HASR Bistro

We happily accepted an invitation to enjoy a 5-course tasting menu at HASR Bistro. True to it's name--Highly Allocated Spoiled Rotten--we indulged in a series of succulent bites paired with a wine and sake.

First up was a selection of cheese, a salami, fruit and crackers, paired with Prosecco. The cheese with the wine rim and tyrosine was my favorite.

Second bite was a crostini topped with unctuous chicken liver, sweet-tart apple, briny cornichon, and rich mouthwatering balsamic drizzle, paired with a rose.

Third course was a tender, pan-seared scallop on top of a buttery, lemon burre blanc, sweet kabocha purée, and a touch of caviar, paired with Yamada Everlasting Roots sake.

Fourth course was a braised short rib served with a chickpea, mushroom ragout scented with truffle oil, paired with cab sauv.

Last was a pear mascarpone crepe, topped with a caramel brûlée and walnuts.

We sat in the back room on long farm tables. The room was quite loud with everyone's conversations bouncing off the walls, but that's how you know we were having a good time. If I was looking for a place to have a intimate gathering and enjoy a leisurely dinner with friends, I'd keep HASR in mind.

A great place to have lunch or dinner with family and friends. My first experience here was a few years back for my birthday. The food and entertainment were great and the service was excellent. We were entertained with live music. Ironically, the singer was someone I knew from my daughter's music studio.

Not sure why it took me so long to return. We are frequently in the area for shopping and dining. The restaurant is closed on Saturday's but were we lucky to be invited to a private luncheon this Saturday.

Again, the food was delicious. We had nan bread that reminded us of pizza (yum) without the tomato sauce, salmon with capers, a shrimp appetizers dish (can't remember the name), and steamed vegetables.

We look forward to returning and won't wait so long for the next time.

It's one of those places you walk by and they look cute and cozy.

I came here for dinner. They allow BYOB.

The food I had were ok.... The short rib was a little tough. Salmon was good. The spring rolls is like a thai version twist.

Where to start? Where to start? Maybe how awesome the food and ambience is; or how easy parking is in light of the fact that it is smack dab in the middle of Chinatown?

No matter where you start, this place is must visit! For as many dishes as we had, everything was delicious and timely. The favorites were the Creme Brûlée, French Onion Soup, and Salmon. That said, it will be hard to go wrong with anything that you order. It's hard to imagine that I've passed this place many times after parking in the Municipal Parking off Berentia St., on my way to other eateries.

You want into the cutest courtyard. The entrance is on the right and in the front appears to be a winery. Haven't visited the winery but if it's anything like the restaurant, I'll need to come visit again.

Located in Chinatown, HASR is a hidden gem tucked away from the hustle and bustle. Yesterday, my friend and I checked out HASR for lunch. We went around 11:10am on a weekday, not very crowded. Decided to sit inside (seating was available outside also). We were promptly seated and brought menus.

After looking over the menu, I decided on a bowl of the French onion soup and the Greek Salad with salmon. My friend got the French onion soup and the catch of the day sandwich (Smoked ahi) with crinkle cut fries. Yum!

The soup came out first and it was everything i imagined it to be! Hot ceramic bowl with a rich dark brown onion soup base. It came with lots of soft onions and topped with a piece of soaked bread and tons of warm melted cheese. UGH I dream of that French onion soup!

The salad was a good portion. Lots of salad greens, kalamata olives, grape tomatoes and feta cheese all mixed with a rich vinaigrette and topped with dark balsamic. Salmon on the side was a little dry, but was better eaten with the salad vinaigrette!

Service was on it. Constantly refilled our waters and checked on us. Also came by with dessert menus, which we were too stuffed for.

Next time, coming back for the Osso buco and dessert! Also need to check out their HASR wine store next door. Cheers to this hidden bistro in Chinatown!

HASR Bistro is a very cute restaurant located on the edge of chinatown. Parking of course is never convenient in this area, but you can try the street or municipal lots nearby. We went for dinner on a First Friday and got to enjoy live music by Ben and Malia. They have a sister wine shop next door offering free tastings until 7pm.

We ordered a glass of wine and started off with their arancini pupu. Three large balls were served on a platter with a sriracha aioli and topped with micro greens. The fried outer layer was crisp, golden brown perfection. Unfortunately, the risotto inside was lacking flavor. My friend said it was a bit like sticky rice.

