The Haam - Japanese and Mexican

Saturday night we were around downtown area and looking for new places to try. Sure I have my favorites around here but what's fun in always eating the same things? Yes I love discovering new eateries because who knows what's just around the corner? Part of discovery means sometimes you get an awesome find and you feel like life is sparkles and gold. The other side is you find a meh-ish place and regret all your life choices. Well, there’s always the in-between, not all of eating out is that dramatic. Tonight, I found The Haam.

This restaurant doesn't seem to have a website, perhaps they are still new? oh wait, update! There is a website but it's take-out menu on skip-the-dishes only, looks quite different than the restaurant menu. Here you go: https://www.thehaam.ca/ But they do definitely have sit-in space. See below menu pictures for the sit down menu.. you are welcome! And no open-table it seems, but you can easily call them and make a reservation no problemo. I called around 4pm to make a 7pm reservation, it was all good. What intrigued me was.. the resto serves both Mexican and Japanese? both or do they do fusion? Yes I like both!

The outside of this shop is tiny (well the inside too). Like many downtown restos, the interior is long and narrow, so be careful not to miss the entrance. The shop logo is half Japanese doll and half Mexican traditional mask design. Adorable and fitting.

Now the food:

- Fish tacos: Fish tacos are typically a must for me. I just love the fried fish with crisp vegetables, on a soft shell taco. It’s delicious! Here they use haddock. You can get 1, 3, or 5 of these per order. Great to share.

- Queen (Elizabeth) roll: This one’s highly reviewed on Yelp so I wanted to give it ago. There’s tuna rolled in there, and seared salmon on top. Unfortunately it wasn’t all that great. There seems to be a lot of mayo, or the sauce has a lot of mayo. Whatever is in the roll and on top are both creamy. This ended being a bit too oily and rich for me

- I should have learned the lesson but another highly recommended item caught my eye: the lobster grande. Oh man… ok let’s do another roll. It was cute and well decorated. But uh.. too creamy and oily again. Moral of the story: get ONE roll, and get like a ceviche maybe? That will surely break down the grease a bit.

- Oh what’s not to be forgotten is their preeeety awesome drinks menu. Well the cocktails are pricey (most shops are these days). Luckily I like beer and a pint of Asahi will do just fine. 500ml goes for $8 here, same with Sapporo. I think they have the draft taps in the back. Not to bad at all! I got a second pint just to help to wash down the grease. Haha no, I don’t need an excuse. Always say yes to second pint.

I had a good time. Not the life-changing kind, but a good time non the less. Greasy rolls and crisp beer makes a good Saturday downtown kind of night. The shop is also so nicely decorated: Edison lights, colorful wall decors on brick and wood wall, fun path to the bathroom, and cheap-ish beer. All recipe for a fun hipster hangout spot.

I did really enjoy the Haam, hope you will too.