Restaurant Review... Haru, Back Bay, Boston...

Day two of weight watchers and I suddenly remembered I had dinner plans with my friend, Erin.  Of course, I will never stop eating out, how could I?  But the thought of dining out on day two of starting a diet sent me into a bit of frenzy.  The reason being is I have absolutely no willpower whatsoever, none!  When presented with a fabulous menu, I always want the fabulous choice, which doesn’t equate to the right choice, diet wise!

Anyway, enough of that.  I told Erin of my dilemma and she immediately suggested sushi.  Now why didn’t I think of that instead of having a panic attack?  Next suggestion was an old haunt of ours from years ago… Haru.  I started to get excited, especially after I checked out the points value of what I would want and could actually enjoy. 

Located on the Huntington side of the Prudential Mall, Haru a New York chain restaurant greets patrons into their space with “Kangei” which means welcome in Japanese from their friendly hosts.

Haru is quite large with a separate bar and lounge area for more casual dining, a long sushi bar and a restaurant that looks out onto Huntington Ave.  Asian-inspired art work adorns the walls and their lighting gives a feeling of warmth and serenity.

There are a couple of menus from the cocktail, to their main to the Happy Hour (5-7pm) and the specialty menu.  The main dinner menu offers the traditional sushi, sashimi, maki rolls along with intriguing specialty rolls, soups and salads.

While we perused the menu we ordered some wine and edamame from the Happy Hour menu.  I thoroughly enjoyed the huge steaming bowl of deliciously salty edamame. It is like a never ending bowl of delight.

Edamame - $4 (Happy Hour menu 5-7pm)

Next we decided to share a couple of things.  First was the Spicy Tuna Roll from their Happy Hour menu and at just $5 for six pieces, I was very happy.  Perfectly enjoyable.

Spicy Tuna Roll - $5 (Happy Hour menu)
Shogatsu - Tuna, salmon and white tuna-wrapped spicy snow crab and asparagus roll, topped with cilantro, mango, strawberry, tobiko and wasabi tobiko sauce-  $18

We wanted to try one of the specialty rolls that looked particularly fun so ordered the Shogatsu.   At $18 this is quite pricey for six pieces but worthy of the extra pennies.  Delicate tuna and salmon with a mild spicy kick and a crunch of asparagus harmonized perfectly to create this wonderful roll. 

In addition, to our rolls we also ordered the Tuna Ceviche.  While I am not really a fan of fruit in salad, I know this is so weird, I did enjoy this dish overall.  Quite different from the standard ceviche with slightly tart tuna and salmon on crispy lettuce and an abundance of fresh avocado.  Erin seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

Ceviche  - Citrus-marinated tuna, salmon or whitefish with grape tomatoes, red onion, avocado and green apples- $12.75

For something a little special, we both ordered a couple of sashimi pieces each.  The Smoked Salmon and the Yellowtail.  Both as good as they could be for me. 

Yellotwail - $4/piece

I had forgotten how much I like Haru but more importantly, how much I like love sushi. 

Haru is still as good as I remembered it.  Service is attentive, food is fresh and creative and a good pointer for me is how good their edamame is and Haru’s is super.

Fun for groups, just friends or perhaps a first date place!

See a link to this review and many more on "Restaurant Talk"...