I cannot stress enough the overall impressiveness of this restaurant. Just ignore even for a second, the fact that you’re sitting beneath the Burj Khalifa and positioned perfectly for the half-hourly Dubai Fountain water show (as if you could ignore that), the service and food at Hashi are unparalleled.

As it was before the summer heat wave, we did dine outside, with every other restaurant guest, to enjoy the exceptional location of the restaurant…at the ground floor of the Burj Khalifa, within the Armani Hotel. I think the best way to enjoy the Dubai Fountain is with a glass of wine and plate of sushi–and bonus, you can see more than one show!

Hashi serves a contemporary take on classic Japanese and southeast Asian cuisine. I’ll share with you my favorites but if I’m honest, I didn’t have a bad thing here, and I did have quite a bit! The dress code is smart-casual and the atmosphere is anything but stuffy, with every employee generously offering welcomes and smiling faces.

We started with the *delicious* spicy edamame and a bottle of red…to get settled in and really examine this menu. 12 pages full of mouthwatering goodness, we really were having a hard time deciding…and after I tell you what we’ve tried, you’ll see what I mean.

One of the highlights was the Wagyu tataki, served with nameko mushrooms and truffle soy. This is a must and one of Hashi’s signature dishes. My two other favorite signature dishes were the Ise ebi (a giant prawn with a sweet wasabi sauce–insane!) and Tako kari kari tempura  (tempura octopus with a creamy yet spicy dipping sauce). You cannot leave Hashi without tasting these three–seriously incredible with such immense flavor!

Other favorites, in no particular order : Chicken yakitori (chicken-leek skewers with teriyaki sauce), Wagyu garubi to horenzo (wagyu beef short ribs with spinach and black truffle), and of course, you must try the sushi (karai maguro to ebi, karai sa-mon to takuan, watarigani).

If you save room for dessert (you should!), definitely try the Mochi ice-cream and the coconut cake! Amazing.

I mean where else would you rather have dinner?!