A restaurant that is part of the Bukhara group is part of my group. I took a friend of mine I was planning, for lack of a better word, to woo. The way to this man’s heart is through his stomach and I thought Haiku is possibly the best restaurant for this objective.
The Setting
There’s a fine line between dark and dingy and low-lit and romantic and Haiku gets it perfectly right. And while the restaurant is full of tables, you feel like you are in a room of your own. The only problem was, that while I love being in the spotlight, I’m not keen on having one directly in my eyes. This meant I had to move around a bit until I found a spot where I no longer needed to squint.
The Food
The menu itself is delicious. I spent twenty minutes going through it before our very knowledgeable waiter, who thought he might be spending his 80th birthday serving us, offered his help.
The trick is to work your way through the menu and try as many dishes as possible. The portions are small, light and delicious so there’s no need to subtly undo belt and let out a low groan.
They specialise in ‘exotic Asian cuisine’. So start off with sushi and work your way through the Chinese dim sum to the Japanese grills. All of the dishes are served tapas-style so if you were like my dining partner, who has the ability to eat his body weight in food, nothing is wasted. If you’re a group, even better.
But if you’re selfish like me and ordered exactly what you wanted, you’ll spend your evening saying ‘No touchy, touchy.’
The wine list is extensive and surprisingly not too pricey. These guys are all about the food,so perhaps go with the logic that you’ll be there a while savouring the food, so a few bottles of wine to accompany the meal is pretty much guaranteed.
Price Range
All dishes are measured with stars rather than prices, so as much as you love five star dishes, if you’re willing to pay five star prices, go ahead, because you will get five star food. As a group, it’s great because you’re able to split the meal knowing that everyone has pretty much had the same. As a couple, we did the same and with one bottle of wine and at least four courses, it was just under R300 each. Not bad for a date where I impressed my dining partner and managed to look amazing under low lighting.
Perfect for
A group dinner party or trying to ‘woo’ someone with your exceptional restaurant choice.
Do you think Haiku is a romantic restaurant? Sam Wilson thinks Brio 1893 is better…