Full disclosure: If someone asked me to write about Nanning, Japanese fusion fine dining wouldn’t be at the top of my list. That’s not what I associate with this city. Hana Shio blew me away though (in a good way).
Forget the neighbourhood izakayas or casual ramen shops. This is king crab, caviar, and wagyu on a hot stone. It comes course after course, dish after dish, and continues long after you thought it would end.
It was one of those meals where you stop counting courses halfway through and give yourself up to the experience. As I said earlier, I went as part of a group, and I’m glad I did because there were so many dishes. This is one of those places where sharing works best, where you can get to sample something of everything without feeling overfed.
The restaurant itself is equally understated. It is elegantly simple, but not at all flashy. It is quietly confident in its food.
A Huge Feast of Seafood and Beef at Hana Shio
Hana Shio Restaurant Nanning
The table was already set when we sat down, which is always a sign that the restaurant takes their food seriously. To follow the pattern of being serious, the first dish (a tin of sturgeon caviar served with a smooth avocado dip) did not disappoint. Caviar is more of a special occasion for me, it’s not something I eat often, if at all, so this was a big deal.
The combination of smoothness of the avocado with the briny pop of the eggs was more successful than expected. In fact, I could of been content with that plus some good bread, but that wasn’t going to happen. We’d only just begun.
The next dish were the king crab legs, shelled and waiting to be eaten. The tender, sweet crabmeat slid off easily without any mess or fuss of getting it out from under its shell. It is the sort of thing that makes you understand all the fuss about crab in the first place.
It was rich on rich in a way that really ought to be illegal: the foie gras with tiny little beads of caviar on top. I don’t always love foie gras (it can be too much) but the addition of caviar provided some much needed texture and saltiness to balance things out. It was followed by one of those dishes that seems almost comforting amidst all the luxurius ingredients.
A pumpkin gratin baked egg dish; sometimes you just need something warm and a little bit homey even when you’re in the middle of a fancy meal.
A refreshing plate of fresh strawberries and melon was served as a palate cleanser, welcome. This was followed by a lightening-up dish in the form of mixed salad with some tofu skin that provided a little lift to the procession. By now I was beginning to worry about just how many more course would arrive, but I was glad for the lighter dish.
There were garlic baked oysters with that savoury, slightly crispy top that always makes you forget there’s another way to eat an oyster, and perfectly cooked (not rubbery, still snappy) prawns in green herb sauce. Normaly, I like my oysters raw, but I could’ve been converted for a while by those ones.
And then (somewhere near the middle of all this), there was a bowl of pork bone winter melon soup, a claypot of braised meats, and some mushrooms and sautéed snap peas. The soup was exactly as it should be: clear and light, slowly simmered for hours so that everything melds into one. By contrast, the claypot had a deep, sticky savoriness with the kind of caramelized edge you only get on a really good braise.
And the veggies? They is simple but necessary. After so much richness and protein, I needed some crunchy green vegetables.
Next was herbal cordyceps soup with a slightly earthy, medicinal taste. Not for me (to be honest) but I appreciated its intention. After that came another soup, returning to the delicate and elegant style with seared scallop on avocado.
Just right, a perfectly caramelized crust on the outer, barely-cooked-in-the-middle center of the scallop.
And just as I thought it couldn’t get any fishier, they produced another platter that was piled high with ice and more seafood. There were more prawns. There was more shellfish.
There was more of everything. This looked like the sort of thing you’d find at a wedding banquet. We gave it our best shot but at this stage I was seriously wondering how much more I could take.
Then came grilled tiger prawns with lime, followed by a whole roasted pigeon in a pot that was unexpectedly tender. This was the first time I’ve ever eaten pigeon. It was like chicken but with more game and richness.
There was also a whole grilled fish served with a tasty drizzle on top, and some sticky, sweet glazed pork short ribs that, if I hadn’t been stuffed already, I think would of been my favourite dish.
I couldn’t even face the dessert, which was a plateful of matcha and mango treats, so I just pushed it aside. Then came the hot stone wagyu, and I have no idea how anyone was meant to tackle this while already stuffed. Little cubes of beef were still cooking on a smouldering stone, set down in front of you.
As good wagyu should be, it was buttery and melted in the mouth. Despite my fullness, I forced some into myself. You don’t refuse wagyu.
I left Hana Shio feeling as though I’d survived some kind of endurance test masquerading as a meal. Was it good? Absolutely, the care put into the presentation, the quality, and the range of dishes made it so.
Would I have the full tasting menu again? I am not so certain. It’s a lot of food.
Even so, if you’re in Nanning and want something special, or you are simply curious about how good local restaurants can be, it is worth a visit. Just make sure you pace yourself and perhaps don’t eat lunch beforehand. Have you ever eaten a marathon tasting menu where you lost track of the number of courses?
What do you do when you’re too full to continue but more food still arrives?
