Location: 205 West 43rd Street
Cuisine: Japanese
Items: 4 appetizers, 1 sushi entree, 2 hot entrees, 5 cocktails
Cost: Menu items range from $3 (select sushi rolls) to $60 (a large sushi sashimi entree for two).
Best Dish: One of the best dishes was the crispy duck. It was light and flavorful with a deliciously crispy skin.
Overall: A beautiful yet casual space with an attentive, courteous staff and great food. The perfect happy hour or dinner space.
Haru Sushi is a chain of sushi bars with six locations sprinkled throughout the city. On a clear cool Friday night, my good friend and I wandered into the Broadway location near Times Square. The location is just 1 block beyond the neon lights of the main strip. The look of the space is warm and airy with bamboo and natural decor throughout. We stepped up to the beautiful bar to start the evening off with Happy Hour cocktails and light bites. The Haru Happy Hour is weekdays from 3pm to 7pm and features a great discount on beverages and some appetizers. The beverages range from for beers and wine to – for specialty drinks like the Green Tea Margarita and the Lycheetini. I started with the Elderflower Crush and my companion ordered the Premium Mojito. The Elderflower Crush is as tasty as it is pretty. Its flavor is sweet and light with just a little kick.
To accompany our beverages we ordered the Lobster Gyoza. A Gyoza is a Japanese version of a Chinese dumpling. The dough is thicker than that of a wonton and usually fried. The Lobster version at Haru features copious amounts of tender juicy lobster meat and served with a light soy sauce for dipping.
After our drinks were finished and our dumplings consumed, we were ushered to our table in the center of the space. The menu at Haru is filled with all kinds of delicious goodies. I am currently attempting a lower carb lifestyle and this menu provides many dishes that have little to no carbs with lots of lean fresh protein. We started dinner with a round of appetizers chosen specifically to showcase the different options offered. Our first appetizer was another dumpling, the King Crab dumpling. These morsels were steamed and served with a spicy soy dipping sauce.
Next on our appetizer feast was the Spicy Sirloin Steak, the thin slices of marinated beef are served with asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, and Asian pepper sauce. This is a great meat eaters appetizer and perfect for novice chopstick users. It was a fun experience trying to hold on to the tasty bits of meat with the chopsticks. By the end of the plate, I felt like an old pro. Though the meat is spicy it is not so spicy that it can not be enjoyed. As someone who can only tolerate a little bit of heat this dish was great. There was just enough spice to taste it but not too much to burn the mouth.
Before our third appetizer, we ordered another round of cocktails. This time around I chose the seasonal special, The Wicked Vine. It is made with Svedka grape vodka, muddled grapes, Cointreau, pomegranate juice, lemon juice and simple syrup. My companion opted for the Naughty and Nice, a sweet but spicy cocktail of Avión Silver tequila, muddled lime and strawberry purée shaken with fresh jalapeño. Do NOT try to eat the jalapenos! The peppers are super hot and will ruin the rest of your meal. The drink is really tasty, but try your best to fight the urge to eat the garnish.
Our last appetizer for the evening was the fish tacos. The Trio of Fish Tacos Tuna is made with salmon and striped bass hard-shell tacos with cherry tomato salsa, avocado, and apple yuzu ceviche sauce. The tacos arrived 3 to an order and are served in hard shells. The tacos were a tasty combination of flavors and textures. It was similar to eating ceviche with tortilla chips.
After the tacos, our sushi platter arrived. We ordered the Chirashi Sushi it has tuna, whitefish, salmon, sawara, yellowtail, shrimp, 2 kani, octopus, tobiko and 2 tamago sashimi served on a bed of sushi rice. It’s like a deconstructed sushi roll in a bowl. The fish is fresh and flavorful and the vegetable garnish is a tasty refreshing mix.
We followed the Sushi bowl with the Crispy Duck. This dish is portioned to share and features beautiful bite-sized bits of duck as well as two drumsticks and crispy fried onions. This is one of the best duck dishes we have had so far. The meat was crispy on the outside but tender and juicy inside. This is a great dish for duck lovers and a perfect dish to introduce new foodies to the gamey flesh of the mallard.
Our last dish of the evening was the Chilean Sea Bass with ume plum sauce and mei fun noodles. Though the dish arrives with noodles it is also accompanied by a bowl of rice. The noodles are great on their own and the rice is the perfect vehicle for the tasty plum sauce.
After such an amazing meal we couldn’t even think of having a traditional dessert, we opted for another cocktail instead. The Scorpion Punch Bowl is a delicious treat made Jim Beam Red Stag black cherry bourbon, Reiko Sake, Svedka Vodka, Disaronno Amaretto, pineapple juice and orange juice. The bowl usually serves 4 but two can enjoy just as easily.
Haru Sushi is equal parts fun happy hour space and fine dining experience. The locale is easy to get to on any subway line and is just a stone’s throw from many of Broadway’s best shows as well as several movie theaters, this makes it a perfect date venue. Whatever your reason, Haru Sushi is a good place for good food, cocktails and of course sushi. Feel free to drop by and prepare to be greeted at the door and treated to excellent service along with a vast menu of delectable dishes. Visit www.harusushi.com for more information.