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cityweekend

A sanctuary for the senses There have been many attempts to pair style and substance in recent eateries sprouting around town. Haiku balances both perfectly. Muted colors, concrete architecture, and a gigantic mural splashed a zenful, chic welcome. To start, their signature salad with plum dressing (¥38) was just tangy enough to awaken our taste buds. The assorted sashimi combo (¥158, small) offered fresh, meltin- your-mouth slices that pass the ultimate Japanese restaurant test with flying colors. The Motoroll- ah (¥75) with deep fried spicy tuna, snow crab, maguro, avocado and "secret sauces," left us speechless – and not only because we'd stuffed our mouths full. Needless to say, the batteredto- perfection assorted tempura (¥62) and marinated (for three days!) grilled silver cod (¥68), kept on delighting. We shall be back to dine on the second floor to take advantage of its floor to ceiling windows. Itadakimasu! - Emily Chu

 

Most Recent Reviews

jeanpaolo

Love the spicy tuna rolls!

 

1 month ago

shanghai_11_59am

I'm not much of a roll guy. Baby I like it raw and naked. They served up fat cuts of high grade ish here. You will get what you pay for. It is pricey but quality. The other dishes where great except for our noodle soup which sucked(Lost them the 5th star). Don't think this is the only spot in the city to get great sushi though(a lot of Shanghai sushi spots blow). You can get the same high grade ingredients and quality served by a Master Tamotsu Otani on Yan'an Lu by Hongmei Lu at New Otani for almost half the price of Haiku. This is not an advertisement. Simply a fact.

 

2 months, 2 weeks ago

goatmilk

Forgot the stars :O

 

2 months, 3 weeks ago

goatmilk

The rolls here were oral (not orally induced) orgasms!

Of late, the quality and service have slipped in my opinion, but not quite enough to deter me from going back for more.

2 months, 3 weeks ago

kw

is a nice restaurant, the food is good, a little overpriced but is a fancy place, so you expect that. the service is nice, good atmosphere, is a nice place to go with friends or a date.

 

2 months, 4 weeks ago

mitsui

Although I'm not sure how "authentic" the cuisine is, I think its good service, tasty food, and a great choice for a night out. The clayton roll is quite nice, and I'm a fan of their beef tataki as well as their Kimchi Beef noodles. Its a bit expensive but i applaud the ownership being around for me a good place to go on a night out in a foreign city!

 

3 months, 3 weeks ago

peterlam

After all that hype I've heard, we were bitterly disappointed with Haiku. The moto-roll-ah which everyone raves about was an overkill with many ingredients and sauces that we could not taste anything in particular. Good Japanese cuisine is supposed to be simple (rather minimalist) so that you can taste the freshness of each ingredient and savor the natural taste. Their roll made me think of cheap restaurants that overdo the sauces to mask the freshness of their ingredients. The sashimi platter was decent, but not exceptionally fresh (i.e. not melt-in-your-mouth). The tempura set was again just decent. Their grilled cod was very average. We've had better Japanese elsewhere in town. Oh...when we asked for the hot green tea that is customarily served in all Japanese restaurants, the waiter said that their boiler was not working and therefore could not serve hot tea. After we insisted that we did not want alcohol or cold drinks on a cold winter night, green tea miraculously appeared at the table. We thought it was quite lowly of an expensive restaurant to 'pretend' not to serve tea to force people to order drinks. If I was in the mood for drinks, I would have ordered drinks regardless of whether they served tea...

In summary, we won't be back. We would go to Oyama which is more expensive but infinitely better in food (melt-in-your mouth fish freshly flown in daily from Japan, prepared with exquisite simplicity) and experience (friendly Japanese chef in an authentic sashimi bar setting and great Japanese service). Or go to Shoka which serves very similar quality food (all-you-can-eat from an a la carte menu) for less.

 

3 months, 4 weeks ago

hibeverly

Friends keep telling me to check out Haiku by Hatsune, originally in Beijing and now has a restaurant in Shanghai. It's a high-end Japanese restaurant that is surprisingly quite casual, perhaps because we went for lunch so it seemed more like a cafe. Despite being a weekday, it was a full house, which we took as a good sign ;) Their menu is pretty extensive but we zero'd in on the sushi rolls, which we've been told are their star dishes.

