Tag Archives: Bento Box

Edmonton Restaurant Review: Washoku Bistro

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Lunch Sashimi and Roll Bento Box

When a friend of ours visited Edmonton last month, we originally had plans to go for sushi. However, the location for lunch was changed at the last minute. Because I didn’t get any when I thought I would, I craved a sushi fix the following weekend. Knowing that I had been disappointed, Kirk agreed that we could eat it every day over May long.

To try out somewhere new, I decided that our first stop would be Washoku Bistro on the northwest corner of 124 Street and 107 Avenue. We arrived around 1:30pm on a Saturday, which I would think is later than the typical lunch rush. I could see that there were tables available, but not cleaned. I’m not sure if staff were oblivious to us, but it was a good ten to fifteen minutes before they even acknowledged that we were there.

Thankfully, once we were seated in one of the booths, the service was faster. It only took a few minutes for them to bring us water and to take our orders. The food was also prepared quickly, so we were in and out of the restaurant within an hour.

Dynamite Roll Lunch Combo
Dynamite Roll
Deep-Fried Pork Gyoza

The midday menu at Washoku Bistro consists of lunch roll combos and bento boxes. Kirk decided to go with the Dynamite Roll combo ($15.90), which comes with a salad and choice of side. The roll was cut into eight large pieces. Consisting of shrimp tempura, crab meat, cucumber, avocado, and tempura bits, it seemed to be made with a perfect rice to filling ratio. The avocado was bright green, so it was likely made fresh, too. For his side, Kirk selected the deep-fried pork gyoza (mini udon noodle soup, seaweed salad, or agedashi tofu were the other options). That was presented with three dumplings and dipping sauce. The salad was a mix of spinach with a light sesame-style dressing, baby tomatoes, and crispy wonton chips. A slight change from what might be provided at other Japanese establishments.

Complimentary Miso Soup

Both of us also had a cup of the complimentary miso soup to start. It arrived warm and I used my chopsticks to continuously stir the soup to keep the ingredients even in the bowl since we didn’t get any spoons or anything.

Both of our meals. The Bento Box is probably the better choice, if you’re really hungry.

For my lunch, I went with the Sashimi and Roll Bento ($17.90). It included seven pieces of sashimi, four pieces each of the spicy salmon and California rolls, three pieces of tempura, and a green salad. Now, I actually upgraded my salad to seaweed ($1 extra), but when my box was brought over, it was missing. Turns out that the server had dropped my box over at another table, and they didn’t realize it. The kitchen was really good about making another order of seaweed salad for me though, and I think I got a full order rather than a side as the portion was quite large.

Seaweed Salad
Spicy Salmon and California Rolls
Three pieces of Tempura

Personally, I love the acidity and texture of seaweed salad and this one didn’t disappoint. It was crunchy and vibrant. The spicy salmon rolls had more heat than I expected, but I wasn’t a big fan of the way the salmon was minced. The California rolls were pretty decent. It’s hard to mess that classic up. Everything held together well without falling apart. The tempura received was shrimp, zucchini, and yam. They were nicely breaded without too thick of a coating and the dipping sauce refrained from being overly salty.

Assorted Sashimi in the Bento Box.

As for the sashimi, there was surf clam, octopus, two slices of tuna, and three slices of salmon. None of them were fishy in flavour and, if they had been previously frozen, they’d been thawed out well. I don’t usually eat surf clam or octopus sashimi, but both were alright. I probably still won’t get surf clam in the future unless it comes with a box. The tuna was nice though, and the salmon had a decent amount of fat, allowing it to melt in the mouth a little. The half carved orange was a pleasant touch as well. It was refreshing and helped to breakdown the salty soy sauce.

Overall, I thought lunch at Washoku Bistro was well-priced for what we received. They just need to work on their customer service. No one should have to wait at the door for as long as we did. At the very least they should have said hello first and then let us know that they needed to clean up a table for us or something. I was ready to walk back out the door, but I’m glad that we stayed. It ended up being an enjoyable meal.

Edmonton Restaurant Review: MISO Japanese Cuisine

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Bento Box

This is a sort of a late review. Yet, I think it’s one worth writing. Approximately two months ago, my boyfriend and I decided to make use of an OpenTable dining cheque that I had redeemed using my earned points from the restaurant reservation site. I had $65 in my possession that I was told could be used at any OpenTable eatery. Therefore, I went ahead and made a booking through the app for dinner at MISO Japanese Cuisine. In the reservation notes, I even made sure to mention that I planned to use the cheque as part of payment.

