Tag: japanesefood

With Late Nights, You can always count on Tomo!

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I forgot to bring my camera guys!!! Nuuu, I should just always bring it (knowing how spontaneous I can get sometimes :p)

Justin came up from Calgary and as tradition we do our last-minute meet-up. This happened on a Sunday late at night, like 10 pm. It always starts with “What should we do?” and then follows up with “Where should we go?” So we end up going to IZAKAYA TOMO, because you can always count on them opening till late!!

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Justin pouring Tomo’s “pure” water (they sell this). When I asked them what would make their water better than Edmonton’s tap water (which is one of the cleanest and safest waters to drink by the way), they said it’s filtered more. With more probing they said it’s drinking soft water, so it has less calcium…

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Oh my goodness, they had toro in the house!!! TOMO IS ALWAYS OUT OF TORO EVERYTIME I COME HERE. Well, except for this other time… But I was so excited they had it, MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH.

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If I had my camera, you would see the glisten even clearer. All that fatty goodness bursting with flavour~

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Justin ordered some seaweed salad (so healthy). Not my cup of tea in terms of taste, BUT it is good for you so I would recommend it if you want to be healthy~

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Justin got some sashimi~ That IKA, SO FRESH. It reminded me of the ones from Tsukiji market. So creamy and sweet.

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This looks kind of strange but it’s… -drum roll-… BRUSSEL SPROUTS! Yes I know, it is kind of strange to order brussel sprouts at a Japanese restaurant. But believe me when I say they make some gooood brussel sprouts. It has a nice grilled outer layer, and the vinegary sauce with that parmesan cheese (I think it’s that, it’s a pretty sharp tasting cheese) makes a perfect combination. For anyone who doesn’t like brussel sprouts, they should definitely try this. (let me know if it changed your mind)

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I decided to be more adventurous and go try a new dessert~ The crispy honey bread served with vanilla ice cream and a coffee bean powder dusted on top. THIS IS HELLA GOOD. But very fried and not the healthiest haha (but oh well). It has a nice crispy crunch with a perfect amount of sweetness in the bread. I’m also a sucker for warm and cold contrasting desserts, so the warm bread and cold ice cream made it so yummy. Plus the coffee in there helped your taste buds take a break from an overload of just sweet honey.

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Let’s end this post by another look at this beautiful toro. Look at the cut!

 

Love. Mish.

Is it bad I’m already ready for the next long weekend?… XD

3. Ikki Izakaya (I)

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My overall score: 3.8/5
Nancy’s overall score: 3.8/5
Lydia’s overall score: 3.3/5

Ordered:
             -Takowasabi ($4.50)

   -Tuna Tartar ($10.99)

   -Motsuni Stew ($8.75)

   -TK Udon ($13.00)

   -Ultimate Shrimp Roll (We switched out the sake for some green tea. $15.00)

   -Crispy Spicy Tuna ($15.00)

This is near friend’s place: BRU beer and coffee house!
Here with Lydia and Nancy! It’s a cozy and nicely decorated place!
Takowasabi!
Intestines.. it was so soft :3
Tuna tar tar! Avocado, crisp apples at the bottom!
Crispy spicy Tuna: jalapeno, spicy tuna, crispy onion and tobiko~
TK Udon
Ultimate Shrimp Roll

GUESS WHAT. THIS PLACE HAS A GIANT MOSTU-DON FOOD CHALLENGE (Really tempting lol. If you finish within 45 minutes, you receive a free T-shirt and you don’t pay! The price is $50 in case you were wondering :p. Anyways this place is awesome for just a nice day of drinking with friends and some snacks. Not as much as a place to fill you up though!

Presentation:                    4.5/5
Very cute, simple presentation for the food. I love how they used many different types of bowls, and ways to present the food.

Health:                                  3.7/5
They had a quite a bit of vegetarian dishes than I see in some Japanese places. There were corn croquettes, tofu dishes, etc.

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Look at the sake and alcohol!

Atmosphere/location: 4/5
Location is conveniently on Jasper Avenue, but once again the main problem lies in parking. We parked in a neighbourhood and walked over hehe.
The atmosphere was very cozy, dim lighting, love the decor and how they showcased the alcohol. It was pretty small (won’t seat many people) but that’s how Izakayas usually are! Very clean too eee :3

Cost:                                  3.4/5
It wasn’t very filling, but it is definitely meant for a drinking and light snacks place! But it would be considered bit pricey for the proportions we got. Hurray for friends to split bills :p

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Takowasabi!!

Taste:                                3.8/5
–Takowasabi: It wasn’t too chewy, and I felt it was a good ratio of wasabi and raw octopus :o. I liked wrapping it in the seaweed and having a cucumber before taking the next bite! Wish there was more though…

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Tuna tar tar! Avocado, crisp apples at the bottom!