The Moto-rolla sushi roll was by far the best, and one of the best sushi rolls I've had. Plump and super fresh, it was packed with ingredients and was just delicious. Beats a regular plain 'ol sushi roll any day. The other sushi roll we had was with with fresh scallops and caviar. The scallops were divine and had a fantastic mild flavour, but the caviar provided an unwelcome texture next to the smooth scallops - it was too hard and gritty and I ended up digging it all out with my chopstick. That done, the sushi roll was great :)

I couldn't resist the Deep fried soft-shell crab the moment I saw it on the menu. However, I was disappointed when there was just 1 small crab on the plate. For the prices they're charging, it sure was a let down. Fortunately, it was perfectly cooked - tender and moist inside, crispy and crunchy on the outside.

Their Cha Soba was also a winner. It came twisted upon a bed of soft crushed ice, and with a little saucer of condiments alongside it. Normally, I find most soba is about the same, and so was impressed with how delightful and tasty theirs was. I'd definitely order this one again!

Overall, I found their food very good, but rather overpriced. That's because we get amazing, super-fresh Japanese food in Australia for cheap, so I could be biased. I found their complimentary starter and dessert also rather odd (and generally not very nice) but since they were free, who was I to complain? :)

PHOTOS HERE: http://beverly.livejournal.com/765612.html

 

4 months, 3 weeks ago

peterparis

I think this is not really the best japanese restaurant in town for what`s offer (i eat last time frozen sashimi and very oily ,soft tempura :( )the service staff is polite but not really good tranned...ambiance is nice

 

5 months, 2 weeks ago

zachary_franklin

I am still more impressed with the digs in the Hatsune at Beijing. Nonetheless, the restaurant "chain" has some of the best sushi either here or in the Northern Capital. Everybody toots the Moto-roll-ah, but I'm more a fan of the 119 roll.

 

6 months, 2 weeks ago

komar_sh

great food overpriced but always had great time overthere

8 months, 1 week ago

gg_xoxo

All time reliable favourite from years back but a lot of poor reviews turned me off lately. Went back for the first time in AGES just to check for myself and it was still great! Just as I remember............Moto-roll-ah. Butterfly rolls. Spider rolls. Mmmmmmm.

8 months, 1 week ago

bamba

very nice food, good service, excellent for bringing friends who come to travel here

8 months, 2 weeks ago

cjiang

This California style sushi restaurant presents an alternative to all-you-can-eat gorge fests while keeping prices below those of high-end joints. Their signature salad with miso dressing is a good kick off to the meal and I like to follow with the Motoroll-ah, Princess Li, and Amy rolls. A decent selection of hot and cold sakes makes this place a suitable start to an evening on the town. For sushi lovers, Haiku is a must try.

 

9 months ago

utensils1977

The food is still amazing so i won't go on about it (though I must slip in that the Beef Teppanyaki lunch set is to die for!).

Service. Ok, I have big issues with this. Don't get me wrong - I've always been a huge fan of Haiku and will still continue to go there and recommend to friends. However, lately, I noticed that the basic standards of staff servicing has dipped rather significantly.

We were there yesterday for lunch and we were served by the most grouchiest staff ever. She was abrupt, raised her voice aggressively at us when we tried telling her we wanted our beef "medium rare" and not "medium well" which she kept insisting on, and never once smiled or gave a positive reaction when we thanked her for pouring us tea or serving us our food. Surely, when a customer says "Thank You" and acknowledges you, one would at least try to give a smile - basic courtesy and Service 101 rule of thumb.

I'd never wish to be served by that lady or anyone similar to her ever again. She might be having the worst day in her life but this is Haiku, not some jing-jang dodgy restaurant. So if you can't put your moodiness aside for those few hours of service, I think you should think twice before putting on the uniform.

For this point, I'm giving Haiku a 1 star this time round. Just based on servicing.

 

10 months, 4 weeks ago

utensils1977

Moto-roll-ah.... yes please! Haiku does a wikid lunch set and dinner time, the ambiance, setting, service and food is perfect.

I'm going back there for the hundredth time this Friday with a visiting relative - can't wait to sink my teeth into the soft shell crabs and moto-roll-ahs!

