There is a hidden corner in Barcelona's Putxet neighborhood where you can order a lunch menu for 9.50 euros with a rich Japanese-inspired main course, drink and an accompaniment based on pickled vegetables. Its menu includes all kinds of homemade cakes and desserts, Asian tapas such as its kimchi bravas, wakamole, steamed edamame seasoned or in the form of hummus, plus a wide range of local character that includes a rich potato omelette, three types of generous bikinis – as the mixed is known in Barcelona, after the concert hall of the same name – and varied sandwiches. In the midday service send those that have become, with reason, the brand of the house: the udon noodles (in two versions, brothy and creamy).
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It is called Kasa Hanaka and is located in Vil.la Urània, a landscaped tower of the late nineteenth century, built by Magí Rius i Mulet for the astronomer Josep Comas y Solà, donated to the city to become the municipal equipment. There is a family space -in the same cafeteria there are games and spaces to entertain the little ones-, a civic center with dissemination workshops, an art gallery and a cafeteria whose concession has been carried out since last September by the pastry chef and cook Aya Hanaka and Daniel Casanova, her partner and partner. When I said "hidden" before, it was quite literal: being a public facility they cannot do any kind of advertising, and I discovered it by chance because I pass by very often. The building is beautiful and the terrace at the entrance first—and the whiteboard with the menu later—caught my eye.
When I entered I did not suspect that behind it was the old team of Dolç i Taíno, a project that began as a Japanese pastry shop with its own workshop. "We served them cakes, they warned us that the concession was going to be released when we already knew that we were closing Dolç i Taíno and we decided to get into this scrubbing," smiles Casanova. "We work with very low-margin products, because we are aware that this is a civic center, and we need large volumes to get the numbers out."
The homemade spirit hasn't changed, and everything served at Kasa Hanaka is made in the small kitchen on view on one side of the room. "The staff schedules that Aya has to do to be able to make the cakes, the udon broth and all her toppings and everything else are bobbin lace," Casanova acknowledges. Its cheapest menu offers, for 9.50 euros, main dishes such as a pork stew with tomato and vegetables or a tasty vegan curry of soy and vegetables accompanied by rice and very complete salads such as quinoa and lentils with smoked salmon and avocado with sesame and lemon vinaigrette or assorted lettuce and olives with crunchy amaranth, a generous amount of chicken breast — so forceful that at some point I thought I would have preferred thigh — and miso and yuzu sauce. "We wanted the salads to be truly a unique and balanced dish," says Adrià Subirana, executive chef with 15 years of experience.
Monica Escudero
Whoever tries it, repeats: "We work with products whose flavors are no longer rare for anyone, such as curry or tomato-based stews, so it works with people of all ages," analyzes Casanova. Subirana says of his audience that "people who come to work here stay to eat, others come from afar and there are also people from the surrounding offices who come to eat two or three times a week." As vegetarian options they have a... and a half, "the curry as is, and the hummus of edamame to which we change the kimchi no moto – which has fish sauce – for salsa de las bravas or whatever the client wants," clarifies the chef.
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This menu also includes a drink and a tapa based on potato chips or pickled or fermented vegetables, such as a sunomono – a light and sweet and sour cucumber salad with rice vinegar and sesame – or the sour and spicy moyashi salad. If you always have a corner for the sweet, enter one of the winning tricks of the house: "although we are not officially a bakery, people like to have good quality desserts, which anywhere else cost five euros and here you can add to your menu for three, "says Daniel.
But practically 60% of what they serve at noon is the udon menu. "We serve between 30 and 60 udon menus a day, which is more grateful than the ramen for the kitchen we have – for things like the volume of broth – and we also like the idea of maintaining the niche, since in Barcelona it is a less known product, "they reflect. They prepare it in two versions, which change respectively on the first and 15th of each month, so that there is always rotation. It costs 12.50 euros with drink and accompaniment; I tried the 'soup' version and it was delicious: a locked and tasty broth based on toasted sesame and soy milk, with well-spiced minced meat, thick and square wheat noodles very pleasant to bite and fresh seasonal vegetables. This month's creamy option is bathed in a tomato and bacon sauce, accompanied by a generous amount of vegetables, including peppers candied in mirin — a low-alcohol cooking wine — and soy.
