Haiku by Hatsune
28B Taojiang Lu (???28B?)
Shanghai, China
PRICE: ????
RATING:

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? 🙂

Haiku by Hatsune

The small, sun-lit restaurant.. which rapidly filled up with lunchtime diners

A very cute soy sauce container

Complimentary appetizer of mini fish. Not particular appetizing, to be honest,
would’ve much preferred some edamame…

Soft-shell crab – this was fantastic, beautifully crisp and the lovely sweet taste of crab meat.
Unfortunately, was tiny for the price and needed at least 2 crabs to justify.

Moto-rolla sushi roll – OUTSTANDING. A beautiful blend of flavours and topped
with creamy Japanese mayonnaise. One of the best sushi I’ve ever had.

Scallops sushi roll (forgot the name) – the scallops were large and plump and utterly fresh-tasting,
however the copious amounts of caviar detracted from the taste and texture of the dish.

We loved the freshness of all the ingredients at Haiku

Check out that glistening, plump scallop. DIVINE!

Cha Soba – Came in a massive bowl, sitting atop crushed ice. One of the best
soba I’ve ever had, all al dente, flavourful and tender.

Complimentary dessert – a strange blend of jelly and mousse. Only average.