[Dine-Out] Calgary: Koto Sushi Lounge November 30, 2012

3 words.

Do. Not. Like.

I’ve come here a couple of times before with the Groupon voucher (obviously no posts on those because I’m an awful blogger). The times I’ve used the Groupon vouchers, the food was fine. I mean, you can’t really complain about $30 restaurant sushi. Like, even if the food wasn’t that great, it was still good enough for super cheap sushi.

But a whoolllleeee different story when it’s $60, full-price sushi.

So, tonight we went there for dinner. I really wanted sushi and it was between Koto and food court sushi because I was really really hungry and needed food that was within 5 minutes of the mall.

We ordered 4 pieces of sushi and 4 rolls. Yes, we are only 2 people. Again, we were really hungry. Yes, we ate it all, but it wasn’t enjoyable.

[L to R] Shichimi Spicy Prawn, Dragon

The Shichimi Spicy Prawn, according to the menu, Japan traditional spice, chopped prawn mixed with spicy mayo, tempura prawn, mayo, tobiko, sweet eel sauce, and seaweed powder. One of the main things I don’t like about all these ‘fancy rolls’ is the unnecessary addition of unnecessary ingredients. I mean, why do we need more mayo when there’s already spicy mayo. Also, “chopped prawn mixed with spicy mayo” gives the impression of majority prawns, minority mayo. Noooot 90% mayo and 10% shrimp paste. The main thing that made this unenjoyable: stale tempura prawn in the middle. Like super stale. Like probably cooked it during the lunch rush stale.

Dragon, according to the menu, grilled giant eel, avocado, tempura prawn, mayo, tobiko, eel sauce, and sesame seed. I think their menu is wrong, there was no tempura prawn in this roll. And their “giant” eel was super not giant (see above). Nothing overly wrong with this one.

[Clockwise from Top L] Tamago, Volcano Calamari Maki, Saba, BC Salmon Skin Maki

First of all, the tamago tasted weird. I read somewhere that tamago is a good gauge of how good a sushi restaurant is. It’s probably more accurate for sushi restaurants actually in Japan, but nevertheless. I had half a bite and it tasted so weird that I had to give the rest to the bf so he could try. His words: “It tastes like pollock, like imitation crab meat“. Soooo, ya. Weird.

The Volcano Calamari was okay. Albacore tuna, calamari, cucumber, and volcano sauce. Meh, mediocre. Too much sauce. Rice was too starchy.

The saba was only also okay. I’m a firm believer that mackerel should come with grated ginger and sliced scallions. It just seems like the chef is lazy when it doesn’t.

Guilty pleasure = BC rolls. I really like these little suckers with the salmon skin. This was so. not. good. The salmon skin was limp and cold. Definitely not fresh. Stale like the tempura shrimp. Probably cooked during the same lunch rush period. Could’ve even been Thursday’s lunch rush period.

So. Never eating here again. I’m having the worst case of meal regret. I think I would’ve even preferred mall sushi. At least my wallet would be last affected by it…

KOTO SUSHI LOUNGE
435 4 Avenue Southwest
Calgary, AB T2P 0J4
(403) 457-2898

[Dine-Out] Seattle: Mashiko Seattle Sushi October 21, 2012

Saving the best meal we had in Seattle for last: Our ridiculously delicious omakase. For a unbelievably reasonable price (everything compared to Calgary prices is a steal, HEY-OH), we were treated to, by far, the best food we had in Seattle.

We sat at the bar so we could watch the chefs hard at work.

Munchies

We got a lovely little bowl of Japanese Arare to snack on while we patiently waited for our sustainable sea-feast.

Gorgeous fish on display

We started off with some bundles of Pacific Smelt with Pickled Carrots & Daikon Sprouts:

Salty and Briny and Deliciouuuus

Gorgeous close up:

To Die For

More fish:

So many different types!

Scallop Sashimi with Yuzu Tobiko:

Cute presentation!

The yuzu tobiko added a nice hint of citrus to the melt-in-your-mouth scallops.

Next was Sake Poached Oysters Marinated in Olive Oil:

So Smooth…

This is probably tie for my favourite preparation for oysters. Obviously this takes a lot more skill than shucking a raw oyster. So I guess raw oysters are my favourite in terms of ease of preparation, but this, man, if I could eat this everyday, I would.

Black Alaskan Rockfish Sashimi with Ponzu and Shiso Oil:

First time having Black Rockfish, and let me tell you, it won’t be my last

Fresh Oregon Based Shrimp & Cherry Tomato Salad:

If only I could have a salad like this everyday, sigh…

This shrimp was unbelievably sweet. Like the sweetest (in a good way) shrimp I think I will ever have in my life. Don’t even know how that’s possible.