The entrees were definitely improvements over the appetizer. I had the HASR bucco and my friend tried the short rib. I truly enjoyed the tenderness of my veal cheeks. No knife needed! The red wine sauce was good but I loved the bed of mushroom risotto the meat was on. Now if they had used that for the arancini it would have been a home run! I like how there were large pieces of mushroom in the risotto and the flavor was not overly rich and heavy. I sampled my friend's short rib and it was also really tender, complimented by HASR's signature wild rice mix and what tasted like a vanilla sauce. I'd order either again!

Overall, this restaurant is a perfect spot for a nice, relaxed dinner (they serve lunch too). Ambiance is nice although a tad noisy. Service was good. Worth a visit!

I ate at HASR Bistro with a group. It was a beautiful evening, perfect for eating in the outdoor seating area. Even though we were in Chinatown, it was very quiet outdoors and there was barely any noise from the street to interrupt our conversation. That night there was live music inside. We could hear a bit of it from outside, but otherwise it had no affect on our evening.

I ordered the arancini (housemade risotto rice balls) and the pan-seared salmon with seasonal squash, signature rice and mushroom nage. You can't go wrong with fried risotto rice balls. I highly recommend this as an appetizer if you are looking for something crunchy on the outside and soft and cheesy on the inside.

The salmon entree was a bit more confusing for me. I wasn't a huge fan of the mushroom nage. I prefer my salmon with a bit of crispy skin that is tender on the inside. The nage/broth provided too much liquid for one piece of salmon. It wasn't as if I ate the nage like a soup, because the dish was not served with a spoon. It was just there, and it did not compliment the salmon. The rice was served on a separate plate. I would have preferred if the salmon had been served on top of a mushroom risotto, or if there had been more vegetables provided with the mushroom nage. That would have made more sense to me than all the liquid around the salmon.

The wine and cocktails seemed too expensive for me. I did not order any alcohol, but several of the people at my table did, and the size of the glasses were small. Not a lot of alcohol.

My wife and I met up with a friend here per his suggestion. There's not a dedicated parking area so it might take a little searching to find something available on the road as was our case. It's not in a great location as the surrounding area is riddled with homeless people but there is a lot of evening activity with restaurants and bars. The restaurant has an associated liquor store, and patio area where we chose to eat dinner given the nice weather. We had a new server in training who was unaware of many things we inquired about as we prepared to order. We did order the Charcuterie Board ($21) of cheese and crackers that was delicious and enough for the three of us while still bringing home leftovers. The dinner special was a pork dish ($19) that my wife and friend each ordered and enjoyed. Despite my initial desire to have the same, I decided to be different and try the Pot Roast Shortrib meal ($28). Everyone enjoyed their meals without issue. Since we were still catching up with each other we decided to have dessert consisting of Kona Coffee Gelato ($6) and the Chocolate Bomb ($10).

Overall a good visit with great food that we'd likely return to.

After searching almost all of Chinatown to see if anyone could accommodate our party of 8, we finally came across HASR Bistro and got lucky with a table!

We sat outdoors which was really nice. As the night grew darker, they had lights hanging around which was very cute.

To start, we purchased a few bottles of white and red roscato wine for the table. Both were delicious.

For appetizers, we ordered the bone marrow, escargot, spring rolls, naan bread, and soaker clams. All of these were great. Very flavorful dishes!

For our entrees, everybody got something different. I decided on the braised short rib (with mushroom risotto). I am a huge fan of risotto, so when I tried HASR's version I would have to say I was disappointed. Everyone who had the risotto had some type of issue except one person. It very much lacked consistency. My cousins risotto was watery. Not sure if they use water instead of a broth while preparing, but it was very watery which caused the risotto to lack flavor. Mines on the other hand was not watery, but it did seem to be overcooked and also lacked flavor. This was the only part of the meal that I was disappointed in. My braised short rib was very tender and delicious.

Our waiter was friendly and answered any questions we threw at him. If you are in a rush, I would not recommend this restaurant because we waited for about 20minutes after of appetizers were finished to receive our entrees.

This bistro reminds me a lot of winery/bistro type of places in Northern California. I think they got the ambiance, service, and quality dishes right! Went here for the first time with family for my birthday celebration last night. We tried to get there before the free wine tasting was done (at the HASR wine store next door) but unfortunately we missed it. However, we still got to check the place out and bought a bottle to share over dinner. (They wave corkage when you buy wine with your dinner.)

The dishes we chose for dinner were superb! Personally, I would like the cheese platter served on a wooden cutting board versus the plate, but it was still all very tasty. We each got different dishes and basically picked off each other. From the salmon pasta to swordfish and salad to sirloin, and mushroom risotto! All hella yummy. In all honesty, I think prices were VERY reasonable for the quality and service and ambiance. Definitely need to come back here again.