Sushi Bar Zipang – Calgary, Alberta;

After just over a year of wanting to try Sushi Bar Zipang I finally went! It was great, the fish was fresh and reasonably priced.

The sashimi slices were really thick as well – which made it really good, and justified the price! The location is a little restaurant, and with constant customers – they’ve built a reputation for success here!

I would definitely go back given the opportunity! The restaurant had a dining area and a sushi bar area, and the overall ambiance was very quiet and casual. The service was alright, but the food was just excellent.

I love starting with Gyoza’s, and oddly enough, they don’t have any here! They have quite a large selection of appetizers, but they just didn’t have dumplings — unless of course, I just missed it.

We ordered from the sushi/sashimi sheet, and from there, we selected sushi such as hokki – surf clam,
smoked salmon
and hotate – scallop. All of these were really good as well. We had no complaints at all during the entire time we were at Zipang.

We ordered spicy salmon roll which consisted of salmon, spicy sauce, lettuce and the spiciness was just right, you still get the salmon flavour without the spiciness to overwhelm the entire sushi. It was well balance and one of my favorites for the evening.

Then, we ordered an Alaska roll which was sushi wrapped with smoked salmon, avocado, cream cheese and this wasn’t as flavourful of an Alaska roll as some other places I’ve tried. It seemed to be lacking some flavour, but you definitely got the cream cheese taste. I think they may have put too much cream cheese in.

Just to have a wider selection of sashimi, we ordered their Special Assorted Sashimi and this assortment had salmon, tuna, octopus, and scallops. It was actually really good, and this plate came with 14 pieces of sashimi for $19.50, which is quite a good deal!

And, at the end, we ordered an order of Agedashi Tofu, and it wasn’t really a good deal at all. It was $5.00 for only 2 pieces of tofu, and we all know tofu isn’t expensive. It tasted good, but it wasn’t worth it in my opinion.

Overall, I will be back, I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the sushi, and the sashimi… and that’s all that matters in a Japanese restaurant when we’re out for sushi! 🙂

Sushi Bar Zipang

1010 1 Ave NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 262-1888

Haru Sushi & Grill – Calgary, Alberta

Recently opened in McKenzie Towne is Haru Sushi & Grill and after I realized it was opened, I knew I had to try it sooner than later! So, soon it was!

The decoration was really modern, the chairs were big and comfortable, it was well light, and overall great ambiance! It is very clean, and no harsh edges anywhere, everything just flowed, which was a really nice design concept they had!

We ate lots at Haru Sushi – just to get a good sample. We’ll have to go back for other things such as teriyaki, or udon or things like that! I love soup noodles such as udon, so I’ll be there to at least try it out some other time!

We ordered gyoza’s to start with, and when they came, the skin was really thin and the meat filling was really well seasoned. These delicate gyozas was cooked/pan-fried to perfection! If I was to make it myself with skin so thin I’m sure I wont have much of the skin left as it would have been stuck to the bottom of my pan!

Afterwards, we had our Haru Platter which consisted of 4 salmon sushi, 4 tuna sushi, 4 shrimp (ebi) sushi, dynamite roll, and spicy crunchy tuna roll.

It also came with an assorted tempura which was a nice surprise! I didn’t read the menu, so I was shocked when we got tempura! The salmon, tuna and shrimp was really quite nice quality, and large portions as well! Both the salmon and tuna was a thick piece and quite large as it draped over a ball of rice really nicely!

To top it all off, just in case we weren’t full, we also had a order of Spicy Prawn Roll which was a huge plate of their special rolls. It was really good, and quite spicy from the Sriracha sauce. It was really nice and crispy and just a good choice for a special roll! It’s got prawn tempura and yam tempura wrapped with steamed prawn, avocado and tobico! It’s also got this crispy layer in it, which I think is backed wonton wrappers or something of that nature! It added a lovely crunch to the sushi roll.

