Haiku Sushi

Haiku Sushi is now open in Shockoe Bottom. We went a few weeks ago and had a delicious time.

The new restaurant inhabits the space that was one Sensei. Vestiges of the old decor now mixes with the new.

The owners of Haiku have (or had - not sure of the details) a connection with Eat Partners and parts of the regular menu resemble offerings from Wild Ginger or Osaka. But Haiku also presents a secondary menu listing 30 different rolls. Wow! What a quandary. So many choices.

We opted to order a bottle of wine - Roza Ridge Cabernet from Washington State

and Steamed Spicy Pork Dumplings while we made decisions on which rolls to try.

I fell in love with the dumplings. The dumpling skin was thin which thrilled me. So many places use a thick, bland skin that fills me up, but does not satisfy. The pork filling was tasty and the soy-based sauce, delicious.

And then it was roll time. We splurged and ordered two rolls each. We were not disappointed and left quite full. One of the things I generally get at a sushi restaurant is yellowtail sashimi; sometimes with rice, sometimes not. Haiku did me one better with the Silk Road Roll - spicy tuna topped with yellowtail and avocado and served with a wasabi mayo. I really got the best of all worlds. I could pull the yellowtail out and eat as is while enjoying the rest of the item as a true roll.

I also had the Shockoe Roll - spicy shrimp topped with avocado and beet. Yummy!

Hubby went with the Sleepy Hollow Roll - tempura shrimp, jalapeno, onion, cilantro, spicy kani as well as the Friday Roll - a tuna, goat cheese, and avocado roll tempura fried. Both were delicious. It's recommended to eat the Friday Roll first to enjoy the warm goat cheese.

I'm glad that Haiku Sushi has opened. They are closer to my abode than either Wild Ginger or Osaka, and I am a fan of the myriad choices in rolls.