HARUTAKA

Harutaka is one of Tokyo's top sushi addresses, and ranked second after the almost saintly Sushi Saito in Tabelog. And , what can I say, it is an amazing experience. The omakase menu served by the chef is outstanding. All of the sushi pieces served are of outstanding quality, and among those the oto...ro, the anago, uni, kohada and tiger shrimp stood out. The otoro was memorable - melt-in-the-mouth-oh-my-god. After dinner here, it will be a long long time before I set foot in a sushi restaurant in Europe (unless in Paris, London or Stockholm). Service was friendly and attentive, and the sake we chose both excellent and cheap. The atmosphere was relaxed, and though the chef spoke no English, one of the sous chefs explained the servings with help of a sushi manual....

Visited July 2019

On the positive side we found the staff to be outstanding! Very accomodating and attentive. However we did not have that same experience with Harutak-san himself as he did not bother to acknowledge our existence until we left. I don't mean he didn't talk to us, theres an obvious language barrier,... he didn't even look at us, while he was smiling and carrying on with everyone else. It was a very uncomfortable experience. The sushi itself was alright, we have had better omakase sets at other high end and even mid range tokyo establishments. We would never visit Harutaka again.

Visited June 2018

I was awed by Mitzutani San but he is now retired. Harutaka is a close choice in terms of experience. Friendly chef; his assistant showed us each fish in the fish book and introduced us to white uni. We took the sushi only omakase and it was very fulfilling; adding the appetisers would have been too... much. The tamago at the end defined the chef. Definitely would return again.

Visited September 2017

The experience was not worth the astronomical price tag! We were shoved into a small room as waiting room, they started serving food without even showing us the menu. When we asked them to go to the main room as promised were the food is prepared in from of the client, they told us the made a mistak...e double booking! The food is good but we found way better quality in other places. Paying more than $ 700 for 3 people you should expect incredible food, service and experience: it did not happened !

Visited October 2017

My husband and I were thrilled to score seats at one of the top sushi-ya in Tokyo. It was a bit of a challenge to find since we were apparently given their former address, but a helpful chef in another restaurant in the building we thought it was in actually escorted us 3 blocks to the correct loca...tion. You can never overestimate the kindness of the Japanese people. We had a 9 pm booking and were asked to wait in a small seating area while the previous guests finished up at the sushi bar. Harutaka-san, handsome and elegant, was working at the other end of the bar, but he greeted us when we entered, and we were seated in front of two young sous-chefs. While their English was minimal (still far superior to our Japanese), it didn't matter at all. We understood what we were eating and they were very friendly and helpful. It was a true joy watching them create the exquisite nigiri and maki right before our eyes. Their knife skills are mesmerizing and Harutaka-san's movements are as precise as a Swiss watch. The rice was perfect. The serving pieces were exquisite and I enjoyed a very nice sake along with the meal. Before this I never understood why aji was so popular as I only found it so-so. After having it here I now know why. We enjoyed every bite that was served. We had ordered the set with appetizers as well as sushi and they were fabulous as well. We were very full by the end of the set and while our tastebuds craved more, we would have had to be gluttons to order additional pieces. We particularly enjoyed interacting with the young sous-chef immediately in front of us and he seemed to get our humor despite any language barrier. I think he liked us because when I commented on how beautiful the tamago was, he gave us each 2 pieces, while others at the bar only got one. They were heavenly, so light and creamy, like a custard or souffle! We are spoiled forever. The atmosphere was less formal than I thought it might be and Harutaka-san was delightful. He even came around the bar to take a photo with us after the meal, which we never expected. We felt very welcome the whole time we were there. My advice: don't go crazy trying to get into other more famous sushi-ya (whom I shall not name). This is not an easy reservation (understandably given the exceptional quality), however if you succeed, you are guaranteed to have some of the best sushi you will ever have the good fortune to taste as well as a wholly relaxed and enjoyable dining experience. I am still dreaming of Harutaka . . .

Visited October 2016