Haiku Japanese Bistro

Love Hakui!!! Has great food and staff is great! Highly recommend if eating sushi! and a great Steak Hibachi!

nice restaurant, good sushi and noodles. Not traditional ramen, but I made the udon noodles work). We got a few appetizers that were decent, the sushi was definitely the highlight of the meal and the udon noodle soup w/​beef was good. I’d definitely go back if I’m in the neighborhood. Good service, maybe too many servers and there are a couple of TVs

Very very very small portion. Ordered pork katsu for lunch and it was a small bowl of rice with really thin slice of fried pork and a side of salad. For $ 11 I feel they should at least give you enough to fill you not just give you a portion that felt like appetizer. Left hungry and went next door to order fried rice to go from king and I.

Looked at the reviews for this place and went out of my way to come here for some sushi. Unfortunately the food was very flavorless and there really wasn’t anything positive to say about this place besides the dressing on the salad.
Ordered the sushi roll combo and I wish I would’ve taken my business elsewhere.
1 star because the speed of service was fast.
1 star for the salad dressing.
–1 star for the lack of talking on behalf of all the staff
–1 star for very flavorless food
–1 star for overpriced sushi according to value and taste
Ended up not eating half of my rolls and getting a burger at McDonald’s instead, safe to say I won’t be back again.

Based off one lunch visit: friendly service and delicious sushi. Had three rolls all of which were excellent. The tempura shrimp tasted fresh and was warm and crispy. Excellent rice to fish ratio.

Great service, fast, clean and nice space. Love the hibachi at this place! The filet mignon hibachi is wonderful — good quality beef and cooked well. The fried rice, vegetables, onion soup, and salad with ginger dressing are all very good. The lunch menu hibachi is a good deal. If doing dinner, ordering ala carte is a better deal.

2^nd Visit as good as the first. Please, get the shrimp dumplings, melt in your mouth deliciousness! I did like the Seafood Naruto roll but little tricky keeping it together to get in your mouth! Haha. Oh well the taste is def worth the fun of trying, next is the Shrimp tempura, mmmmm. Super light super crunchy not greasy at all. Ohhh their shrimp, scrumptious! Recommended? YES! P. S. Im sure they are happy to have children but I’m glad there were none tonight, just a little bit of perfect dining experience, thank you Haiku

Very good meal. Had hibachi chicken and a Kirin. Price was reasonable and had good quick service. Trendy and very clean. Would definitely have lunch or dinner here when I’m back in the area.

This is our absolute favorite place for sushi in the Twin Cities! Tucked away in a suburban mall, this little hidden gem has the most fresh sashimi we’ve had here! While the listed rolls are also really good, the chefs were happy to use their imaginations and create custom rolls to suit our taste preferences. and they were awesome!
Highly recommended!!!

My favorite sushi place in the twin cities. I’ve eaten here plenty and have never been disappointed. The Spicy Girl is my go-​to every time.

Tried this place out on a Sunday night and was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is adorable, the service was top notch, and the menu was endless! The quality of sushi was very good for being in Mendota Heights. No complaints, we will definitely be back.

In terms of my sushi experiences in the Twin Cities, this really does rank right in the middle. The ambiance of the restaurant and the attitude of the servers are all very good, but it was the quality of the food that left something lacking.
The sushi rolls weren’t great, but they weren’t terrible either. The tuna definitely needed to be trimmed a little better, and the rolls themselves were made a little clumsily. Some of them weren’t formed tightly at all and wanted to fall apart as you tried to pick pieces up. Other rolls were much more proportional and much more consistently rolled and formed. It was obvious that chefs of two different skill levels put the meal together.
All in all, I don’t really have much to praise about this place, but there wasn’t anything major to complain about either. Prices were a bit high, especially given the varying quality of the food. I wouldn’t go out of my way to make a return trip, but I wouldn’t avoid it entirely.

Awesome place!
Service was prompt, pleasant and generally awesome.
Appetizer was a shrimp dumpling (don’t recall the name) and it was wicked good.
But… The sushi rolls.
The Powerful Roll — shrimp and tenderloin and some other stuff… Awesome.
The Sweetheart– Salmon and tuna and some other stuff again.
Both were amazing; we had a third roll that was stellar as well.
Really awesome and we will definately eat here again!

Very clean & nice atmosphere. Service can be kind of slow but they get pretty busy at the peek hours.
This is my very place to get sushi & hibachi on the East side of the river.
I’ve never been disappointed & they also have a great hPpy hour.