Poached Hawaiian Abaloni with Dried Kelp & Stomach:

Love the in shell presentation

First of all, I love abalone. And second of all, the inclusion of the stomach just made this dish that much more delicious. The kelp and the stomach gave the whole dish a very lovely seaweed-y, slightly bitter taste. Very complex flavours.

The bf and I were fighting over the stomach in the shell, believe it or not

Next, Local Albacore Tataki Salad:

Refreshing, but…

If I had to pick one, this was probably my least favourite of all the dishes. It was a very competently prepared dish, it just wasn’t nearly as exciting as the ones we’ve had leading up to it OR the ones we had following it.

Back to the exciting, White king Salmon Tartare with Avocado & Capers:

Love the little quail egg!

The quail egg acted as a nice binder and added a smoothness to the dish:

Delish

On to the SUSHI! (YAY)

From left to right, Giant Pacific Octopus, Northwest Albacore Toro, Yellow Fin Tuna:

A plate of friggin perfection

The Toro

Octo

This was the best octopus I have ever eaten. Anywhere. The stuff in Calgary just does not compare. I’ve never had octopus cooked this perfectly before, the meat wasn’t chewy, it was this nice tenderness that I did not think was possible with octopus. This probably ruined Octopus for me since I will probably never find a place in Calgary that will compare…

Yellowfin

Saba “Box” Sushi with House Marinated Ikura:

I <3 IKURA

Ikura is my favourite type of fish eggs, I love the burst of briny-ness in your mouth when you pop ‘em! Box Sushi is just a traditional form of sushi known to Osaka. The major different between Hakozushi and normal sushi is that all the ingredients used for the Hako are either cooked or brined. Saba = perfect Hakozushi ingredient.

Look at all its briny goodness…

Next course….came in the cutest serve-ware ever!

C00-coo (that’s the noise owls make, FYI)

Chawanmushi with Mushroom & Salmon:

I absolutely adore steamed egg

I wish more places in Calgary would put Chawanmushi on their menus…

Finally, we finished our ridiculous feast of a meal with Coconut Fried Brownie (from Bakery Nouveau) with Green Tea Ice Cream:

<3 the mint leaves

The brownies were a little heavy for me (keep in mind that I’m not a chocolate fan though), but the matcha ice-cream was deliciously bitter.

MASHIKO SEATTLE SUSHI
4725 California Southwest
Seattle WA 98116
(206) 935-4339

[Quick Bite] Seattle: Seattle Uwajimaya September 29, 2012

Stopped by Uwajimaya for some light browsing. But, of course, I had to grab something to eat as well.

Got a piece of spam musubi. Obviously this was nothing compared to the one at Marination Station. I realize that it looks kind of sad in the picture but it was actually not too bad.

$1.29

I also got a japanese bento box to supplement my lone spam musubi.

$5.99

It is food court food, so I wasn’t expecting to be blown away or anything, but it actually wasn’t too bad. The tempura shrimp was kind of limp and soggy, but the rest of it was good – especially for only $6. In the top left corner is a small salad. Going clockwise, there was a sushi roll type of thing wrapped around ham and tamago. Next to it is some beef and lotus root (FYI – I <3 lotus root). Then there was the tempura shrimp and grilled shrimp. Under the grilled shrimp was tonkatsu.To the left of the broccoli was some chicken karaage. And finally in the bottom left corner – a couple pieces of salmon. I loved all the different types of food I got to eat for just 6 dollas.

The bf got some Korean grub from one of the little food court places around the parameter of the building.

Probably around $10

I definitely think what I got was better value for the money, especially because of the variety. The bf liked his choice though, it was hugely portioned and meaty. Top left going clockwise – kimchi, pickled bean sprouts, hot sauce, dumplings, a huge pile of meat (chicken…?), and delicious, delicious white rice.

For dessert I got this Cyrus O’Leary sour cream lemon pie:

$2.89

This was kind of expensive now that I think about it.

Kind of sort of line a cheesecake?

I wish we had a Uwajimaya in Calgary…

SEATTLE UWAJIMAYA
600 5th Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 624-6248

[Take-Out] Calgary: Bento Nouveau October 15, 2011

The bf and I have been getting sushi from the food court sushi place down in TD Square. Sometimes we just don’t feel like cooking at home or spending a lot of money dining at a restaurant. This place on the 4th floor is great though, an hour before they close, they will offer their sushi at 30% off. They’ve been doing this so far, one time we went, it was buy one get one free, but I don’t see why they would stop offering the discount. They have to get ride of that day’s sushi, and I have to eat dinner, totally a win-win situation!

