Haiku, White Plains

Just a quickie post devoted to my first visit to Haiku, located along Mamaroneck Avenue, in downtown White Plains.

Overall first impression: Great location. It's occupying the same space that Acapulco Mexican restaurant once did. Convenient location for plenty of foot traffic for the many folks who work for the state and county offices right here in White Plains.

Where we ate: Me and my lunch companion did not eat-in; we opted for take out. So we availed ourselves of the lounge area off to the right of the entryway. Everything is ultra modern and comfortable, and I can easily see being unable to get inside on a Friday or Saturday night. The bar area sports several big screen TVs, and in the lounge there's an LED type screen of bamboo which streams out the name of the bistro, in an artistic fashion. Comfortable seating in the lounge, to boot, too.

Service: The hostess was attentive and took our orders without hesitation.

Cost: Haiku offers several delicious lunch offerings which are pretty reasonable, ranging from $7.25 to $10.95. Chinese, Thai, and Malaysian food are all represented on the lunch special menu, and the lunch specials all include a choice of rice, and soup or salad. Affordable enough to become a regular haunt.

Eaten: My friend opted just for some shrimp shumai (which were delicious, but nothing "out-of-the-ordinary" as far as special. It was your basic shrimp shumai. I ordered up the Szechuan Crispy Shredded Dried Beef lunch special, which I got with brown rice, and wonton soup. The soup was good, if not basic, though the broth was not overly salted dishwater broth; it was light and pleasant with some greens I suspect were baby spinach in it, and two tasty wontons. The crispy shredded dried beef was just that. It was not dripping in sauce, but the strips of beef were fried to a crisp, tossed with some mildly sweet sauce and served w/a sprig of cilantro and some shredded mango. Both my friend and I agreed this was worth a return trip back just to get this dish again.

Portion size: As the Szechuan crispy shredded dried beef lunch special was $8.25, I found it to be a bargain. With the soup and the rice, it turned out to be quite filling, and I've saved half of it for lunch tomorrow. All I need is more soup, and I've got another full hot lunch!

Suggestion: Serve this dish with a small wedge of lime. While the dish wasn't overly sweet, the lime can really do wonders with perking up the mango shreds and bring a new layer to the dish. It'd be nice to have the option of lime.

I am already planning a return trip back there. What do I get? Do I get the tempura appetizer of battered shrimp and veggies with an order of miso soup? Or do I opt for the crispy calamari salad with a few pieces of sashimi or sushi to start (scanning menu... sea urchin! my favorite!)? Or do I go in another direction entirely and opt for the Malaysian style red curry with jumbo shrimp?

Result: I can't wait to go again, I'm checking off my take out menu of all the things I want to try next.

Thanks for a great lunch!