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.

Most of the other local Japanese restaurants, though excellent, focus on what you’d expect to see: tuna, California rolls, shrimp — the usual suspects. Sushiro is more unique, pushing the boundaries of sushi in Saskatoon. They make the staples, but they also create sexy combinations of flavours, capable of winning over naysayers while simultaneously bringing the former generation of sushi lovers into a new millennium. Sushiro Izakaya is Saskatoon sushi 2.0.

The first thing that struck me as my wife Jenny and I entered Sushiro was the wonderful aroma that permeates the room: the aroma of fresh cooking. Patrons can choose either regular seating or the sushi bar, where you can better see what’s going on in the kitchen. The dining room is a sparse but comfortable area that matches the minimalism of the food, with images of quirky, stick-legged bears on the walls. Everything about Sushiro feels modern, down to the music playing overhead.

Our waiter, Jamie, was the same gentleman that serves us every time we dine at Sushiro, leaving us to wonder if he ever takes a night off. He’s always an excellent server, approachable and knowledgeable.

Jenny ordered a glass of red wine (Mad Dog & Englishman Cabernet Sauvignon / Shiraz 2006) from their drink menu, which includes a selection of sake and martinis. I ordered a Kirin, one of the exceptional Japanese import beers they stock.

There are soups and salads on the menu — the traditional miso soup being especially agreeable — but Jenny and I decided on several appetizers. We started with the gyoza (pork dumplings) and the chili squid. The gyozas were excellent, their ingredients obviously fresh — and you can tell by the dumpling shell that they’re handmade. The chili squid were cooked tempura-style, lightly battered and fried in a pan of hot oil. The calamari was fresh and thick, with a fluffy coating; more delicious than any calamari you’ll order at any other restaurant in Saskatoon. On the side was a spicy chili mayo that really complemented the squid. It also came with a sesame ginger salad that actually made us regret not ordering more salad.

For the main course, we went with an assortment of sushi. Let me preface the following by reiterating for any neophytes that sushi is not raw fish. Raw fish is a type of sushi, referred to as sashimi, and one could go their whole life eating sushi without being exposed to it. I personally don’t mind sashimi, but to be honest, it’s not really my scene.

Sushi is simple, usually combining two or three ingredients with special attention to colour, flavour, and texture. But don’t let this simplicity of ingredients fool you; the charm of sushi is the explosion of flavour achieved by mixing the right elements. Sushi making is considered an art form unto itself, the aesthetics and presentation of the cuisine being just as important as the flavour.

We ordered a medley of maki sushi, where the chef spools the ingredients into a roll of rice and nori, then slices it into bite-size portions, and some nigiri sushi, in which an ingredient like shrimp or tuna is mounted atop a ball of rice. We also tried to order inari sushi, which are fried tofu pouches stuffed with ingredients, but unfortunately they were out of the makings of inari that night.

In addition to the staple fare like vegetarian and California rolls (avocado, faux crab, and cucumber), we chose some of the more exotic rolls. The Cobra Maki (tempura shrimp with crab and avocado) had just the right ratio of crunch to softness. (Tempura, by the way, should probably be against the law. Anything so astoundingly appetizing has the power to upset the social order.) Jenny always insists we order Sushiro’s tempura sweet potato roll, which is near-divine. Sweet potato is a trendy ingredient in many cooking styles right now, and it’s very cool to see that Sushiro is incorporating these trends into their sushi.

My personal favourite ingredient is unagi, better known as eel. I know this may sound less than appetizing to someone who’s never tried it (my wife makes a face at the very mention of it), but it’s not what you’d imagine. Unagi is usually barbecued, becoming a sweet and tangy piece of fish that practically melts in your mouth. That night, I actually discovered a roll that I had never tried before; the Porcupine Maki, which was a combination of unagi, avocado, and tempura yam. The mix of barbecued eel and fried yam was an inspired bit of culinary magic that sent me off on an adventure in flavour. I swear, my eyes rolled back with ecstasy so far that I almost fell out of my chair.

The only thing I’d change about Sushiro’s sushi comes in the category of presentation. A few of the rolls were poorly constructed and fell apart, some of the maki were the butt ends of the roll itself, the innards awkwardly spilling out, and some were missing ingredients entirely. These pieces were few and far between on the plate, thankfully, but as I said earlier, sushi presentation is as paramount as the flavour itself. Perhaps Sushiro includes these roll ends for some particular reason that I don’t know about, but I’m guessing a traditional Japanese sushi chef would frown on this staging of the maki.

Presentation issues aside, a dessert of sesame and praline ice cream, made fresh on site, capped off our dining experience perfectly. Though sesame seeds and ice cream don’t seem like two elements that should be seen strolling about town together, this incredibly fresh ice cream was mind-blowing. The mixture of pralines and sesame was a match that could only have been inspired by the Shinto spirits.

Sushiro Izakaya has become my favourite sushi restaurant in town. I enjoy the hip vibe of the dining room, and the obvious attention to fresh ingredients and pioneering of new flavours. They’re helping to bring the palates of Saskatoon diners into the new millennium, ironically enough, by putting fresh spins on a cuisine that has already been around for a few thousand years. There are other good sushi restaurants in Saskatoon, to be sure, but none as modern and distinctive as Sushiro.

- Craig Silliphant
Planet S. November 20, 2008