My daughter and I found this place on Unilocal as we were stuck in traffic. We both wanted Asian inspired food, and this place sounded promising. We came on a Friday evening at 6pm. The place was a little busy, but we were seated immediately. The décor is flawless, and very inviting. The menu is rather large and they serve sushi, hibachi and tempura. We ordered a sushi roll off the specials called the Twin City Roll. This was superb, perfect amount of sauce, the shrimp was fresh and the roll kept its shape. My daughter ordered the hibachi shrimp and I ordered the mango shrimp for entrees. The mango sauce was excellent, a perfect blend of sweet and spicy, the shrimp was cooked perfect and were a good size for the price. My daughter loved her hibachi shrimp and ate every bite! We then shared the Mango Cheesecake, if and when you go, you must order this! Way too good for words! The only negative was the waitress, she was not too friendly, kind of robotic in a way, never really smiled. The staff all seemed this way, stuffy and robotic. We will definitely come back again, but I hope the staff loosen up more.

It’s a surprise to find a truly great sushi restaurant so far from the sea and in a provincial strip mall to boot.
Haiku is elegantly simple, beautiful on the inside — more of a hip downtown vibe than you’d expect. There’s booths, central tables and seats at the sushi bar that cater for every dining experience and need. Service is cordial and efficient; appropriately understated and Japanese. There’s only a few staff but they get it done.
An excellent lunch menu is only surpassed by a late evening 2 for 1 special that gives you access to some of Minneapolis’ best sushi for prices you’d die for.
The menu includes both soba and udon, in varieties which will please everyone. I love the Nabe Yaki Udon with fresh chicken and shrimp tempura. Nicely spice and long, thick noodles that help the broth flavors and liquid.
Dinner hibachi options include ten different combo pairings including filet mignon, chicken, shrimp scallops and lobster. There’s an exceptionally well priced Love Dinner for 2 which includes a filet mignon, scallops and lobster trio. It’s not to be passed up on date night.
For those who want something Asian but non-​Japanese there’s chicken sea bass (expensive but so worth it), basil or mango chicken/​shrimp.
The sushi and sashimi is superb– a little pricy compared to other restaurants but Haiku is in a different class when it comes to freshness and accompaniments. Loved the fatty tuna, octopus and fluke sashimi. Roll wise I’ve tried the seafood naruto, dinosaur and black dragon. Love the eel sauce and tobiko.
Desserts and kids menu both look good but I’ve not had a reason to try either but I’ll be back to keep sampling.

Great find. BIG Sapporo on tap — $ 7. Great deal.
Service was efficient and server very friendly.
Both sushi rolls were excellent (spicy girl and slammin salmon)
I wish they were spicier and will ask if that is an option next visit.
We will go back!

I am giving them 2 stars instead of 1 because the first time I was here, I would have given them 4.
I went here on a Wednesday for a business lunch. It was NOT busy, we were seated quickly, and our waitress was friendly and attentive. We ordered 2 sushi rolls, and then a couple of hibachi entrees. They came with soup.
Some of the onions in the soup tasted like they were very old and going bad. And yes, I have had bad onions before. One of our sushi rolls was excellent. The other one contained tuna and white tuna. One of them was FAR from fresh. It should have been thrown and not served. Both of us noticed it right away. My stomach has been bothering me since I ate here also.
I get that it’s risky ordering sushi at a strip mall at lunch on a Wednesday. Unfortunately, if I am served food that isn’t fresh, I don’t forgive. It’s too bad, because it is a nice place and the hibachi food is good.

7:00pm: Arrive — the place is busy there are people waiting to be seated and I count 4 empty tables. The hostess is running around like a headless chicken and is having hard time figuring out how to get 3 sets of guests seated at 4 tables.
7:20: Get seated at the Sushi bar (after a guy who was sitting there waiting for a TAKE OUT order got up and left!)
7:35: Asked the girl washing dishes if there is a server
7:37: Someone came over and asks me for my order, (food not beverage) then he ran off right away.
7:45: Get asked if I’d like something to drink
7:50: Miso soup and salad show up — no utensils or sticks (Iceberg lettuce! Really?)
7:52: Someone finally brings over chopsticks and a napkin
8:10: I’ve been for over an hour and still no entrée. The service is insanely bad. I wish I could review the food. Sadly I’m still without.
— — — — — — — — — — — — -
8:11: My Sashimi Entrée arrives — I’m hoping it was worth the wait.
The food wasn’t all that great. The tuna was mostly fresh and was a tad softer than it should be. The salmon was edible after smothering it in soy and wasabi. I’ve never had to do that before. Certainly none of it was photo worthy in presentation.
Sadly it was not worth the wait.
8:30: I’m ready to leave
8:37: Finally flag someone do to give them my money
8:40: I’m out of here — never coming back!
By 8:00 the place had emptied to about half full, but the wait staff still couldn’t keep up with other peoples orders.
This place seems very unorganized and isn’t capable of handling a dinner crowd efficiently. As best as I could tell only one person knew how to operate the cash register and she was also supposed to be serving people at the Sushi bar.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
UPDATE: 7÷18÷2015
This is the second time I’ve been here. I’ll never go back. The sashimi isn’t suitable for bait. It was old, slimy, smelly, nasty tasting stuff.