This is a great place, and I would highly recommend it if you’re looking for some good sushi in the South. It feels like there are still a few wrinkles they need to iron out as it’s still very new, but I’m sure it’ll become a great place! The service was pretty good, considering they were packed – even before 7pm, keeping in mind there weren’t THAT many tables inside. They were still able to accommodate everyone in a timely manner which was really good! At least the seafood was fresh, which is extremely important in a sushi restaurant!

HARU Sushi & Grill

150, 35 McKenzie Towne Ave. SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 457-5881

Tobiko Sushi and Martini Bar – Calgary, Alberta

Sushi Bar is located inside the casino of Deerfoot Inn & Casino off 114th Avenue Southeast. It has really good sushi, which is really fresh, and made in front of you!

We’ve tried their sushi a few times now, and both take-out and dine-in. Both options are really good.

Sushi Bar open every Thursday (5pm – 11pm) and Friday and Saturday from 5pm -midnight

Deerfoot Inn & Casino is a resort very much like Las Vegas, without all the sounds and heat. Vegas is a wonderful place to go if you’re looking for great cuisine and casinos – Vegas Deals! But, if you can’t get away, this is a great alternative.

Deerfoot Inn & Casino – A South Calgary Hotel

1000, 11500 – 35 Street SE
Calgary, Alberta T2Z 3W4

Chaya – Banff, Alberta

If you’re looking for the best Japanese place to eat in Banff, look no further. Chaya is owned an operated by Japanese owners, so you definitely know the food is authentic. I love going to Chaya as they have great udon noodles! I normally order a chicken udon, as that is my ultimate favourite dish from Chaya! It is really infused with great flavours in both the chicken and the stock they use for the soup!

The location is quite small, so I recommend going right when they open (at 11am) or right after the lunch rush! It’s quite often they would have Japanese tours going in there for a quick bite!

They offer a huge variety of Japanese cuisine, and besides udon, we really like the soba and the rice don. This location is tucked and hidden beside McDonalds right on Main Street and is often missed. But, keep your eye open for Chaya and enjoy their food! Their dishes are slightly on the expensive side, but it’s well worth it!

Chaya

118 Banff av
Banff, AB
(403) 760-0882

Kinjo Sushi & Grill Macleod – Calgary, Alberta

Kinjo Sushi is a place that is well known. It has been in Calgary for many years, and respected by many! I’ve been there twice now, once for lunch, and once for dinner. I personally enjoy the lunch crowd more, as the customers are more business type, and during the evening, it transforms into a family friendly environment.

The fish and seafood isn’t bad, but I do like the special rolls on the menu! The uniqueness is really nice, and they really know how to dress up the plate for the sushi rolls! I enjoy their spicy sushi’s, of any sort. Once you get seated, they do give you a complimentary sampler and that’s always fun and unique!

We always order a lot of sushi as it’s one of my top favourite foods/cuisine. So, we started with some miso soup. It’s a tradition even though I make a darn good one!

My personal favourite is salmon, it’s often a toss up between salmon and tuna for me but I think the butteryness of salmon beats tuna by a hair.

Just to stay fair, we got the Negitoro Sushi which is a tuna sushi!

There’s always something special about a Smoked Salmon Sushi so I had to order that as well. It was pretty delicious!

Since I’m alternating salmon and tuna, I think it’s Tuna Sushi‘s turn to shine. The pieces of tuna was very generous and it had a great taste and texture to it!

Tuna is going to win the night as we ordered more tuna dishes than salmon. We also grabbed an order of Spicy Tuna so officially this evening, spicy tuna wins!

The last thing we got was just a little different, it’s Wagyu Beef Sushi just to try. It’s not bad! I think I’d prefer a steak if this was my path to take. But, if you know me, I’m a meat and potato girl, so don’t mess with a good thing!

This was a fun experience at Kinjo. I think I really enjoyed watching the sushi being prepared for me and all the other guests. But, for whatever reason, my sushi tasted better when I was seated in a booth!

Kinjo Sushi & Grill

7101 Macleod Trl S
Calgary, AB T2H
(403) 255-8998