Where To Eat In Canada
This year we are again blessed to be recommended among Canada’s best restaurants. This is our eighth consecutive year being commended. Other local restaurants included in the guide are Calories french restaurant and (occasionally) The Taj indian restaurant. The Where To Eat In Canada Guide includes Sushiro as one of seven recommended Canadian sushi bars and gives us a special honour as being an “exceptional value for the money”
The guide, http://www.oberonpress.ca/wheretoeat/ is available at McNally Robinson and the main branch of the public library.
Sushi restaurant raising money for Haiti relief
READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE!
What do hot dogs and the Japanese have in common? Well, aside from Takeru Kobayashi, the infamous Japanese hot dog eating champion who eventually lost to a bear, not a whole lot springs to mind — that is, until recently.
Noriki Tamura, a Japanese street meat vendor who recently moved to Vancouver, started adding traditional sushi toppings to his dogs. The popularity of this juicy street snack, dubbed the Japa Dog, took off like a karate kicked Pokémon.
Todd Gronsdahl and Nathan McKinnon — owner and waiter respectively at Sushiro on Broadway Avenue — have crafted a weekly night of rock DJing, discount Japa Dogs and cheap beer as an homage to great music and the spicy comfort food rising from the streets of Vancouver.
The Suhiro website describes the process of how they create their unique version of the Japa Dog.
“(We) take one American tube steak, local Mennonite sausage, or tofu dog and lavish it with spicy mayo, bonito, nori, cheese, teriyaki sauce or daikon.”
Since the introduction of the event, Sushiro has become one of the only venues in Saskatoon to offer psychedelic and classic rock DJing.
In a peculiar move, Sushiro has actually teamed up with the Vinyl Diner for the event, and a number of records from the Diner will be on sale at each event. McKinnon admitted that it was somewhat difficult to inform the patrons of this newly added, unique feature.
“They are on a crate on the bar for sale at Sushiro. Not many people are looking through the crate yet, but I think that’s because they don’t yet realize that they are allowed to,” said McKinnon.
If this isn’t enough to have your mouth watering and your hand twitching over your wallet like Clint Eastwood and a hip-holster, for the rest of this month Sushiro will be giving all the profits from Japa Dog sales to a Haiti relief fund.
“Every dollar raised from the Japa Dogs and the four dollar beers goes to the Red Cross for Haiti relief until the end of January,” said McKinnon. “(The disaster) happened just as we were starting this night up again. I think Todd figured that it would be a good cause.”
The DJs are a revolving set, so if you are a regular at the event you will be able to pick out your favourites and attend on their particular night.
“It’s Kalon Beaudry and Janice Weber (who play in Friend’s Electric and Foggy Notions) this Thursday,” said McKinnon. “Colin Skrapek (Maybe Smith) and SoSo do a more hip hop inspired set and Mitch Grier (Ride Til Dawn) and Ben Hettinga do Rock and Soul.”
The Japa Dog combo with fries is $8. Rumours of tempura sweet potato fries are circulating, but were unfortunately absent from the menu when I ate there in December. On top of being an extremely tasty meal, cans of Great West Light are on sale for $4 during Japa Dog hours, Thursdays from 8 to 10 p.m.
- GREG REESE, Arts Editor
The Sheaf, 20 January 2010
Sushi Supreme
CLEVER COMBINATIONS, FANTASTIC FLAVOURS PUT SUSHIRO ON TOP
I fell in love with sushi fifteen years ago — becoming one of a small group of people in this prairie town that would seek out what most people dismissed incorrectly as ‘raw fish.’ It was much harder to find good sushi back then, but a shrinking world and a growing city have helped make sushi and other ethnic foods more popular. These days, there are a number of local restaurants serving this delectable food — and one of my favourites is definitely Sushiro Izakaya just off Broadway on 10th Street.
Where to Eat in Canada
Megan MacDonald trained with a master sushi chef in the Cayman Islands and worked with him for two years before returning to open her own restaurant in Saskatoon. Sushiro has proved to be an unexpected delight. It’s in the City Park district, a short walk from the river. Inside there are twelve seats; in fine weather you can take your sushi outside and eat it on the riverbank. Megan has an artist’s eye for line and colour and she serves nothing but the best fish that money can buy in Vancouver or Calgary. It’s all flash frozen by the suppliers, which means that it’s as fresh as you can get this far inland. Six pieces of sushi with miso can be had for 14.50, eight pieces of maki for 5.00. There’s also sashimi, salads and tempura, all of them amazingly beautiful. The restaurant recently got a licence, which means that there’s more to drink than green tea.
