Calgary, AB — Zen 8

Zen 8 513 8th Ave SW Calgary, AB

(403) 237-8884 website map

The disoriented author is spending a week in Calgary. Early in the week I wad hungry for sushi so I asked the hotel concierge to reccomend a good sushi bar. She recommended Zen 8 on the trendy Stephen Street Mall in the heart of downtown Calgary. It was a beautiful Spring evening with temperatures in the (something Cesius)'s. So I walked to Zen 8.

Zen 8 is one of only two Japanese restaurants I have been to that has chopstick lockers for its regular customers. Thus, regular guests don't have to eat from pull-apart wooden chopsticks. The other restaurant that does this is the excellent Osaka Tea Garden in Nashua New Hampshire.

If you visit Zen 8, try the Lobster Roll. After working for years in New England, Lobster Roll to me means fresh chopped lobster meat with lettuce and mayonnaise on a white roll, perhaps lightly toasted. Zen 8's Lobster Roll combines sauteed lobster, tempura mango slices, avocado, tobiko (flying fish roe), and a spicy sauce. The Lobster Roll is unconventional but the combination of spices, a little bit of crunch from the tempura mangos and my favorite sushi ingredient — avocado.

The fish at Zen 8 was pretty good quality but not spectacular. The selection was average, nothing exotic like Mirugai (Giant Clam) or Uni (Sea Urchin). Strangely the portions were too big. The nigiri pieces were quite large, too large to fit in my mouth. And I have been told I have a big mouth.

Zen 8 is the kind of sushi restaurant, I go to on a regular basis, not the best I've ever been to but worth a visit if you are in the neighborhood.

           

Zen 8: 3 rice bowls