When we arrived at MISO (located at 14917 Stony Plain Road), the staff had our table ready to go. We went about ordering our food, which we enjoyed. However, at the end of the meal, I pulled out my OpenTable cheque to cover the bill and when our server saw it she said she knew we had one, but they would not be able to accept it due to issues they had depositing another received from a previous diner.

I have to say that I was very unimpressed with the fact that she didn’t bother to mention that to us earlier in the evening. Had she taken the time to explain the situation to us, we would have gladly stayed to eat there. I just know that I would have been more sensible with the amount of food I ordered. Instead, we ended up having to pay an almost $90 bill fully out of our pockets, something we hadn’t expected to happen. The cheque was a perk that we were using to treat ourselves to a nice supper, and we ended up walking out with much lighter wallets. I feel as if the restaurant didn’t want to lose out on a big order, so that’s why they didn’t say anything to us when they knew we had that $65 cheque on hand. It was such a disappointing way to leave MISO.

That story aside, I will say that the service during our dinner was decent. Although, I could have used less staring from the server while I was eating because each time I looked out of the corner of my eye, I’d see her watching me like a hawk. It was awkward. Otherwise, the food was quickly prepared and drinks were provided and filled.

Dynamite Roll is on the right.
Chicken Yaki Soba

My boyfriend had the Dynamite Roll (4 pieces for $6.45) and the Beef Yaki Soba ($13.95). The Dynamite Roll was quite good. Tightly packed with tempura shrimp, avocado, and tobiko wrapped in nori and rice with sesame seeds. They held up well when picked up with the chopsticks and the fried shrimp was still warm. The Chicken Yaki Soba was so-so. Buckwheat noodles, flavoured with something like an oyster sauce, had a nice consistency. The main issue was the lack of meat in the dish. Its only saving grace was that it showed up on a sizzling plate that, at the very least, kept the plate hot for longer.

That night, I went all out by ordering a Bento Box ($21.95), Toro Sushi (2 pieces for $4.95), the Rainbow Roll (8 pieces for $9.45) and the Spider Roll (8 pieces for $13.95). I knew it was way too much food to consume in one sitting. I just figured that I could take any leftovers home with me. Everything was presented at about the same time, so I switched between items as I ate.

Mixed tempura in the Bento Box.
A generous helping of sashimi in the box.
A few pieces of sushi also in the Bento Box.

The Bento Box included my choice of any three items from a given list. I opted for the sushi, sashimi and tempura. The box also comes with a bowl of miso soup, green salad and some rice. The sushi was an assortment of tuna, salmon, Hotate (sea scallop) and Hokki-gai (surf clam). I’m not a big fan of the latter as I don’t like the texture of surf clam, but the others tasted fresh and tender. The sushi was a mix of salmon, tuna and a couple of pieces of the California Roll. The tempura had a bit more batter than I’d prefer. It wasn’t overly greasy though, so they were okay. For the price, there’s a lot of bang for the buck with a Bento Box, and I’d say it’s fairly equivalent to what it would cost at any other average sushi joint in the city.

That’s a piece of the thick cut Toro Sashimi off it’s pedestal of rice.

Honestly, I thought the Toro Sushi (fatty tuna) would have been better. The portion size of each piece was wonderful as the fish was thick cut. My qualm was with the quality. It was tougher than it should have been. Even a regular piece of tuna melted in my mouth more than the belly I was given.

I thought I’d leave the rolls to discuss last. What can I say? The Rainbow Roll — crunchy tempura crumbs and tobiko in the middle with a mix of fish on top — is a classic at most sushi restaurants nowadays. These mouthfuls had the best rice to filling/topping ratio of all the sushi I tried at MISO. It was exactly what I was hoping for even though it didn’t exceed my expectations.

Rainbow Rolls on the right hand side.
Those scrumptious Spider Rolls.

My favourite out of everything I ordered had to be the Spider Roll. These were huge. Filled with large pieces of perfectly fried soft-shell crab, avocado, and tobiko, they absolutely hit the mark with this dish. The crab was crisp, juicy, and flavourful. Despite the fact that it doesn’t truly fill the gap of the soft-shell crab I tried in Singapore a couple of years ago, it’ll still do the trick when I want some variation of that type of crustacean.

