Edmonton, AB — Kyoto

Kyoto 10128-109 Street Edmonton, AB

(780) 420-1750 map

What a difference two blocks make. Sushipilgim visited Kyoto this week with a group of colleagues. Kyoto is located 2 blocks south of the Mikado. But while Mikado is very good and worth a visit, Kyoto is not of the same quality.

When we went to Kyoto at lunchtime. The restaurant was crowded so our party sat at the sushi bar. It seemed to take a long time to place our order. It took even longer to receive our order. In the end we were almost twenty minutes late returning to the office. During our stay I overheard other guests complaining about slow service.

The sushi selection at Kyoto was quite ordinary. No exotic items, and no daily specials. So poor service, mediocre selection things were not looking good. When my sashimi arrived it tasted somewhat fishy. The salmon was a little slimy.

If you are considering Kyoto, do yourself a favor and walk the two blocks to Mikado instead — you will be glad you did.

Kyoto: 2 rice bowls

Edmonton, AB — Mikado

Mikado 10350-109 Street Edmonton, AB

(780) 425-8096 website map

Sushipilgim is not a sushi snob. I enjoy sushi but I am not too proud to go looking for it in places like Alberta or Iowa. I find myself at present in Edmonton, Alberta. With the midwestern United States experiencing a killer heatwave, Edmonton is a good place to be.

Even so my most recent experience with sushi in Alberta was horrible. But my colleagues who live in Edmonton told me that Mikado was good. Mikado is a short walk from the client site so we went over for lunch.

Mikado has an extensive menu including sushi, sashimi and a variety of other Japanese items. My colleagues all ordered Bentos and they looked good. I ordered a sashimi combo. When it arrived the fish looked good and was pelasingly arranged. The combo included tuna, salmon, halibut, and giant clam. Giant clam is my favorite and while it was sliced thinner than I am used to seeing it was excellent. The flesh was firm and flavorful. All of the fish was very good but the halibut was a little bit slimy.

Overall I enjoyed Mikado and plan to go back for supper some time during my stay in Alberta.

Mikado: 3 rice bowls

Calgary, AB — Towa Sushi

Towa Sushi 2116 4th Street SW Calgary, AB

(403) 245-8585 website map

The disoriented author asked for the best sushi restaurant in Calgary. The one that made everyone's list was Towa Sushi. Towa is located just south of the city center (centre since this is Canada). After my evening swim at the Eau Claire YMCA, I took a taxi to Towa.

Towa is a beautifully decorated Japanese restaurant. The walls and decor are done in an off-white bordering on green. I walked in and was greeted by the waitstaff and the four chefs behind the sushi bar. Imagine my surprise, this is the first time I have ever seen female sushi chefs.

The table setup was interesting. Each table had a glass box with gari (Japanese ginger) and two unlabeled soy sauce bottles. The gari was a nice touch but imagine my surprise when I discovered that one of the bottles was a thick sweet terriyaki sauce.

When I opened the menu I saw something intriguing, the Towa Duck Salad. The salad has warm duck on a bed of field greens with shitaake mushrooms, fresh papaya and yellow peppers. The salad was wonderful. I have not had fr sh papaya in 30 years and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. The tastes went together sublimely. The salad was huge and with a bowl of Miso soup, it could have been a complete meal.

Unfortunately I didn't have the salad as a meal, I went on and ordered a sashimi combo. Sushipilgrim, however rates restaurants primarily on the quality of sushi and sashimi. I loved the salad but I cannot say the same about the sashimi.

I ordered the sashimi combo. It was a disappointment in nearly every way. The sashimi was served on a bed of ice chips. The waitress brought the sashimi while I was still working on  my soup and salad. By the time I was ready for the sashimi the ice had started to melt. The sashimi was served with a pile of shredded sweet onions instead of the shredded Japanese radishes. I thought the onions were to strong and overpowered the normally delicate sashimi. By the time I ate it, the sashimi had deteriorated into a fishy slush or sno-cone.

Even before it melted, the sashimi was arranged rather artlessly around the icy plate. The fish chosen were hard to differentiate from one another by either texture or color. There was only one piece of mackerel and and the salmon was not very firm.

The maki(rolls) served to neighboring tables looked to be carefully made and nicely arranged. One last complaint is that the sashimi was cut into long strips about 15cm long (metric since this is Canada). The pieces were folded in the middle, making it very hard to eat with chopsticks.

Towa Sushi seemed was full of promise but did not quite deliver.

Towa Sushi: 2 rice bowls

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