Haru Izakaya

Came with a Groupon, were surprised by the décor and the ambiance. Very friendly wait staff.
The food was excellent, we had the shrimp tempura, calamari, wings and two rolls. They are all meant to be shared .
Being Spanish, I loved the «tapas» concept.
Will come back for sure.

This is my absolute favorite sushi place in the Ottawa /​Gatineau region. Sushi Go comes a close second.
I am rating this place almost exclusively based on its sushi /​fish menu because I do not eat meat. As far as sushi goes this is a place where I would love to meet the chef. First off the ambiance is pretty nice and modern, with outdoor seating also available. The place probably fits about 60 people so its not too huge. The wait staff for the mostly very friendly and most of them are also quite knowledgeable and willing to help with product selection.
The fish is of a very good quality and really fresh. The sushi preparation style is unique. The sushi comes surrounded with a lot of flavors in terms of sauces and toppings. Some of the sushi is also slightly cooked/​seared. All of it leading to amazing flavour profiles!
The plates are a bit small, sort of like tapa style so you have to make sure you order a bit more food than usual. The prices are excellent for what you are getting.
My friends and I have been here numerous times and we definitely plan to keep coming back.

We came here because that other review site has it at 89%. That other review site sucks.
Our server was super nice (none of us spoke any french), the décor of the restaurant is super fancy.
The menu however is very inconsistent. Some items are brilliant while others are disgusting.
Sushi: A+, comparable to New Generation Sushi which is probably the best in Ottawa
— Eel sushi
— Sashimi sushi
— Soft shell crab sushi
Salad: F
— Shrimp Salad, I don’t know how it was possible, but the shrimp had no taste to it whatsoever, it didnt taste bad, it didnt taste good, it had no taste, kinda like water. How is this possible???
Cold Apps: A+, they had a lot of tuna apps but I’m trying to avoid tuna because of sustainability issues
— Beef tare tare was delicious
Hot Apps: B–
— Scallops, super plump scallops with a wonderful sauce
— Ebi Popcorn, fantastic
— Green tea crusted Lamb, pretty good
— Grilled Octopus, extremely bland and also burnt
If they improved some of the items on the menu, this could be an amazing restaurant.

As mentioned in the other reviews, the restaurant is nicely decorated and has a nice menu. Having been to a real Izakaya, this is not really an Izakaya. It is a Japanese restaurant with a large selection of appetizers and mains, many are seafood bites and sushi rolls.
I was here for lunch and they do have lunch specials that are similar to regular Japanese restaurants’. I ordered the braised pork belly ramen. It was ok. It could have used more flavour. It was a little bland. The noodles were nice. The pork belly was fresh but also could have used a little more taste. The ramen were also accompanied by sliced shiitake mushrooms, baby bok choi and asparagus.
I would go back and try something sushi like when I am not pregnant.

L’endroit m’avait été chaudement recommandé il y a quelques mois alors nous avons décidé de l’essayer un samedi midi.
La déco est superbe, la serveuse était très sympa, mais la place était déserte, ce qui nous a paru plutôt étrange.
Le menu étant très limité, nous avons décidé de partager trois plats: l’assiette de tempura (qui venait avec une salade en entrée et du riz ainsi que 6 sashimis et 4 sushis, au choix du chef), le rouleau de saumon épicé et le rouleau de saumon au fromage. Quelle déception. D’abord, la salade n’avait rien de japonais et la vinaigrette né goûtait presque rien. Les sashimis n’en étaient pas: seulement des tranches de poisson un peu gélatineuses, plutôt épaisses et qui goûtaient l’eau. Rien à redire sur les légumes tempura, ils étaient vraiment délicieux! Pour ce qui est de la boule de riz en accompagnement, c’était clairement du Minute Rice. Les deux rouleaux étaient fades, même celui qui, selon le menu, aurait dû être «enflammé».
Il faut souligner que le poisson et les légumes étaient très frais et que le gingembre était excellent.
Je n’y retournerai pas et je comprends maintenant pourquoi il n’y avait pas un chat.

It was an OK experience. Went on a Friday night and had reservations; seems reservations were definitely required, as the place was pretty packed. The location is kind of weird — not exactly atmospheric, and you wouldn’t think to dine here if you were just driving by, as it’s situated close to a Toys R Us.
Our server wasn’t overly friendly and not that knowledgable/​helpful, but our food came quickly enough. We started with the seaweed salad, which was cold and pretty decent. Then we had vegetable tempura (blah – gross, but maybe not the restaurant’s fault if all tempura is meant to be greasy and taste nothing like vegetable) as well as fried squid. I don’t usually eat squid, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I wasn’t much a fan. I did, though, like the zen and rainbow sushi. Also, the presentation of the food was all really nice.
Price-​wise, more than I’d liked to have paid. Will not be returning as it’s so out of the way for me, and not anything to write home about. I enjoyed my experience at Wasabi in the Market much more.