 

1 year ago Updated See utensils1977's latest review »

agathejiale

Overpriced ! Overrated ! Rolls are good but damn expensive, and the decor is already decaying. I had an awful peach martini blended by a hesitant bartender before dinner because we had to wait for our table for 20 minutes (despite booking ahead)...

 

1 year, 1 month ago

scorpiodragon

Lunch is pretty good here - decently priced and food is fresh. The sushis are innovative but way too expensive for what it is. Dinner here is at the high end and this place caters only for expats. Did not see a single local customer on the 3 times I dined here. There are better Jap deals in town and unless you want to rub shoulders with other fellow expats - can't really think of any reason to return.

 

1 year, 2 months ago

jacobflowers

Actually, i forgot to put stars up in my last post. Anyway, fabulous place. And you really can't feel bad at the end of the meal, because you're satisfied, and everyone convinces themselves that japanese type food is healthy. So, ya leave with a better than average feeling :)

 

1 year, 2 months ago

jacobflowers

One of my favorite places. Unfortunately, I have to treat this place as a special occasion only, because I would more than tend to order a decent amount of food here (the rolls are delicious). I only wish they would have lunch specials, espescially or sherpas for delivery. Something like a bento set, or cheaper rolls, I would order there everyday. Additionally, this place would be SPECTACULAR for Sunday brunch recovery, if only they had a brunch program.

1 year, 2 months ago

foodie33

Still going great after 2 years. Reckon they have the best value lunch sets (monday to fridays) - good price, quality food. Service has also improved - back 6 months - the lunch sets was very slow at times - well done team!

 

1 year, 2 months ago

shpgg

First time wasn't impressed with the M-roll or others we tried. But recently was back for special function and was wowed by the imaginative sushi creations. Excellent creation and execution. Done with love.

1 year, 5 months ago

casperxx

HBH was all in all a good experience. After having heard all the praises abouthis place we decided to head there ourselves in a group of four last saturday. First impression, nice decor from the outside, easy to find on the re-re-renovated Taojiang Lu. 2nd impression, no staff at the door, just one busy completely helpless receptionist on the phone.Noto to self: BAD. Ok, we got a great table at the many windows but no real attention by the not scarce staff. What is WRONG with you people? I sit, i need a wet towel, and a tea. Not rocket science, but comon courtesy in OTHER upper class joints. The Sake infused Martini-like Cocktails were nice though. So was the ice cold draft (asahi) after. The choice of rolls is incredible. Even the pickiest diner will find something to his or her liking. If rolls don't do it for you (well, why are you here in the 1st place ?)-there is sushi/sashimi and hot japanese food to choose from. The Beef Tataki for example was sublime (even though we tried the 'normal' variation and not the 288RMB Wagyu one). All in all a very pleasant evening, if you have the right seat AND get the attention of the waitstaff. Still, after the place filled nicely up after 21:00 it got rather noisy. Nevertheless, we will be back for more delicious roll-tasting.

 

1 year, 5 months ago

epeter03

Yeap, best western/CA style sushi in Shanghai. 119 I wasn't a big fan of but the Ninja, Motoroll -ah and Butterfly were great.

 

1 year, 6 months ago

american

Easily some of the best Western-style sushi in Shanghai. The Clayton Roll is a must-try. Packed to the ceiling on the weekends - so make sure you book a table in advance.

1 year, 11 months ago

tristamarie

The 119 roll is frankly, delicious. For those who haven't been here yet, this is a rendition of spicy tuna, and a damn good one. The tuna was of melt-in-your-mouth quality. Definitely, in a word, delish.

2 years, 3 months ago

tristamarie

Look out, this one is expanding across the river to Lujiazui. That's right Pudong dwellers, you will have your very own Haiku to call home very soon. But if you still want to come over to ours, we understand.

2 years, 4 months ago

collin

This place is packed in Beijing We'll see how they come off in Shanghai against all-you-can-drink/eat joints and really swanky Japanese restaurants

3 years ago

delawaregirl

Loved It!! I have dined at Haiku for dinner and lunch and enjoyed myself both times. The food, staff and ambiance are all superior. It reminds me of the Japanese-fusion restaurant I frequent at home in the US. Loved it!!!

3 years, 3 months ago