For the most part, MISO Japanese Cuisine was alright. I still believe that they should have handled the whole dining cheque fiasco more professionally, but now I know not to bother trying to pay with something like that if I ever go there again. Regardless, they do sushi well, their prices are reasonably affordable, and the space is pretty comfortable for a quiet meal out. I probably won’t be back any time soon; however, I’ll certainly consider the possibility of returning down the road.

Edmonton Restaurant Review: Japonais Bistro

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The delectable matcha crème brûlée!

The delectable matcha crème brûlée!

Oh, Japonais Bistro (@japonaisbistro)! I have eaten there a handful of times now and it’s pretty stellar. When you walk in the door, if the staff isn’t busy with something else, they greet you by yelling out “good afternoon” or “good evening” in Japanese and they’re usually fairly prompt with seating, especially if you have a reservation, which can now be made through OpenTable. The restaurant is laid out with two sides – the one closest to the door is raised a couple of steps and consists of bench booths and chairs while the other side is taken up predominantly by the sushi bar and a few larger group booths.

My most memorable visit to the restaurant was back in November 2013. I had eaten there just a couple weeks earlier and I picked up a card advertising a couple of all-you-can-eat evenings. They were launching their Kaiten Sushi Catering (plates distributed by mobile conveyor belt) business, and to show it off they were taking reservations for two November weeknights. I immediately texted my friend to see if she would join me and I called to make a reservation as soon as she agreed.

The list of menu items at AYCE kaiten sushi night last year and the ratings sheet.
Matcha crème brûlée and beef tataki.
Our stack of emptied plates on kaiten sushi night.
Tuna poke
Cheesecake bites
The mobile conveyer belt on kaiten sushi night.

The conveyor was set up next to the sushi bar within arm’s reach from our booth. We ate everything that was offered to us including a variety of salads, tatakis, maki rolls and dessert. We probably ate between 50 to 75 plates that evening, the gluttons that we were (no regrets). Each item was delectable and worth having seconds. There were even new dishes that were being tested for possible menu additions, which we were tasked with rating. The absolute star of the restaurant though? Hands down, the matcha crème brûlée (Japonais Bistro took the No. 42 spot on The Tomato‘s list of 100 best eats in Edmonton this year for this dessert alone)! It is divine. I’m a sucker for green tea flavoured anything, so I was already inclined to enjoy it, but it was beyond what I expected and the two of us snatched those babies up as soon as they hit the belt. They’re too good to pass up. Unfortunately, despite a comment from our server that kaiten sushi nights could become a regular occurrence due to the popularity of these special events, I haven’t seen it there since.

Alas, all-you-can-eat meals there are not currently meant to be, but the food is too tasty not to go again. We ventured there this summer for dinner, making our way through the pouring rain where we dashed for the door as soon as we stepped out of the car. My friend, still full from an Indian buffet at lunch, ordered the new Pow Pow Roll and some salmon maki. I, on the other hand, was famished and went with the Traditional Bento Box.

The Pow Pow Roll
The specials menu from my most recent visit.
My traditional bento box…everything I love in one!

Stuffed with tuna, cream cheese and jalapeno, wrapped with soy bean paper and drizzled with tobiko, sweet soy and hot sauce, the Pow Pow Roll was nicely plated and surprisingly battered on the outside. The menu did say “deep fried tuna,” so we knew something would be deep fried, we simply didn’t realize it was going to be the outside of the roll and not the fish. No matter though. It was superb.

The Traditional Bento Box is really an all-in-one box. It includes a bowl of miso soup, salad, three pieces of sushi, six pieces of sashimi, California rolls, salmon maki, and shrimp and veggie tempura. I got a little bit of everything I love, so it was perfect. The soup was not overly salty and was piping hot, the fish was really fresh, the tempura was lightly coated in batter and the rolls had a good ratio of filling to rice.

I would also say that I believe that the service has improved over time. I remember sitting there on another occasion waiting forever for our server to come back to process our payment. In the end, we left our table and walked up to the bar to pay, which still took several minutes because they needed our server to put it through. This time, it was a lot better. Our food was prepared quickly and we were checked on periodically, so I felt well attended to.

Sushi is always at the top of my list of favourite cuisines, and Japonais Bistro continues to fit the bill when I’m craving some in the middle of the prairies.