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| - I love sushi and am always looking out for the best. We were in Calgary for the weekend and I'd heard that the city had better offerings than in Edmonton so I wanted to check it out. This restaurant came up in Avenue Magazine's top 3 cheap sushi eats and wasn't too far away from our hotel so we decided to give it a go.
It's located in a very small strip mall on the northwest corner of the Transcanada and 5th St NW. There's several parking spots out in the front.
Inside, it's a relatively unimpressive room, fits maybe 30 people plus two private rooms. We were only the second set of patrons when we arrived (granted, it wasn't quite 6pm on Saturday evening) but a small stream of people showed up as we ate, including others who came to pick up take-out. The chefs and waitresses are Cantonese-speaking Asians, so this isn't a true Japanese-run Japanese restaurant.
They have a lot of choices on their menu including a few combos (and a 44-piece sushi boat for $38!). We decided to order à la carte and the waitress gave us a little sheet with the maki choices on one side, and nigiri/sashimi on the other. You can order sashimi by the piece which is AWESOME, something you almost never see in Edmonton Japanese restaurants. The sashimi and nigiri were the same price - most of them were $1.00 per piece. Tuna belly was $2.25/piece.
We wanted to order some white wine but they were out, so we ordered a half litre of sake instead. I don't order sake often but I thought that $10.95 was pretty reasonable. We later had an Asahi and a Kirin, big 500mL bottles that were $9.95 each. Cheap or not? I don't know.
In the end we ordered some steamed edamame, a seaweed salad, about 5-6 maki (about 40 pieces..) and a selection of sashimi. I don't remember the price for the maki but I think it ranged from $5-$9 each. Overall the maki were relatively unimpressive. Not bad but nothing outstanding. They were the right size though - not the tiny little ones but not the giant futomaki ones either, so they were the right size in the mouth. However, they were sliced unevenly so that one piece would be really fat and the next one really skinny. And it's probably my fault for ordering cooked maki (like the soft shell crab) - I keep thinking I'll like them but I really much prefer the raw fish rolls.
The sashimi was outstanding though and that's why this place gets 4 stars instead of 3. Perfectly fresh, nice-sized pieces - the scallop sashimi was especially delicious - large, translucent and sweet. The sashimi was so tasty that even my fiancé, who usually thinks that sashimi is too plain, declared that he was mistaken and that sashimi really is yummy!
Service was really good - attentive though a little confusing - there were three waitresses and they kind of tag-teamed serving us.
Bathroom - there is only a single stall in the women's washroom, adequately clean, though the large trash can was full to the top - maybe they had a really busy lunchtime? Not a big deal.
They do accept Visa here. I would come back and try some other dishes, especially since it's not far off from the QE2.
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