–Tuna Tartar: It was just a fun dish: some crunch, softness of tuna and avocado, and sweetness of crisp apples. It was hard to spoon it onto the spring roll chips :/. Feel bad for making a bit of a mess… waitress spent a bit cleaning that basket thingy woops >w<

–Motsuni Stew: This was yummy! This is basically pork innards, it was very soft! The stew had a bit of a bitter aftertaste like drinking ginseng soup. But I love it, reminds me of home cooking :3. Wish there was more of it haha…

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TK Udon: inari tofu, green onions, fried onions

–TK Udon: A very light wakame broth, with some pieces of fried onions that give a bit of flavour…it’s a very simple dish, but for the size and taste, it’s definitely not worth the $13… I could get a full bowl of ramen for that price.

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Ultimate shrimp roll: shrimp, tempura shrimp, tobiko, avocado

–Ultimate Shrimp Roll: I think it’s one of their better tasting rolls… It’s not something out of this world, but there’s sweetness from the sauce, and who can go wrong with tempura shrimp in the center? Don’t really notice the avocado though.

–Crispy Spicy Tuna: Very soft on the inside. There wasn’t much flavour unless you really like heat and eat it with the jalapeno and the siracha sauce on the side~

I’m picky about the ginger served with dishes, it was odd tasting. I think they didn’t use as young ginger to make it~

Service:                              3.5/5
They were nice and friendly, the rolls took a while to make even though the store only had another couple along with us.

Peace out~

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Girl’s Night out~

-Love Mish.

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2. Muku (I)

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My overall score: 3.8/5
Preston’s overall score: 3.9/5

Ordered:
             -Tonkotsu Chashu (12.30 +1.00 for extra pork fat)

   -Kuro-ton ($9.50)

Lining up outside!! Keeners~
Inside… on the right side
Tonkotsu Chashu
Kuro-ton (topped with lean and fatty pork [lol it’s buried!], green onion, bean sprouts with a charred garlic black soup
The soup is so nice and hot that it fogged up glasses hehe

We decided to have a trip to Calgary and this was the first place we wanted to try! We’re the first customers for the day!! If you’re looking for a more authentic place for ramen, this is a nice place to try! They have pork fat soup and even the ramen where you put in cubes of butter and mix it in the hot soup!

Presentation:                    3.6/5
Around average, but I like how they actually carefully laid out the Naruto (that’s what they called those pink swirly things lol) as opposed to some places that just throw it in.

Health:                                  3.8/5
I guess they can do a vegetarian option if you just asked for no meat. And you would probably want to choose miso soup or maybe even the Kuro-ton where mine is charred garlic.
I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t black garlic (which I love), it adds a whole new depth to flavour and has so many health benefits haha, though I guess it’s taste is not for everyone.
There’s just a little bit more oil than eating at Nudoru, but given that we both ordered oil/fat soups.. so can’t really say! ><” We ordered pretty unhealthy dishes…

Atmosphere/location: 4.3/5
We don’t live in Calgary so it’s hard to say how convenient they think it is. But It was pretty easy for us to find when we used a GPS. But their sign is quite easy to miss, and you may see the Globefish Japanese restaurant first instead.
People poured in quite quickly after we came in. There’s mainly 2 people seating, bar seating, and a few 4 seat tables!
Decor was kind of random sticking on Japanese items around, but it’s cute haha. Reminds me of those local ramen places we find in some random alley in Japan.

Cost:                                  4/5
Taking taste and how filling it was in account, I think the price is good!

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Taste:                                4/5
–Kuro-ton: In the picture above I showed how the noodles are! I wish i took a picture of the Nudoru to compare. This was a bit more limp and soft (the texture is like eating cooked packaged ramen you get in stores). I’m NOT saying it’s bad haha, just letting you know the texture. Definitely reminded me of some ramen places in Japan we ate. Charred garlic tastes like.. charred garlic haha. The thing that I was disappointed was that the pork was really dry and it had no flavour.

–Tonkotsu Chashu: Preston absolutely loved this (he says he likes it better than Shiki Menya, but each to their own :p). Very generous with the pork fat bits (it’s broken down in small pieces, so each scoop of the soup has flavour! (You can click on the picture in the gallery above to see it)

Service:                              3.6/5
Around average, but wasn’t too friendly feeling at first. Even though we were the first to get seated, they helped the other tables first and gave them their water. (not sure if we just looked like kids… but when they saw me taking pictures of the food though, there was a change in behaviour for service though).

BOOM.

-Love Mish.

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