Harbs SoHo — Restaurant in New York

I’d been to HARBS in Japan but this was my first time in NYC. One of my friends loves this place, so we came here for lunch today.

The cafe is quite spacious with high ceilings and I really liked the atmosphere. There was still plenty of seating when we arrived at 12:30pm, but within an hour or so, it was quite full.

We ordered the Lunch Special, which is available from 11am - 3pm. They have a pasta set ($28+) and sandwich set ($25+), both of which come with: Side salad Lunch slice of today’s cake Cup of coffee or English breakfast tea (*free refills)

We ordered 2 pasta sets and decided to share 2 different pastas: Pescatora Lemon & Parmigiano

Overall, the food was good. The side salad could’ve used a little less dressing, but it was nice to have some greens. Both pastas were quite tasty and there was so much of it that we could’ve easily shared amongst 3 people.

For today’s cake, we had the option of one of the following: Fresh Fruit Mille Crepes Chocolate Cake Pear Mille-Feuille

I tried the Pear Mille-Feuille, which had delicious cream and sliced pears inside. The cream-puff style crust was a little too heavy for me, though, after all of the pasta. I’ll try the Fresh Fruit Mille Crepe next time.

In terms of service, they were very attentive when we first arrived probably because it was less busy. I didn’t realize (and my friend forgot) that the tea / coffee would be served at the start of the meal, instead of with the dessert. So by the time we were having dessert, we needed to order refills even though we hadn’t finished our drinks, because they were no longer warm. By then, restaurant was full and it took a while for us to get our drinks. I’d recommend asking them to bring the drinks with dessert, unless you want coffee/tea with your meal.

My friend and I had a lovely meal and I look forward to coming back again for lunch...

On a chilly afternoon, done with shopping we stepped in for hot tea and what we hoped would be delicious deserts. The person behind the counted after giving out vaccine card a look over said nothing and actually turned his back on us. With only a few people in the shop and we had no difficulty sitting ourselves. We waited for a waiter to bring us menus but no one came over. A person behind the counter was busy talking on the phone, two others were busy doing something and paid no attention to us. We waited for a while, and then waited some more, then my wife remained at the table and I went to see the desert. The display was mostly empty. There was half a dozen different cakes, no more. Finally a waiter came to our table. She was wearing a white lab coat and a double if not a triple mask, making it impossible to understand what she was saying. It made us think that at any moment someone will hit an emergency button, the place will be sealed from outside and we will be ushered into decontamination shower. We ordered a slice of strawberry and a slice of banana cake and a pot of tea. When out order arrived everything was showed onto the table with no attempt to properly place the silverware or to properly arrange a tea pot and cups. The cakes were wrapped in tin foil that the waiter didn't bother to remove. When I tried to pour tea into my wife’s cup I noticed that it was dirty inside. The cakes had a taste and a texture of a mildly flavored drywall speckle. A couple of bites was more than either of us could swallow. My wife and I agreed that we had better tea, better deserts, and by far better service at roadside snack shacks. As were leaving, we noticed a Mexican bar next door where wonderfully friendly and attentive people served us delicious margaritas and chips with spicy salsa that helped us to get rid of nasty aftertaste left by the cakes and...

HARBS is a Japanese cafe / bakery serving up sweet and savory eats in SoHo.

the space is super large is open, airy and warm. super clean design aesthetic: brightly lit, organized modern cafe has seating options that stretch from the front to back. the cakes and pies are displayed artfully in glass refrigerated displays. the vibe is very relaxed and uncluttered. as soon as you walk in, you’re greeted by a showcase of beautifully baked sweet eats. the right side of the space has desserts on display, order counter, and coffee bar. the rest of the space is dedicated to the cafe-style seating.

the dessert options are pretty amazing. the portions are big and shareable. the cakes and pies are light, air, fluffy, and pleasing to the eye.

current fave is the Irish cream cheesecake. the blend of flavors was quite delightful. you get the whisky flavor and smooth cream touch without overpowering it overpowering the actual cheesecake. the cheesecake is fairly silky and light— definitely isn’t super-dense or thick. definitely it dates that sugartooth desire without being too sweet.

cake and pie slices range in price from $9-$11—a bit steep—but the desserts here are more of an indulgence than an everyday habit.

i’ve only done takeout at this location. it was cool that they have packed my dessert purchases with a cooling gel packets so the sweet eats don’t get warm and mushy. it’s a nice touch especially as the temperatures go up in the summer.

the coffee is just okay. specifically the iced coffee is pretty meh. maybe the other caffeinated options are better but I was not impressed by the iced coffee at HARBS. it tasted fairly burnt and acidic.

drops mic cuz i am leading...