sushi – Page 3 – Elsie Hui

June 7, 2013

Li-Ao Sushi, Calgary

One of my co-workers told me Li Ao Sushi was a fantastic place to go to for sushi, and so I knew it was a must for me to try! Tucked away a little in the southwest (Bridlewood) strip plaza is this little restaurant! It’s not a huge place, but they do seem to change tables quickly. A lot of their customers were take out as well.

We sat down and was still looking at the menu, and the waiter gave us a plate of Deep Fried Tuna Gyozas which was compliments of the house! We looked at it funny at first, but when we bite into it, it was packed with flavour! It was no ordinary fried tuna gyoza, it was excellent!

We ordered a bowl of Miso Soup each, and it was standard – but at the same time, miso soup doesn’t get too fancy or different, so at least it was good!

For the sushi, of course I ordered a few sushi pieces which are my favourites, the Salmon and Tuna Sushi and those came together first on a plate with both of them. They were in huge pieces and the fish was very fresh!

After that, the next plate that came was my huge order of the Smoked Salmon Sushi as it’s a favourite of mine as well, and if it’s there, I’m ordering it!

We ordered some of their special rolls, and the first roll that came out was the Salmon Mango Roll which they didn’t really describe what it was – but it was a tempura shrimp with avocado roll topped with some cream cheese. Then piled high on top of that was salmon and mango. The mix was so delicious and almost refreshing! I did find there was a little too much cream cheese, but it didn’t stop me from finishing the roll!

The last roll we decided to order was the Female Dragon Roll and we really picked it because anything with the word “female” in the name has got to be awesome! 🙂 In honesty, it wasn’t as good as the salmon mango roll for me, but this was still good! I actually don’t remember what was inside, besides the ingredients that you do see… the tempura shrimp, with salmon and spicy mayo! I guess it just wasn’t that memorable for me.

Overall, the portion sizes here are huge! It’s definitely worth your time, money and effort to give this place a try! At the end of your visit, the owner will give the ladies in the restaurant a box of Pocky sticks too!

Li-Ao Sushi

#231, 2335 162 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 719-9668

May 12, 2013March 30, 2019

Sho Sushi Bar & Kitchen

I was in a celebrating mood this one afternoon, and I thought “what better way to celebrate than a nice sushi place!?” so I found myself at Sho Sushi Bar & Kitchen as it looks super fancy, and high end from the outside. The parking lot is a little tricky as it’s not really marked one way – but it all works out at the end. This restaurant is in the deep south, on the East side of Macleod Trial.

We were first greeted by nobody for the longest time, and then the hostess came to stand at the podium at the front folding napkins. “It’s alright!” we thought to ourselves as we were in no hurry… until it got ridiculous, we had to go up and say hi first. When we finally got seated, it took forever for any sort of service. It actually was tough getting service throughout the dinner and we watched other customers suffer a bit. We were alright, as we kept the mentality of “we’ve got nothing better to do!” The menus come out on laminated copies and you mark what you want on it with a dry erase pen! It’s pretty neat! We started with some Gyozas as it’s always something I love. They were alright, nothing great, but not nasty – mediocre!

The other starter we had was their Miso Soup which again wasn’t anything special. So far, this celebration night just seemed like a normal night… so, we hoped the sushi was at least great! The miso soup was very bland with a few pieces of tofu in the bottle and one shredded piece of seaweed floating in the soup.

Then, we ordered some sashimi, and we ordered the Salmon Sashimi and the Tuna Sashimi which the tuna was kind of the “wrong” texture. The salmon was really good, but something was funny with the tuna. We ate it anyway without a word, and I must add, our bellies were fine the following day – so it’s all good! The portions were quite generous, and that kept us quite happy.

Then came our plate of sushi, we ordered Smoked Duck Sushi, Smoked Salmon Sushi and Spicy Tuna Roll, and these came out very good! We were very pleased with the duck sushi as it was a nice piece of tasty duck with some rice! The smoked salmon was one of my favourites all night and there wasn’t anything to complain about with this tuna roll. So, things took a turn – and we were satisfied!

The last thing we ordered was what they called Ocean Surprise and it was described as “spicy prawn with mayo and avocado topped with seaweed salad and gold tobiko” on the menu. It was an odd ball, but not gross! It had a good balance of flavours and textures making it unique and special. It was pretty good!

Since things turned out better at the end, we figured it’d be fine to order some dessert. We asked for the Creme Brulee Cheesecake and this cheesecake took forever – as I think it was thawing in the kitchen or something. The top of the cake wasn’t actually bruleed so it was cold and didn’t have the nice topping. The cheesecake itself tasted like the ones you could get from the frozen isle at the grocery stores… so, we wished we never ordered it – since it wasn’t made by them. It’s just not what we were expecting for some odd reason (they’re not a bakery!)

Overall, the dining experience was a decent one. It had it’s moments of ups and downs. It’s average food quality with a higher price tag. Service is kind of lacking, but not a place I would avoid… nor a place I would go to celebrate with again though… you decide whether or not you’d like to try. For their benefit of a doubt though, we went when they were just opened, so maybe it was wrinkles they needed to iron out at that time!

