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.