Haru - Wall Street

My brother, John, recently started work at the Wall Street location of Haru. We decided to pay him a visit one night to check out his serving skills and knowledge of Japanese food and culture. It was quite a treat to be greeted by him at the door in Japanese, and to receive stellar service all night long. Really. The best service we've had in New York City. Ever.

We went on a Saturday night, and noted that the restaurant was pretty quiet and had few patrons, although this seems typical of the financial district on weekend evenings. The decor was modern and spacious, and could accommodate large groups of people. The sushi counter was exposed and it was fun to watch the chefs at work.

At John's suggestion, we began with the standard edamame, then went on to crab cakes that were well-seasoned, included big chunks of crab, and were topped with a tasty mango sauce.

Some people are adventurous sushi eaters. Being fairly new to the world of sushi, we are pretty tame, but were very pleased with the rolls we ordered. We shared the Philadelphia, spicy tuna, spicy titanic special roll (which included salmon, avocado and salmon caviar wrapped around spicy tuna and tempura flakes). For dessert, we shared red bean mochi ice cream and tempura cheesecake. Both were fantastic and we left very satisfied.

Did I mention the service was fantastic?

Another post written by V!

Sharaku

Sharaku is a sushi place directly across the street from our apartment. We tried it out and weren't blown away but it was good. (Definitely not Haru!) The restaurant was busy but the service was slow. We ordered most of the normal rolls we get, like tuna with avocado, spicy tuna, Philadelphia, and then tried one special roll, called the spider roll. It had fried soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado, sprouts, roe, and spicy mayonnaise. V ordered it, but didn't realize why it is called the spider roll: the crab legs are sticking out the end like a giant spider climbing out of the roll. Needless to say, I got to eat the whole roll. It was good, but I don't know if I'd order it again. I guess we just like to stick with the simple sushi.

Watawa

Watawa is a little Japanese restaurant around the corner from my apartment. I've seen it there since I moved in but never had an opportunity drop in for a bite. Late one night after most of the other restaurants on the block had closed, V and I were looking for sushi and Watawa was still open. It was a good choice, and not just for late-night eats.

I've only relatively recently gotten in to sushi, and still I'm pretty much a novice, sticking to tuna rolls and other simple dishes. I did the same here, but the rolls were well prepared and the slight twists the chef added were a nice touch. This sushi was very good, I'd say because the layer of rice was minimal, allowing me to better enjoy the roll's contents. The tuna and avocado roll was very good, and the spicy tuna roll (which wasn't too spicy) had a little addition of crunchy tempura crumbs rolled up inside. The presentation was simple and the service was relatively quick, though we waited a while for our order to be taken and for our drinks to arrive.

A few other comments: the decor was nice and simple. Lots of bottles of while and sake around the restaurant, and an otherwise clean atmosphere. Our waiter was good and easily handled my special request (sure, adding avocado isn't that complex). I'm happy I finally dropped in to Watawa; when I left, I took the delivery menu. I'm sure I'll order (or drop in) again.

Go Wasabi

I can't tell much about sushi, but I thought what I had at Go Wasabi was good. There are some good deals to be found on the menu, like the "Maki" specials which include soup (miso, seemed overly fishy) and salad with 3 different sushi rolls (18 pieces) for a pretty good price.

I had a tuna tempura roll which was different than I expected in that the Tuna was more cooked than I'd have preferred and there wasn't a tempura crunchyness, but it was good. I also had the "SoHo" which had shrimp tempura, avocado and a spicy orange sauce. I can't remember what else was in it, (and it isn't listed on their online menu) but I found it to be very tasty, if HUGE - these were 2-inch wide rolls which I could barely fit in my mouth.

The service was adequate and amusingly everyone on staff says goodbye and thank you as you leave the restaurant.