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| - 5/5 We went back to give Shokunin another shot outside the Big Taste Calgary event and were really impressed with the food and service! First off, thank you to Darren and staff for the fabulous dinner! The service and ambience were both great. We could talk without having to yell and we were well taken care of at the kitchen bar. Darren was kind enough to take us through our meal and through the ingredients and their sourcing.
The course he had set out for us was well balanced and the seasonings were on point. The ingredient quality was also very good, especially by Calgary standards. Ahem... and here comes the slew of delicious food! The courses came as follows:
King crab miso soup - the shells were used in the stock which made a beautiful rich and flavorful soup. If you're here on a cold day, definitely have some miso soup to warm up.
Sashimi - shima aji, hiramasa, albacore tuna, tai, coho salmon and smoked trout roe. The hiramasa and shima aji were my favourites! Good fish quality
Bison tataki - this was beautiful and the flavours were bold! The acidity and citrus from the yuzu pickled onions and the crispy fried garlic bits came together well to match the soft but rich bison which was lean and sliced to a good thinness
Aburi style gindara - I am a total sucker for black cod, also known as sablefish or butterfish. This aburi nigiri was melt in my mouth delicious with a mayo, miso sauce complimenting the buttery flavour of the fish and the delicate texture. If you ever want to woo me with food, this right here is the way to do it!
Grilled cabbage - we love grilling leafy greens at home and this grilled napa cabbage was no exception! It came with kimizu sauce which I learned today is a Japanese sauce similar to a dairy free hollandaise that I must now go dig up a recipe for! This sauce along with the fried garlic, pickled onion, scallions and what tasted like nori powder made for a dish I could have eaten pile of!
Scallop and uni nigiri straight from Hokkaido and never frozen! It's been a while since I've had seafood this good! The last time I had uni this good was IN Hokkaido lol! The scallop was also amazing and I'm wondering how Darren managed to pick all my favourite nigiri choices :P The only thing missing from my top 3 list was ikura with uzura!
Clam fritter - sweet clam fritters made with sweet potato and drizzled with honey. The oil had been drained well so it was nice and crispy without being too heavy. All the flavours melded well and the clam flavour isn't overly prevalent... perhaps a good gateway into shellfish if someone isn't familiar and isn't feeling too adventurous.
Pickled eggplant - this was another fabulous light dish with pickled eggplant in a sweet dashi soy based sauce. Very similar sauce to that used for agadashi tofu which really complimented the pickled eggplant.
Bison gyoza - served with Serrano pepper sauce. I really enjoyed this gyoza and the sauce had an acidic ponzu type base that, along with the spicy kick, cut nicely through the rich bison
Yakitori time! Served with a soy based egg yolk dip. There were chicken hearts, ass, and oysters, wagyu beef, and beef tongue. The chicken hearts had good texture and the ass and oysters were tender and rich. Wagyu was tender and done medium rare which was perfect for us. The beef tongue was stellar with the length of the tongue shaved and folded to ensure a wonderful texture that used both the fatty and leaner parts.
Finished with a miso creme brulee. I'm not an expert on brulees but this tasted great! Also, i can't recommend the Kiiro cocktail enough! Refreshing and a great match for the sashimi and nigiri!
Thank you to Shokunin for a great dinner and I encourage everyone to buy the kitchen a six pack for all their hard work! I would definitely recommend you check this izakaya out! I'll be back to try more, including the ramen!
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