Anne Hardy, Where to Eat in Canada. (2002-2003)
Sweet Sushiro
As my dining companion and I trudged through the snow on my way to Sushiro, I wondered to myself why I would want to cat at a restaurant that serves primarily cold and raw ingredients during one of the coldest months of the year. I was happy to discover that Sushiro is one of the best places to wait out the winter months in Saskatoon.
Sushiro creates a flavour sensation…
Japanese cuisine is unsurpassed in the quest for freshness, quality and flavour. Now Saskatonians can discover this incomparable taste experience for themselves by visiting Sushiro, a locally owned restaurant specializing in sushi, in its new location at 737B Broadway Avenue.
Restaurant owners Todd Gronsdahl and Megan Macdonald developed their passion for Japanese cuisine while living in the Cayman Islands. “Megan trained with an acclaimed sushi master in the Caymans. When we returned to Canada, we wanted to bring that concept to Saskatoon,” says Gronsdahl.
“The executive sushi chef I trained with has international experience, working in Japan, San Francisco and Toronto. I really lucked out in having an opportunity to work with him, as usually only Japanese men are formally trained as sushi chefs. In the Caymans, we served guests from all over the world who commented that this was some of the best sushi they’d ever had,” says Megan Macdonald.
“I know there are other sushi places in the city, but none of them have actually trained with a sushi chef. I also trained with Remi Cousyns at Calories, so I have a background in French cuisine too.”
The couple initially tested their restaurant concept by offering a limited menu at Todd’s mother’s coffee shop, Gotta Hava Java.
“We set up there as an experiment and got a pretty good response. We started looking for available locations, and ended up taking a spot in City Park. Although we only had 300 square feet to work with, we steadily built up our clientele, serving 40 to 55 people a day,” says Gronsdahl.
The couple kept their eyes open for a larger location, always hoping to find a prime spot on Broadway Avenue. “When this location, at the corner of Broadway and 10th Avenue opened up, we jumped on it, opening October 3,” says Gronsdahl.
Guests are now welcomed by a serene and inviting Japanese-style atmosphere. While their old City Park restaurant was once half the size of a regular home kitchen, Sushiro can now seat up to 50 people at one time at its new Broadway Avenue location.
Macdonald has carefully composed a menu of traditional Japanese fare, reflecting here favourite flavours and ingredients. “We stick to what we do best. We don’t have a huge and elaborate menu, because we want to maintain the highest levels of quality. We want every dish to stand on its own.”
…
Sushiro’s sushi is alway made fresh to order. It’s never cold and tasteless from being refigerated. Guests can order their favourites individually or in assorted dinners that provide genous samplings of a variety of menu favourites. To accompany their meal, diners can select from expertly brewed teas or the licensed menu of sake, imported Japanese and domestic beers and wines.
“To complement our food and make Sushiro even more of an experience, on the weekends we’re now featuring a deejay who mixes jazz music,” says Gronsdahl.
While the relaxing environment makes Sushiro a poplular choice for evening dining, it’s also a tasty and convenient lunch spot. “Sushi is a quick, healthy choice for lunch, which doesn’t leave you groggy for the rest of the afternoon. There are always two of us in the kitchewn so you can count on being in and out on time,” says Macdonald.
The Star Phoenix. November 22, 2003
Sushi on the Prairie
To be completely honest, sushi’s not my favourite kind of food. The closest I normally get to a raw fish dinner is watching the pelicans snacking at the weir on the South Saskatchewan River. They seem to dig it, but what choice do they have? Humans figured out how to cook our food a long time ago, and that’s one piece of technology I for one haven’t outgrown and don’t intend to.
So when I drop in at Sushiro, the new sushi and noodle shop in City Park, it’s the noodles I’m mostly interested in, nice chewy noodles in spicy broths. If I’m with someone else, though, I’m likely to get talked into sharing an order or two of this or that. And, I have to admit, the sushi Megan Macdonald whips up in this tiny restaurant is so beautiful to look at, and so tempting, it’s hard to resist at least a sample or two. Or three.
More on the sushi, cooked and raw, in a minute. Megan Macdonald is most definitely not a Japanese name. Neither is Todd Gronsdahl, her partner. So, how did a couple of prairie kids get turned onto sushi? By accident, really.