This is the summer combo:

$9.99 Regular Price

Obviously the quality is not as good as in restaurants, but not bad for about $7.00! It’s still way better than the sushi you get a grocery stores though. I find the rice you get from the grocery store sushi is always dry and hard. At least here, the rice is still soft, it’s cold, but it’s good enough!

Spicy Tuna Roll $6.99

All the prices I’ve listed are regular prices!

Salmon Delight Combo 9.99

Usually one of the bigger combo is enough food for me for dinner. But we like to get two each so we have more variety, and then we end up being way too full, lol, so gluttonous.

Black Dragon 8.49

Close up

BBQ Salmon Roll 7.99

Dinner for two:

All Together

Bento Nouveau
Core Shopping Food Court, Level 4
751 – 3 Street SW
Calgary, AB T2P 4K8
(403) 232-6808

[Dine-Out] Calgary: Fuji Yama Japanese Restaurant August 26, 2011

Grabbed a quick dinner at Fuji Yama with a friend. I’ve actually never eaten in here before, the location of the restaurant never appealed to me. It’s in a stand alone building, next to a car rental place and a basement dim sum place. The interior of the restaurant is actually quite nicely decorated & spacious. Soooo….I guess I was wrong…

-____-”

We ordered the Ika Sugatayaki to start:

Grilled Squid for $8.95

The squid was quite good, it had a really nice smokey flavour.

And then we ordered a few rolls to share. I don’t recall what the name of these rolls were because they’re not posted on their website (what the what?!). I’m such an awful food blogger, I know.

This is a soft shell crab roll topped with mangoes and black tobiko:

Soft Shell Crab Roll

I was pleasantly surprised when this came out. As you can see from the pictures, the soft shell crab is actually quite meaty. Other places where I’ve had soft shell crab rolls always try to skimp and stick the skinny legs in. You can actually taste the crab in this roll, look at it! The meat is like half the roll. And they are generous with the tobiko too! Thumbs up!!

We also tried their Dragon Roll (I think), that’s the one on the left topped with avocado and tobiko. The roll itself is stuffed with unagi. Mmm…I love unagi, even though it’s not a sustainable fish. I shall try to eat less of it…

The ones on the right consists of two different rolls even though they look the same. One was rolled with salmon and cream cheese, and the other one had Japanese basil rolled into it. I actually didn’t like the one with the basil in it, it gave the roll an odd taste. Would not recommend.

Rolls Rolls Rolls

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I was in Seattle all last week! But, the upside of that is I’ll have lots of Seattle posts to put up!!

FUJI YAMA JAPANESE RESTAURANT
118 5 Avenue Southeast
Calgary, AB T2G 5E3
(403) 266-1068

[Take-Out] Calgary: Sushi Hiro July 14, 2011

I think Sushi Hiro is one of the best sushi restaurants in Calgary, if not the best. The fish is always fresh and delicious, and the authentic decor cannot be beat! If you go during lunch time, make sure you have a reservation. The place is always jam packed with business men treating their clients~

I got some take-out sushi there during lunch one week. The quality of the fish didn’t disappoint!

Tuna & Salmon Sushi

So fresh!

This is one of my favourites:

Negitorotemaki

I love me some Temaki! I don’t know why I love hand rolls so much, but I do! This particular one is filled with scallion (negi) and chopped tuna (toro). Sooooo mouth-watering good!!

I would definitely recommend everyone go give Sushi Hiro a try!! They’re a tad expensive, but the food makes up for it!!

SUSHI HIRO
727 5 Avenue Southwest
Calgary, AB T2P 0N2
(403) 233-0605

[Dine-Out] Calgary: Shibuya Izakaya June 15, 2011

This was last summer, I think:

$0.99 Fresh Oysters!!

I love fresh raw oysters, so good! I like it better when they’re served plain with the sauces on the side though. At first, I wasn’t a big fan of the soy sauce (don’t mind the chives, yum) coming on the oysters, but it wasn’t bad. If it was up to me though, I would eat it without the soy sauce~

Yum~

We also got an oyster of Takoyaki. I find a restaurant’s takoyaki is a good measure of how good its hot food items are. Some places they have way too much dough, and it makes the octopus balls very soggy and not good. I was good here, I love the generous amount of Bonito Flakes (Katsuobushi) on top.

Katsuobushi Galore!!

