Writer & Photographer / Abbie Willans
Carmel is getting a new experience in Japanese cuisine and hibachi-style dining. Locally owned and operated, Harmony Steak House has opened its doors in Carmel and is ready to serve customers with fresh, delicious steak and seafood, as well as cocktails and wine.
Owner Ren Yang and his wife, Lin Guo, opened the first location in Whitestown in 2019. Since then, he’s added two more: in Greenwood and downtown Indianapolis. The grand opening of the Carmel location was Aug. 21.
“We always knew we wanted to have a business in Carmel. This area doesn’t really have a hibachi-style restaurant like this, and we wanted to provide that,” Yang says.
He and his wife moved to Indiana from Tampa, Florida, in 2015. They managed Koto Japanese Steakhouse prior to opening their own thriving businesses.
The Harmony Steak House menu features high-quality sushi, hibachi, ramen, fried rice, takoyaki, gyoza, karaage chicken, lobster tail, udon, bubble tea and other Japanese specialties. It also has Asian fusion dishes like General Tso’s chicken, coconut shrimp and orange chicken. Whether someone is new to Japanese food or very familiar with it, Harmony has something for everyone to enjoy.
The Carmel location has a special menu, with items that aren’t offered at the other stores, and a bigger selection of wines and spirits.
“Each of our locations is different from the others, but there are signature items and elements that connect them so that you know it’s one of our restaurants. Carmel has more high-end options,” Yang says.
Harmony Steak House features several signature sushi rolls that are inspired by the area, including the Zionsville roll, the Whitestown roll, the Indy roll and the Carmel roll. The signature Harmony sushi roll is filled with spicy crab meat, shrimp tempura and topped with seared filet steak.
The restaurant serves sashimi, live oysters, fluke, o-toro (bluefin tuna), sea urchin and other high-end delicacies.
In addition to the line of Harmony Steak Houses, the couple also owns the Harmony Tea Shoppe, which has nine locations around the greater Indianapolis area, including the one at Clay Terrace in Carmel and one in the Indianapolis International Airport. They serve poke, pastries, treats and a wide variety of smoothies, milkshakes, coffee and bubble tea.
“We’re Asian, and we drink a lot of bubble tea and milk tea. At the time, it was mostly just coffee shops around here. We wanted to make a great place to hang out with friends, have a drink and some dessert,” Yang explains. He and his wife built the Harmony Tea Shoppe brand to fill a need and introduce bubble tea to the Indianapolis area.
They have also expanded their franchise to other cities across the U.S., such as Orlando, St. Louis, Dallas and Las Vegas.
Bubble tea, or boba tea, is originally a Taiwanese drink that has gained popularity across the world in the last few years. It can be made with or without milk, and is usually served with tapioca pearls or popping bubbles. Popular flavors are lychee, strawberry, sakura, jasmine tea and green tea.
Yang says that he sources all of his ingredients directly from overseas, and it’s one of the main challenges he faces with the business. The tea shops need imported teas, packaging, syrups, powders and other supplies that can’t be bought locally, and the steakhouses require fresh fish every day. However, he enjoys this challenge and learning the new skills it takes to run the restaurants.
The spacious building has a dining room, an outdoor patio, a bar, high-top tables and a hibachi grill area. It also features a private dining room for parties or other events, as well as a private hibachi room. Both of these can be reserved ahead of time.
Yang and his wife picked every aspect of the design and decor, and he says getting the building ready to open was a long and arduous process, which took about two years. They had to create a new exhaust system to handle the hibachi grills and find a location that was big enough for everything they wanted to include. The Carmel location is around 8,500 square feet.
While street parking options are sometimes limited, Yang mentions that customers have plenty of other places to park, including a nearby garage and the parking lot across the road at Genesis Church. He hopes to have valet parking as an option in the near future.
The lunch menu is available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, while the regular dinner menu is available all day on weekends. On Fridays and Saturdays, they host a live DJ and hope to feature other events in the future. One event Yang is working on is a bluefin tuna cutting event, where guests can watch the chef prepare the tuna and have it served directly to their table.
Showing appreciation to customers is important to Yang. On their birthday, guests who participate in the loyalty program can receive a free drink at Harmony Tea Shoppe by showing their ID. Loyalty members can also receive a free meal worth up to $30 on their birthday and earn 5% back at all steakhouse and tea shop locations.
He and his team are excited to bring their specialty food and service to more people in Carmel.
“We want to offer entertainment and a comforting place to eat. You can hang out at the bar or bring your family for a meal, and it’s got options for everyone,” Yang says.
The newest Harmony Steak House is located at 1030 West Main St., Carmel, IN 46032. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Harmony Steak House accepts online orders through its website and posts updates on its social media accounts. Harmony Tea Shoppe posts about its seasonal flavors and promotions at Instagram.
For more information, call (317) 740-0014, email harmonysteakhouse@gmail.com or visit harmonysteakhouse.com.
