Sushi Hiro Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Calgary

I'm sorry that I have to write this review. It's my first time trying Sushi Hiro.

Honestly, this was the worst sushi experience I have had. Ever. I'm comparing everything to Albertan standards, recognizing that Japanese standards are already much higher.

Visually, the sashimi was not cut properly and was a third to half the size one would expect if served here. The colour had already faded on the edges and was slick.

The scallops were wedged between slices of lemon (never a good sign) and looked very withered.

When I tasted it, the salmon sashimi had already been doused in lemon juice! I could not finish it; it was not fresh, and it was evident that they attempted to hide it with the lemon.

When I tried the scallops, I almost vomited. As one of my favourite ocean foods, I know fresh, and I have never eaten anything less fresh than this.

On to the maki. We ordered spicy tuna. I get it; it's very Canadian, but I like it. It's a typical inside-out roll (uramaki), but with sesame seeds and the scariest-looking tuna I have ever seen (if it was tuna). There was no sauce on the top, but definitely something red mixed into the center of the roll.

The taste was closer to kimbap (Korean), with sour (not spicy) kimchi (also Korean) in the center. Maybe we got the wrong order? Or they're just trying to be different. Regardless, it was off, just like the rest of the fish.

I could not finish any of what I ordered. I may need to visit the emergency room as I may be facing food poisoning from what I did.

I score Sushi Hiro a zero for quality, quantity, freshness, and flavour.

For the price point, it's not worth it. Better sushi is available from fast-food chains in the city.

Additional notes from my Wife, who was born and bred Japanese (and remains):

Her dish felt stuck in the 1980s, with old-style preparation, ingredients, and presentation. She felt like she had seen it better prepared by amateurs at home. Also, it was definitely not fresh.

While she would score it higher because of the service she received (it was a pickup), she will...

Sushi Hiro Japanese Restaurant is a casual Japanese restaurant, which located on 5th Ave Southwest Downtown Calgary. It is a medium size of the restaurant, but the location of the restaurant is not very easy to find. It mainly serves sushi, bento boxes, and kitchen entrees.

My friend and I had a late lunch at Sushi Hiro Japanese Restaurant. We arrived at the restaurant around 1 pm. Even though it was weekdays, the restaurant was still very busy. But, we had no problem to get a table. After we sat down, the server came to us and brought drinks and menu to us. The menu was very simple, but there were no many selections and no pictures. We had very hard time to order our lunch. The server was very friendly and helpful, who helped us.

We ordered $9.50 Chicken Teriyaki and $16.50 Nigiri Sushi special to share. After we ordered the food, our food came out the kitchen very fast. The Chicken Teriyaki was in the large portion and came with a salad with house dressing and a bowl of rice. The taste of the chicken teriyaki was very different from other restaurants. There were large pieces of chicken and the taste was very awesome. The salad was in Japanese style so delicious. It was a great deal for two people to share. The Nigiri Sushi Special was not that excited, which were fresh raw fish on sushi rice, included 8 pieces nigiri sushi and 2 pieces maki roll. Very easy, simple, and expensive. If two people share this dish, I would like to recommend people to order more stuff to eat.

In summary, both my friend and I love Chicken Teriyaki more. The prices of the food were expensive in this restaurant. But, it was very nice to try different Japanese...

Usually, I’d have more photographs to accompany a review but in this case, I kept forgetting to take pictures! The reason for that being we were enjoying the atmosphere so much that it just kept slipping my mind.

Whether I don’t on purpose or not, I’m quite judgemental of Japanese restaurants over here. I lived in the heart of Osaka for a decade, so I know the difference between good and not.

My guests wanted Japanese food and I had heard from reliable folks that this place was excellent. It’s true! They really are.

Starting with the attempt to only interact in Japanese. My guests really wanted to see it so I asked our server if she would play along and converse only in Japanese with me. That was fun.

We didn’t order a ton of food simply because we went later than originally planned and didn’t have the appetite for more. What we did get was squid karaage, yakitori, and a variety of makizushi and nigiri sushi.

Everything was excellent. From the first bite of that yakitori, I was almost transported back to a Tori Kizoku in Japan. Everything about it was perfectly nostalgic. The cuts on the seafood dishes were better than expected (landlocked city).

I didn’t get a chance to meet the chef as we weren’t sat at the bar and he had a full bar of customers to speak with. When you read this, thank you so much! We loved it and will definitely be back much sooner than...