Some sushi, of course:

Mango Tuna Roll

Anago Temaki:

Salt-Water Eel Handroll

I really liked Shibuya, and am planning on making a trip there this year. It’s kind of a hassle to get to for me because it’s up on 16th Avenue, I have to plan it or I won’t end up going~

SHIBUYA IZAKAYA
453 16 Avenue Northeast
Calgary, AB T2E 1K2
(403) 277-8823

[Take-Out] Calgary: Ichi Rock [ra:ku] April 8, 2011

Ichi Rock [ra:ku] is a Japanese & Izakaya restaurant that just recently opened in the west-end of Downtown. I have been waiting for this restaurant to open for months now. I remember being really excited when they started to put up the signage. I would peek in and see how far along their renovations were. There’s only one other sushi place in this area, and it’s right close to my house, so it’s nice to have some variety. There used to be another sushi place in the same building, but I think it closed down…8th Street Sushi Cafe? Good riddance anyways, that place looked really really dingy. The number one thing I wouldn’t eat from a dingy looking place would be: raw fish.

I had to work late, so that means I can expense this meal, which is perfect because sushi can be a tad on the expensive side. I just ordered some sushi off their sushi list, but they have a killer izakaya section that I for sure have to check out another night.

I ordered 2 pieces of salmon sashimi [$4.00], 2 pieces of tuna salmon [$4.25], 2 pieces of Tamago sushi [$3.75], 2 pieces of Saba sushi [$4.75] and a Negitoro Roll [$4.50].

Around $22.00 with GST, worth it?

It was good…not super fresh or anything, but very good. The sashimi slices were nice and thick, and no bones in the salmon, so that’s a plus. I’m disappointed that the mackerel didn’t have ginger on it, but at least it had green onions. I also liked that the ginger wasn’t that artificially dyed pink stuff.

I will most definitely go back to try their izakaya.

ICHI ROCK [ra:ku]
923 6 Ave Southwest
Calgary, AB
(403) 453-0852

[Dine-Out] Calgary: Momo-Yama Sushi March 26, 2011

I went for lunch at Momo-Yama Sushi with one of my co-workers. He helped me set up my website for my artwork, www.kelly-lai.com, so I took him out for lunch!

He ordered the Momoyama lunch box, he was making fun of me for taking pictures, and wouldn’t let me take one of his food. How rude! It was a good size meal for $12.25. The lunch box is only served from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm. I comes with your choice of chicken or beef teriyaki, soup, salad, rice and (I think) 4 pieces of nigiri. It might have came with something else too…but I can’t quite remember. The nigiri was the usual stuff: salmon, tuna, surf clam, shrimp…

I ordered the Assorted Sashimi:

The Usual Suspects

It came with 3 pieces of tuna, 3 pieces of sashimi, 2 pieces of tako (octopus), 2 pieces of surf clam, and 2 pieces of Tai (seabream snapper). As you can see, nothing special, but the fish wasn’t bad – I liked that they had tako in there, I love octopus! I should have seen if they would have swapped the surf clam out for tamago. It’s weird, I was never a big fan of the egg sushi before, but now I crave it every time I have sushi.

We also got the Spicy Tuna Roll to share. Not very authentic, but it was good nevertheless. I like the sauce they put on top of the maki, it had a nice level of heat to it. i wasn’t sooo spicy that you couldn’t taste the fish. Also, it’s a little different from other sushi restaurants where they just mix that red rooster hot sauce in with the fish.

Nom nom nom

All in all it was pretty good. It was a little out of the way to go to from our downtown office, but I had read some good reviews about the restaurant so I made me co-worker drive >v< (wakaka). I don’t think I’d go out of my way to go here again though.

MOMO-YAMA SUSHI
3919 Richmond Road Southwest
Calgary, AB
(403) 233-0995

 

[Take-Out] Calgary: Tenshi Sushi March 18, 2011

The bf and I got take-out from Tenshi Sushi in Kensington today. Didn’t take any pictures because we come here/get food from here quite often.

Tenshi has sort of become the go-to sushi place for us. Usually the quality is pretty good and it is relatively inexpensive compared to other sushi places…but…today’s takeout was awful. Get this: I found a bone in my salmon roll! That was one of the first things I ate…so the rest was…just okay, since I was pretty unimpressed with the fact that there was a bone in my sushi.

Also, I get the egg drop soup instead of miso (I don’t like the taste) and it tasted like dirty socks today. I don’t know…maybe the imitation crab meat in the soup has gone bad or something…but -yeah- dirty GYM socks.

I think we’re going to have to boycott this place for a bit…we’ll probably still go back since it’s so close to our place, but…I’m going to avoid it for, at least, two months I think.

TENSHI SUSHI
304 10 Street Northwest
Calgary, AB
(403) 457-0378