Kate O.
Yelp
Had a very nice time here tonight. I've never been to the Alberta location, so here goes.
First impressions, okay, but, we did have a reservation (4pm on a weekday...), asked if we could change tables due to the glare outside, and not rude or anything, but, just set an odd tone, aka, there's nobody in here, and wasn't for more than an hour, let's not make it seem like you're looking for a table--especially for two.
Ordered a HH wine, took what felt like forever. But then, great service after. The folks here were so nice, and after we settled in and ordered a round of food, awesome!
We got a few drinks a piece (just us two). The tofu vodka cocktail...interesting, but not great, just something you don't see all the time. Glad we tied it. Other than that, either classic or just wine. Drink prices are good for HH.
Food, we got veggie tempura, which is a crazy portion, but kinda missed the crunch and flavor I'm used to, but good, the sauce, no flavor at all and we ended up lemon and soy adding at the table.
Spicy miso soup, and wow, the chili oil added a lot, and the dashi was salty, bold and right sweetness. Nice!
Tuna crunchy rice, amazing quality, but lacked salt or another item to round it out.
Nigiri, Ikura, Kanpachi (sorry if I botched that), and scallop were incredible and the rice, which is the main dish here--each grain is sweet, vinegar and separate, from the other grains, which is (besides the "topping"), the most critical part. Wow!
Bonus! They were trying out a roll for Valentine's Day with the staff looked like, and they came by and gave a whole portion to us for FREE! Nice touch! Pro move on their part.
Will be back again, as far as prices go, it's Bamboo, so no real deals here, just good food, that you know where it comes from, and be willing to pay a fair price for it--that doesn't break the bank. The two of us were fat and happy (and a little buzzed), for a price we felt good about.
Not bad for very quality Japanese! Oh, and I almost forgot, on the nigiri, it's real wasabi, not the paste that's mostly horseradish!