Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Haru Sushi

Haru Gramercy Park
220 Park Ave South (at 18th st)
646.428.0989
website

related blog review: Amber Sushi Lounge

decor and stuff
It had high ceilings, flowing water, and some candles. the dishes were ok. I never realized how pretty Amber was until I started to compare it with other places. Clearly, Upper East Side has its high points.

the food
//house tempura roll//shrimp, eel, salmon, asparagus
The above exceeded expectations. I think the asparagus was the reason.

//kiss of fire roll//super white tuna, salmon, jalapeño peppers and wasabi tobiko wrapped around crunchy spicy tuna and more jalapeños.
Actually spicy without dunking in wasabi first. Very nice. I loved the white tuna rolls from the kiss of fire. but since half came with tuna and half came with salmon, it is still not as good as "snow white" roll from Amber.

//dragon roll//eel and avocado wrapped around kani, cucumber, and kaiware.
The dragon roll is standard dragon roll (eel affair). I didn't detect anything out of the ordinary.

//fusion platter//white tuna tataki (seared white tuna), salmon (with citrus jalapeño sauce), tuna ceviche (grape tomatoes, red onion, avocado, and green apple in a citrus ceviche sauce), and seabass ceviche.
The ceviches had good vegetable/fruit ingredients which was a win for me. However, the quality of red tuna and seabass seems so-so. The white tuna knocked my socks off, especially since I haven't had seared white tuna yet. It was smokey and almost a bit creamy. The salmon was greatly improved by its sauce. What can I say, I was spoiled on salmon shipped from Alaska by my relatives on their recent visit there. This dish does win the "beautiful arrangement" of the night though. The four parts were carefully placed on a white rectangular place with four divisions. The colors of the ceviches contrasted well with the white tuna and orange salmon pieces.

the dessert
//tempura cheesecake// cheesecake with tempura batter and berry sauce
while the tempura coating with berry sauce was impressive, I didn't care much for the cheesecake inside. maybe I should have gone for the black sesame ice cream after all. It was still interesting to try at least once though.

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