60-Minute Feasts: Sushi Haru, Fish Master Hiro Dreams of Umami

Restaurant snapshot: Sushi Haru embraces Edomae-style sushi in a formal omakase setting, sourcing fine fish from Tokyo Bay and seasoned with vinegar-flavoured rice and natural wasabi paste. The Black Sheep has been open since September 2022, after a stunted launch in 2020. Chef Hirokuni Shiga manages the chef’s table with 20 years of experience.

Vibe and venue: The omakase kitchen is swept away into secrecy beside its Black Sheep cousin, Crowne Super Deluxe, for good and bad. Sushi Haru is clandestine to maintain a premium in taste and ambience, but this overshadows a potential mass-market love for the restaurant by many Hong Kongers simply unaware of its physical existence. 

Value for time & money: Dip into Sushi Haru for an expedient lunch meal in just under an hour, sampling up to a dozen rice and fish creations. Expect to pay HK$1,088 per person for the 10-course omakase lunch menu, appropriate to the quality of the fish. I would feel comfortable spending this much on the supreme quality, but only on special occasions.

Menu highlights: Only the second dish on the menu, the kasugo (young sea bream), shone brightly, with a fruity flavour matched with an umami ending with the grainy dried egg. The O-toro revealed the chef’s mastery in packaging salt with reams of beautiful tuna fat. The Okinawa brown sugar sorbet is masterful to cleanse the palate for the big day after.

What we tasted: 15 different bowls, sushi pieces, and rolls, including Chawanmushi with Kochi (flathead), Aji (horse mackerel), Kinmedai (golden eye snapper), Isaki (chicken grunt), Katsuo (bonito), O-toro (fatty tuna), Kanpyo (dried gourd), aged tuna roll, and Okinawa brown sugar sorbet.

Hits & misses: The Ohagi sushi perfectly embodied the tone of umami at Sushi Haru, delivering a soft texture of ground tuna with savoury vinegar with white leek and pickled radish garnish. After 13 plates, before dessert, the miso soup did not raise to the standard as the previous dozen bites, falling flat with a familiar flavour at other sushi tables.

The midday must-have: The Nishin (herring) was a must-have in my books. This sushi creation is the prettiest in the roster. Its pink interior is complemented with edible purple flowers and an allium-forward topping of fermented garlic to drive a pickled aftertaste with acidity after biting.

Final verdict: Fish at Sushi Haru is prepared deftly to a level that matches many Michelin-graded Japanese kitchens. Chef Hiro is masterful with curing each dish slice and its bottomed rice component with perfect vinegar balances to create great funky fermented flavour combinations. If you love sour and vinegary like me, come dine here.

Location: Sushi Haru, M/G, 33 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong

Contact details: +852 2111 1450

This food review is based on a complimentary media tasting provided by Sushi Haru in exchange for a truthful review and no compensation. The opinions expressed within represent the views of the author.   

Enjoyed this article? Check out our previous 60-Minute Feasts reviews here.