Sho Sushi Bar & Kitchen

7212 Macleod Trail S
Calgary, AB
(403) 252-5199

June 25, 2012June 25, 2012

Sushi Towa Calgary

It was my birthday, and I was looking for a special place to celebrate it! We were originally thinking about something along Stephens Avenue – however, it was not only the beginning of wedding season, it was grad season as well. It was impossible to find parking anywhere, and we had no reservations for anywhere (mid week)… so, we went to plan B. This plan was going to Sushi Towa which is located on 4th Street! This little sushi place looks like a house, so look carefully for it if you want to eat here!

We were recommended something unique, so we had to try it! It was the Ishikari Soup which was an item on a printed menu – which was absolutely delicious! I would recommend this soup to you if you like salmon and soup! It was creamy and savoury. It roughly translates to salmon miso soup.

Of course, when I go for sushi, the first thing I look for is the surf clams (hokkigai)! They have some here, and it’s my favourite! I like it so much we ordered it sashimi style! We also really like salmon and tuna, so we opted for salmon this time! What a beautiful plate of sashimi! In the center, it was some Spicy Crunch gunkan style sushi.

We didn’t stop there either, we ordered a few more rolls, and the one I want to mention would be their Fire Cracker Roll which was made of jalapeno tempura, sour cream, smoked salmon which was a great combination! The first few pieces weren’t really spicy as the jalapeno pepper wasn’t spicy – however, there were a few pieces at the end that was extremely spicy, which was probably how this sushi roll was suppose to be! The sour cream really helps cut down the heat level, and the smokey smoked salmon was a great balance of taste and flavours all in one roll.

The last roll that we had is a sushi roll I still dream about! It consists of all things that I love – in a form I love too!! It’s got pineapple, cucumber, avocado, red onion, shrimp, spicy sauce, balsamic vinegar on side. This wonderful roll is called the Hawaiian Roll which is something I would highly recommend if you enjoy sweetness from pineapples in your food.

This sushi place isn’t like any other place I’ve been too. Sure, the prices are a little higher than usual, but their quality is exceptional! The service is great but the most memorable thing is the overall experience that Sushi Towa provides with their food!

Towa Sushi

2116 4 St SW
Calgary, AB T2S0H3
(403) 245-8585

April 26, 2012December 31, 2018

Macleod Sushi & BBQ

All you can eat sushi is all I can say! We made it here with my sister and brother-in-law one evening after an exhausting day at the zoo. Needless to say, we were starving and figured we should eat at a place that offered “unlimited” food! This location is located on the west side of Macleod trail, and it’s a fairly large restaurant.

This restaurant is really neat, and it offers both Korean BBQ and sushi options. We ordered food from both, and the food was extremely delicious. I really enjoyed the seasoned raw meat that I got to cook on the BBQ on the middle of our table! It was such a fun experience!

The neat thing about this location, when you order “1 order” of something, you actually only get “ONE” item! It really helps as they know eventually you get full… so, in a way, they’re helping you out on sampling their food! My example would be the Salmon Teriyaki, as you can see, there’s only one piece! Not all of the plates of food was like this, but they were small portions!

My favourite sushi rolls from here would be Mango and Crispy Roll as well as the Smoked Salmon Roll

I really enjoyed all the sushi from here! It was actually better than the Korean BBQ, even though it was fun! The plates of sushi came out fast, the food was fresh and delicious!

To top of the entire eating experience here at Macleod Sushi & BBQ, dessert!! I ordered a bowl of Mango Tapica Pudding which was great as I got to leave this restaurant on such a high note. With a great dessert, it makes this restaurant really memorable!

Overall, I really enjoy this restaurant. It was never a place I thought about going to, but I’m so glad we stopped in! It has now become on the top of my list for sushi, all you can eat!

Macleod Sushi & BBQ

Suite 100-5211 Macleod Trail SW
Calgary, AB T2H
(403) 252-2999

April 26, 2012April 5, 2020

Sushi Ichiban – Calgary, Alberta

Sushi Ichiban was a neat place to go. It’s tucked away off Macleod Trail, on the East side – but it does offer a small parking lot. The nice thing about this place is the fact it is All You Can Eat which is wonderful for me, as I’m a sushi monster!

I love the fact that the sushi comes out on a boat, if you order large amounts! It looks great, and the sushi tastes great too!

We had 4 people, and each of us had our own favourites. At the end of the day, we ate TONS of sushi, and it was quite good and fresh!

We not only had a ton of sushi, we also enjoyed tempura, and fried yams, as well as BBQ Beef steaks. They were all good, but not as good as the actual sushi. In fact, the BBQ Beef was a little tough, even though it was great flavours!

I really enjoyed the Agedashi Tofu from here, as it was quite smooth, and fried to a wonderful crisp!

A fun thing they offer here is variations of California Rolls, we ordered 2 of the 3 variations, and my brother in law loved them!

As stuffed as we were, there’s always room for Coconut Pudding Dessert, which I must say – it wasn’t as good as other coconut pudding desserts. But, I think it was just because I was super stuffed!

Overall, I was really pleased with the sushi here. I’d recommend this location if you’re looking to eat just sushi actually. It’s not bad, and the prices are competitive with other sushi places around this area.

Sushi Ichiban

4014 Macleod Trail S
Calgary, AB T2G2R7
(403) 243-1000