Macdonald apprenticed at Saskatoon’s fancy pastry cafe, Calories, after getting her nutrition degree at the University of Saskatchewan. Then, a jaunt to the Cayman Islands with Gronsdahl led her to a Japanese sushi bar and a crash course in preparation techniques under a master sushi chef. Years later, the pair ventured into City Park and into their own full-fledged operation at 801 7th Ave. North.
Everything at Sushiro is fresh, and mostly organic. Presentation is beautiful. And service is first rate – with only three tables and a counter (altogether, 12 seats), it’s not likely Macdonald, who stands behind a counter that separates the eating and cooking areas, or the waiter (Gronsdahl) will fall behind.
The key to sushi – as always with fish – is freshness. Of course, on the prairies, the term “fresh fish” is a bit of an oxymoron. Sushiro gets its fish, via Calgary and Vancouver suppliers, from Japan and Hawaii, where it’s cryogenically frozen – incredibly fast at incredibly low temperatures. Macdonald only thaws what she needs, as she needs it. Instant fresh.
The sushi, which are mouthful-sized rolls of fish and rice, often with a vegetable, and sometimes wrapped in nori, come eight to a serving, along with the fixings for a spicy sauce you prepare yourself in a small bowl. Then, with chopsticks or your fingers, the morsel goes into the sauce, then into your mouth. Not nearly as complicated as it might seem, and nothing to be intimidated by.
The unagi I had the other day -roasted eel with avocado – was delightful, as was the fresh Atlantic salmon and cucumber I snuck a bite of – the raw salmon so firm and flavourful I would have sworn it was cooked. A good compromise between cooked and raw, of course, is smoked, and what better than smoked salmon with cream cheese and scallion – Jewish sushi! Another delectable combination is the crab, avocado and cucumber. There’s even sushi for people who really don’t like fish: pickled diakon radish, cucumber with cream cheese or with avocado. There are many others, most in the $4.95 to $5.50 range. Some are as cheap as $3.25.
MacDonald also serves up all sorts of other fish-based concoctions with shrimp, crab, clam, scallops, octopus and a variety of veggies, including my favourite, tempura sweet potato. Some combo platters fetch up to $14.50 and more, one going as much as $19.95.
At the other end of the menu are the noodle soup bowls filled with either udon – thick whole-wheat noodles – or ramen – thin curly ones. Both come with assorted vegetables, shittake mushroom, seaweed and a choice of miso (soy-based), curry or seafood broth, and cost $5.25 or $5.95. They’re economical and satisfying, and milder and more subtly flavoured than you might expect. (Don’t be afraid to lift the bowl to your lips and slurp. Chopsticks don’t do much with liquids.)
Sushiro has recently become licenced, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a number of teas with your meal, including Japanese cherry green tea and sweetened jasmine iced tea, or my favourite, delicately flavoured and refreshing iced elderflower sparkling water.
Dinner for two, including small plates of sushi, noodle bowls, desert and a drink, with tax and tip, comes in nicely around $30.
Open for dinner, 5:30-9:30, Monday-Saturday; for lunch, noon-2:30, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations are advised, and take-out orders welcomed, both at 665-5557.
(Check out Sushiro’s website -sushiro.com – for a look at the menu and links to a variety of sushi sites, including a glossary and tips on sushi etiquette.)
-Dave Margoshes
Planet S. September 5, 2002.
Raw Fish on the Plains
“There’s nothing wrong with raw fish,” declares Megan Macdonald, sushi chef and co-owner of Sushiro Sushi and Noodle Bar. “A lot of people on the prairies hate seafood because they never get food fresh fish.” So Megan has made it her mission to produce quality sushi for her community. “Getting fish is the hardest and most expensive part of our business. We don’t have all-you-can-eat, but our prices are affordable and everyone seems to like our portions.” Megan was trained in Japanese suisine at a sushi bar in the Cayman Islands, where she and partner Todd Gronsdahl lived for two years.
“The first six weeks were the hardest — I learned how to prepare octopus, shrimp and the techniques for cutting sushi and sashimi.” Returning to Saskatoon last May, Megan and Todd opened Sushiro Sushi. They set up in a cafe owned by Todd’s mother, and operate nights when the cafe is closed. While Megan orders and prepares the food, Todd does the day-to-day management. The most important lesson they have learned is to stay true to themselves. “Businesses fail because they change their vision to suit what they think will sell,” says Todd. “Our goal is to move into a new space, get licensed and create something that suits us.”
- Christopher Pollon
REALM summer 2001