Fish Catching on quickly
Fans of the flavours of West Coast Japanese fusion food and drink have a terrific new option in the Kensington district.
Globefish Sushi & Izakaya, owned by Japan- and Vancouver- trained partners Koichi Nakamura and Masa Ota (former owners of Chopsticks in Calgary's southeast), is already attracting crowds after opening in the last week of March.
Globefish's menu bursts with full colour illustrations of tasty treats, such as roll combos named for Alberta and the Calgary Flames, gyoza dumplings, Korean kimchi and shark fin salad. Maybe too great - my wife and I would up ordering twice as much food as we could eat on a chilly Monday night visit to this compact eatery, just five days after it opened.
Am Izakaya, by the way, is a type of bar or restaurant popular in Japan for after-work drinking and eating. Patrons often sit on the floor and dine from low tables.
Globefish has chairs but still offers a big selection of beers and sake for the drinkers.
There's definite trailer-office feel to the tiny 14th Str. building once occupied by Saigon Broadway restaurant. Steps lead into a low-ceilinged room with about eight tables and a big black-and-silver stools around a big black sushi bar.
The sound system was playing jazz, I think, but it was difficult to hear over the persistent hum of a loud fan in the bar area.
Wendy and I were guided to a table for four in the corner and presented with the dinner menu, which is big on sushi but also contains sashimi, salads, rice bowls, noodle soup and tempura. (The lunch menu is mainly sushi and combination plates.)
From two full pages of illustrated appetizers, we chose mentai calamari ($7.95) and oyster motoyaki ($8.95).
Then we got a little crazy, ordering the Globefish roll combo ($13.95), lobster tempura ($15.95) and the crunch and munch special roll ($12.95).
First out of the gate was the calamari - generous portion of square chunks of squid, very lightly breaded and deep fried until just tender, served on mixed greens with a deliciously tangy sauce. Ummm-ummm.
Then came the combo, six pieces each of California, dynamite and spicy tuna roll, followed by the tempura and the foot-long crunch and munch roll. By the time the baked oysters arrived, there was barely room on the table for my flask of hot sake ($4.95).
The star of show was crunch and munch. This eight-piece roll is built on a thick prawn tempura, wrapped in excellent sushi rice with avocado, cucumber and roe, then topped with unagi (barbequed eel), wasabi and cream sauce. The best ever, in my limited experience, and enough to make the mainstream combo plate selection seem a little pedestrian. |
By Dan Healing
