either. Agedashi tofu - tofu was cooled, not hot, sauce was kind of cold, it only had shreds of bonito, not flakes, no daikon, & sauce flavor was watery, very weak flavor. The veggie tempura appetizer was crispy but the oil had an unfresh flavor, the wheat batter had no flavor (& small portion for the price, as the kicker). My daughter ordered Tonkatsu ramen & got the entree. There was some chicken appetizer that was overcooked, with a tiny bowl of dipping sauce to make these edible.

The busboy accidentally spilled all the glasses of water when we sat down & my guest sat in wet pants the whole time, and the workers expected US to mop up the water. It went everywhere. The waiter actually handed ME paper napkins instead of taking swift action for his guests. Another woman kept telling him to do the work. But he wouldn't.

It was $189 of my hard earned money for a total birthday disaster. I talked to the manager after & he should have comped the entire meal but instead offered a $25 coupon. I declined as we'll never go here again!!

The more I thought about it, the more shocked I was that I wasn't offered something for the water disaster, like a free meal, but then the whole dinner was so bad..and the manager didn't bat an eye or offer to comp at least some of it.

I'm embarrassed, crushed that my daughter's birthday meal was a disaster, my guest had wet pants the whole meal, and I'm just furious that we didn't matter much to the manager or the waiter.

Don't waste your money on this 4th rate "Japanese" resto. Please.

Fun sushi place. It still feels young and like it's trying a little to please everyone (e.g., I can see a reach toward poke, but tournedos rossini feels a bridge too far for a sushi/izakaya joint). Really great to have something like this in town.

The costs can feel a little high for the basics ($9 for a basic salad). I hope as time goes on, they get the confidence (and the finances) to go full sushi/izakaya in terms of their menu options. In the meantime, they're open most of the day and they have great options, including a solid sake section on their wine list.