Even as I begin my best dining reviews of 2024, we have a late entrant to the game: HARU Omakase!
HARU Omakase is brought to us by Jeff Tsao, the owner of Fukuryu Ramen. (Read my profile of him in 2019 Columbus Monthly!). Jeff and his wife Yeni, both founders of the business, moved the Fukuryu location off Polaris Parkway and turned it into a modern omakase experience with Chef Yudi Makasau at the helm.
“Omakase” is a Japanese term that basically means “I’ll leave it up to you.” Like the tasting menu, you let the chef come up with the menu for you. It’s divided into five “rounds” or courses: salad, three entrees, and dessert, all with a strong emphasis on seafood (except for dessert, that is).
There are six reserved seats at the omakase bar, where you get a front-row seat, although there is a full dining room where guests can order omakase and a la carte items.
They very generously invited us to sit at the omakase bar and it was a wonderful experience to see the four chefs working precisely together and interacting with them as they prepared the dish.
Apart from Chef Makasau, the three chefs brought different experiences.
One of the youngest, they said, was still in high school, but soon headed to the Culinary Institute of America!
HARU has a full beverage menu that includes wine, sake, cocktails, Japanese whiskey and beer, and matcha.
One of the recommendations we received – and I highly recommend it as well – is the sake pairing. HARU offers four-course pairings of both sake and wine, designed to complement the first four stops of the omakase tour.
I’m not that well-versed in sake, but I appreciated the flavor of each and how each stop varied so widely from the next, going from yuzu-tinged versions to unfiltered, all hitting flavor profiles that ranged from citrus to floral to almost spicy.
Chef Makasau said the menu will change every six weeks, but will always work in traditional Japanese techniques with international inspiration.
The chef himself is from Indonesia and he talked about his travels in Latin America. So our first round, for example, the salad round, featured amberjack in a yuzu chipotle sauce.
The second tour features a trio of bites: clams, striped bass and flounder.
The third tour explores Spanish mackerel, goldeneye snapper and king salmon.
The fourth round included a handle made of yellowtail (right), bluefin tuna and eel. The eel was one of my favorite bites of the evening; it was lightly charred to get those nice, crispy edges.
The final round was a sumptuous matcha creme brulee.
The omakase menu is $89 per person, with sake pairings adding another $45 per person.
In addition to omakase, guests can order premium bites of A5 waygu, fatty tuna, sea urchin, caviar and other small plates.
We would highly recommend a visit to HARU, especially for the omakase bar. The whole team were incredibly welcoming and it’s fascinating to watch the culinary team at work.
HARU Omakase is currently open Thursday through Saturday from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Reservations are recommended and required for the omakase bar.
HARU Omakase
2027 Polaris Pkwy.
Columbus, Ohio 43240
(614) 696-9882
Web: haruomakase.com
FB: HARU Omakase
IG: @haru.omakase