I LOVE HAIKU!
We are very happy to have this restaurant in our neighborhood, and hope that it is here for years to come.
The food, espeically the sushi, is AMAZING! It’s fresh and flavorful and so needed in the TC to expand taste buds and horizons. Even if you aren’t into sushi, you will find something delectable here to eat. We have never been disappointed.
We’ve dined here both during the week and on weekends and the level of service doesn’t go down. If they are a little slow, they do explain it to you. You don’t need the explanation because you can clearly see when the restaurant is full.
The vibe is relaxed, yet classy, without being stuffy.
You can bring your kids here and they, too, will have a great meal.
If you’re looking for great Japanese sushi and cuisine, this is your place.

I’m going to take the high road here and not write a haiku about this place. Mostly because I suck at poetry and the other haiku writers on Unilocal would just laugh at me.
Sam was really excited about taking me here and this was our second attempt.
The first time we tried to come here, we showed up right as they were closing after lunch. We weren’t aware they closed in between lunch and dinner so we walked in and asked for a table. One of the men from behind the bar greeted us and informed us that the only way he would let us eat is if we ate really fast. He was serious.
Really?
We left but I was a little put off after that. Sam was still excited about going here so for our date last night we tried again.
Walking in the place is very nice, and as another reviewer put it, swanky. The dining area is small, the sushi bar appeared very large and the lighting was classy.
We asked the hostess for a booth and she sat us in the back corner of the restaurant. While we were seating, our hostess pointed out the giant cardboard box between the table and the wall. She said the constructions workers next door knocked a hole in the wall, which was true. They did. But there was so much cold air coming out from behind the box, she shouldn’t have sat anyone there. We dealt with it because the restaurant filled rather quickly and we’d pretty much sit anywhere as long as it not at a regular table.
Our waitress eventually showed up and I ordered a Cucumber Cooler. It took about ten minutes for it to arrive. The cooler was very tasty and refreshing but not worth the $ 9 price tag considering it tasted like water about ¾ the way through.
Sam and I ordered the Scallop Dynamite as an appetizer. It came out on a plate and a giant scallop shell filled with chunks of scallop and crab in a rich creamy sauce. It was absolutely astounding and we both loved it.
For entrees, I ordered the Nabe Yaki Udon (Basically chicken and vegetable soup with an egg in it). It came with a side of tempura shrimp, which was crisp but lacked any flavor; a small salad which turns out is just a bowl of dressing topped with a little lettuce. It also came with a beginner of a small bowl of onion soup. Soup to go with my soup, huh? I didn’t care for it and it was much tastier after Sam poured some soy sauce and added some flavor.
When my entrée soup finally came which took about 20 minutes after we finished our appetizer, I sent it back because there was seafood in it. Our waitress insisted that there was supposed to be artificial crab and seafood cakes in it. She told me she doesn’t know why it doesn’t say there is on the menu but that she asked the cook and it was correct. I still didn’t believe her, but fine, I took it anyway. The soup itself was unimpressive. The first couple of sips were pretty good but it quickly faded into bland watery slop. The vegetables and chicken in the soup were cooked well but the fake crab did nothing for it and there were no seafood cakes that were never supposed to be there anyway. So, really, she lied to me twice. The bowl of soup was $ 15.
Sam ordered the M-​16 Roll (It was a new roll on their board and not featured on their menu) which had pretty good flavor and he seemed to like it. Sam also ordered a spicy scallop roll, which was not spicy at all and the rice was pasty almost to the point of being inedible. The filling was very mushy and there was no crunch to balance out the texture.
I finally convinced Sam to order a drink so she ordered the Katana. She received it about 20 minutes later and our waitress blamed the wait on their bartender.
Judging by the wait time for a just a drink, I’d say our waitress probably was the bartender. and there’s nothin’ like listening to a slow employee blame other employees for being slow while you’re trying to have a nice meal.
The Katana was too sweet. Way too sweet. It tasted like straight up melon liquor.
While we were finishing up our meal, our waitress dropped off our bill and didn’t bother asking if we needed anything else. I asked for a to-​go container and she looked annoyed but took my bowl to do it herself.
When all was said and done, our bill was $ 72 for an only OK meal and a bad waitress. Thank the lord almighty for good company because the food, drinks and service here are not worth the trip or the second mortgage.
I want to give this place 2 stars but only because of our waitress, and I don’t feel like that’s entirely fair. I don’t, however, think I will give Haiku another try.