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"We were doing classic udon tests but I was missing something, I wanted to do it differently, so I proposed to Aya and Daniel a Europeanized version in the French style, with caramelized onion dashi, mustard pork and vegetables with soy and honey," Subirana recalls. "First they were a little reluctant, but then they loved it," and that was the first version they released last February. The essence of merging Japanese cuisine with that of here, for now, remains.
Next to it they offer a spicy oil with a base paste with a sweet point, in which the flavor and electric sensation of Sichuan pepper stand out. If you like it more spicy, ask for it because they have three types; Gochugaru, Sichimi Togarashi and a homemade mixture based on wasabi powder, ginger, garlic and salt, with a more nasal spicy. "For the third sauce we are doing tests: we have another colleague whose parents are Chinese who likes spicy and I have ever done something powerful to make it chile (and Aya happy, because she likes spicy a lot)," laughs Subirana.
To accompany they serve the same pickles as in the previous menu, and I chose the namuru salad, of bean sprouts with wakame seaweed, sesame oil and lemon juice: crunchy and refreshing thanks to the citrus, perfect to contrast with the hearty noodles that in a month will be difficult to eat in this almost tropical Barcelona. "By then we will be making cold versions and with less amount of broth, like the summer tantanmen, we are already doing tests at home," reassure us Hanaka and Subirana (those of us who still dream of the one prepared by Fan Shorompo are in luck).
Their sweets and desserts generally have a fairly controlled sugar point; Always keeping in mind that they are just that: sweets. The matcha tiramisu – this tea is one of the protagonists of this section – creamy and airy at the same time, the black sesame cheesecake has the deep touch that this seed gives it: they also have the classic or chocolate version, among others. The matcha brownie has pieces of white chocolate that caramelize slightly when passing through the oven and become a flavor bomb every time you come across one; And there are many.
An assortment of cakes and sweets from Casa Hanaka.Mònica Escudero
Chocolate, sesame or tea cookies are crunchy on the outside and edges, while maintaining that tender interior that contrasts and completes (they are large and cost two euros). The kasutera or Japanese cake is light and tasty, perfect to accompany it with any of its teas or infusions (at a reasonable 2.20 euros the bowl, except matcha or massala chai latte, whose elaboration and raw material make the price rise to 4.20). Another of their Japanese classics is the shortcake, a cake with filling and creamy coating of cream, chocolate or the ubiquitous matcha that they accompany with fruits such as strawberries or bananas: all desserts can be ordered by whole pieces of different sizes three days in advance.
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They are removed and put sweets – like kawai biscuits or those inspired by the characters of Studio Ghibli – but there can be only a couple of specials at a time for a mere matter of space. They also serve a sumo version bikini, which weighs between 220 and 240 grams - "there are people who ask for it to eat, not just for snack or dinner," smiles Subirana. They tasted more than ten types of bread until they found the right one; Inside, we will find double cooked ham and edam, camembert with edam and honey or the same cheese with chorizo (yes, all double). "We want to make one of anko with Philadelphia and a lot of butter, which is delicious," says the chef. In normal size they also have a Mallorcan sobrasada and Mahon cheese.
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To be able to prepare all that they have a team of seven people between room, kitchen and pastry. They are open from Monday to Sunday, serve cakes and artisan pastries, tapas and sandwiches throughout the day and the menu from 13 to 16. Future plans? "We are going to start serving a Japanese vermouth flavored with sake, but made in Lleida, which is called Berumotto, also cocktails and combined with Japanese gin and kakigori, the Japanese ice cream of shaved ice," Casanova tells us. "And upstairs we have an accessible roof on which we would also like to mount something," he dreams aloud. An urban beach bar with Japanese cocktails? As a neighbor they have my resounding "yes".
Kasa Hanaka: C/ de Saragossa, 29 (Vil.la Urània). Tel. 937 504 921. Map.
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