Sushi Wasabi

Sushi Wasabi
5714 111 Street
780-433-0533

I've visited Sushi Wasabi numerous times and I've actually reviewed it several years back, but I think I should give it some more exposure. This restaurant is one of my favorite places for sushi as it seems more authentic than other restaurants in the city. It's also Tara's favorite place and since we both had not visited in a while, we decided to go. After mulling over the menu, we decided to order separate small chirashi bowls ($15) and share a half order of assorted tempura ($9) with a full order of the salmon sashimi ($20).

We were brought the salmon sashimi first. The full order consists of 10 pieces of fish. Our plate had 9 full pieces, with several smaller pieces formed into a shape of a rose on one end of the plate. The 9 main pieces were thick, fresh tasting, and served at the appropriate temperature. However, the decorative pieces tasted lower quality and had some remnants of skin attached. I think for that reason, more fish was given to us to account for that final piece.

salmon.sashimi

Next came our bowls of chirashi. The menu description stated that the chirashi toppings would include fish roe, sesame seeds, and the chef's selection of sashimi on a bed of rice. Tonight, the selections were tamago, salmon, tuna, shitake mushroom, surf clam, octopus, and shrimp. I liked the choices presented to me tonight (sometimes I find pieces of scallop or mackerel which I'm not particularly fond of). The only beef we had with the chirashi tonight was that the salmon was tough and chewy. It tasted like it was cut more towards the tail end of the fish. Other than that, the rest of the rice bowl was perfectly fine and I liked the inclusion of sesame seeds. It added a nice and toasty flavour to the rice.

small.chirashi

Finally, we were presented with our tempura. A half order of the assorted tempura included 2 pieces of shrimp and 4 veggies: zucchini, squash, carrot and yam. I liked how the batter was light, but also had some crunchy flakes on the surface.

assorted.tempura

I've mentioned how I like Sushi Wasabi because of its authenticity. The staff here speak Japanese, hot towels are presented before the meal (it's one of the major reasons Tara frequents this restaurant!), and the sushi chefs use a dab of wasabi in between the rice and fish. One of the drawbacks is that the prices are on the higher end of the scale for Japanese food, however the sushi is of higher quality. With tax and tip, our meal was nearly $40 per person. The dining room is rather small and fills up easily. Reservations are highly recommended!

4.5/5