Though Haiku is in a rather unassuming location, I can assure you that you won’t feel like you’re in a strip mall off of Highway 110 once you step inside.
The holy trifecta of dark wood, dim light and comfortable seating can only lead to one of two possible results:
1. You might get laid if you come here with an eligible candidate.
2. You’ll stuff your inner fatass into oblivion *with* a pinky in the air.
I’ve only experienced one of these outcomes. Given how suave I am, I’ll just let you guys decide for yourselves which one it was*.
I love sushi. I probably love white sushi, but I love it nonetheless.
I’m not sure what 90% of the sauces and such they describe on the menu are but I’ve yet to run across one that tasted like shit. I mostly just eyeball the proteins and take a stab in the dark.
The crunch roll (which is, I’m sure, 100% authentically ‘Muricanized) was extremely satisfying. I love the lighter, unique crunch of panko and all the ingredients within the roll were bright, fresh and well-​prepared. I’d definitely order it again, though I do believe I’d ask for more wasabi. ⁴⁄₅.
Speaking of the green hellhound, I noticed that I got an extremely skimpy portion on both my roll orders, so if you love the burn you should make a mental note to ask for extra.
One (albeit delicious) roll isn’t enough for me.
I started siphoning through the smaller, less expensive rolls not listed on the Chef’s Specials menu and decided to go for the white pepper tuna and avocado roll.
It was predictably less of a taste sensation than my previous order but the tuna itself had a nice buttery crispness. Again, as I said before, I’d have liked to seen more wasabi to liven up the roll and it ultimately neither wowed nor disappointed me. ³⁄₅.
My dining companion, whose talents do not lie in the realm of being observant, ordered the Nabe Yaki Udon.
… Except she hates eggs. And chicken. And wasn’t looking for soup so much as a noodly stir fry type concoction.
I laughed my ass off when the dish arrived at the table and I saw her skin turn a sickly yellow when the raw yolk, threatening to taint the soup, wobbled back and forth.
After she used all the skill of a trained bomb specialist to successfully remove the egg and fished out all the chicken, she was surprised at how much she enjoyed the flavors of the broth. She ended up eating most of it despite her initial terror and
I think that definitely says something. The comment was made that she’d order a variation of it again and take a stab at the seafood udon next.
Our waitress was the only sort of irritating thing about the entire meal. Don’t get me wrong – she was very polite – but her hounding, insistent demeanor threw off the otherwise calm pace of the evening.
Her looming and return visits to the table every minute and a half to take our order grew tiring and we eventually just spit something out to get her to stop.
* I didn’t get laid, you sickos. I was with my co-​worker.
… FINE MAYBE I WOULDN’T HAVE ANYWAY FUCK YOU GUYS.
*flails off majestically into the sunset*

My first impression of Haiku was very good. The place is decorated beautifully, even the napkins are fancy. I think the big logo on the wall is a nice touch. I enjoyed the Spicy Salmon Roll and the #9 Roll, but wasn’t really a fan of the Kicking King Crab Roll. The asparagus just didn’t fit well in it in my opinion. They don’t have a happy hour but I did notice they had some daily specials posted. The service was good and the place itself is easy to get to with plenty of parking.

At last, a trendy Japanese Bistro has made its mark on the map near my school!
Haiku was a wish that finally came true for students like me who want more food variety without having to sacrifice time and labor to find one.
And did it satisfy my expectation? Absolutely.
In its poetry form, Haiku may be a simple string of words that fits into the 5−7−5 construct. But as a restaurant, it is an art in its own right. The setting of the place is nothing short of trendy, since even the entrance of the place makes you feel like you just walked into a ritzy bar. Based on this first impression, I expected for my food tab to match with the expensive appearance of the setting. To my delightful surprise, their menu items are actually really reasonably priced!
I ended up ordering a lunchbox special with pork katsu, which also came with a miso soup, california roll, and some fried shumai. The taste department was nothing spectacular to write home about, but for a neat new spot where I can pig out during my lunchbreaks, I think 4-​stars is well deserved.
Hooray for options! I FINALLY have somewhere else to go aside from Village Wok!