Sushi Sora — Restaurant in Calgary

Was very happy and excited to try this place from seeing photos on Instagram. Service was great and atmosphere was delightful. Price was reasonable for sushi. Food was presented with noticeable effort. Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end.

This is the worst sushi I’ve ever had from an ingredient quality perspective and technique perspective. The sushi at superstore tastes better. Croquette was soggy and tartar sauce didn’t work well. Fish from Chef’s special sashimi had fishiness to it that signified signs of cheap quality and not fresh fish. Fish was definetly frozen for an extended period of time and not just flash frozen. Fish in spicy tuna roll wasn’t marinated - it was a regular tuna roll with Korean red chili pepper paste with vinegar ungracefully sprayed on top. The worst was mango tango roll. Again, the fish was mixed with Korean red chili pepper paste with vinegar (that you can buy from Korean grocery store) with a piece of mango and jalapeño pepper on top. Marinated paste was so sweet that it ruined the taste of the fish or it may have been a desperate attempt to mask the fishiness. Almost every single item on special roll menu used imitation crabmeat, which explains reasonable pricing. I never had this much difficulty finishing food. The best thing I had was the water. I noticed tables around us not finishing their food. I was so traumatized with eating sushi since this place.

If you are looking for a place to post on your Instagram, this place is perfect - food looks pretty, atmosphere is great, service is nice and price is descent. However, if you are looking to eat good sushi, don’t waste your money and avoid this place. If I get a reply on this, I would like to know the credentials and experience of the chef who had the audacity to serve this food. There’s no way anyone who’s had sushi at least once in their life can vouch for the food at sushi dora. I...

Just a fantastic experience all around. I had lunch here today (Sunday, 5 November) and was sadly the only customer- I hope word gets out that Sora is open for lunch every day (except for Tuesdays, when the restaurant is closed), because this place deserves as much business as possible. The place is beautifully renovated, all light and bright with superb jazz on the sound system. Prices are reasonable! I got the "tasty tomato" salad, two each scallop, unagi and inari nigiri, and the saba oshizushi. The salad came first and it comprises grape tomatoes that are peeled! I've never seen grape tomatoes with the skins removed- it's a delightful thing and demonstrates deft care in the kitchen. The nigiri came next and was excellent; every one with a little lagniappe that made it special and memorable; for example, the scallop had a little dollop of caviar on each piece. This is also the first sushiya I've encountered in Calgary that gives real wasabi FOR FREE. I've seen this as an option elsewhere that costs extra, but at Sora, it's gratis. Almost every sushi place on earth uses an imitation from a reconstituted powder that's basically horseradish. Not Sora, which also brews its own soy sauce!

The mackerel was also beautiful, with that ocean-y aspect that isn't to everyone's taste but it's such a beautiful fish and it's treated with great respect here. Every piece of sushi was fantastic, and the presentation was beautiful. I can't wait to try more and to bring friends here.

Go here. It deserves lineups out the door and I was the only customer- of course, it was 11:20 on a Sunday morning, but I'd eat here over the boring "brunch" on offer all over the city...

I booked a table for mother's day and was extremely disappointed. I thought that reserving a table would have at least not immediately landed me by the door but it did - and walking in probably would've resulted in the same since it was a very quiet night. I saw many tables just walk in and were seated immediately.

The service was incredibly slow for what amounts to 4 other tables. Had the worst time getting the server's attention to clear plates, add water for tea, and order more food. The food itself was fine but nothing to return for and nothing truly memorable. It felt very cheap for the Beltline roll to be listed as 8 pieces but it comes out as 4 pieces of roll with 4 tiny bites of spicy tuna. The rolls were also falling apart, I suspect because they were not rolled tightly enough to make them appear bigger than they actually were. The sushi/sashimi did not taste very fresh and was falling apart when picked up (both fish and rice). The grilled hamachi was good but there was no dipping sauce and it was difficult to share with the table since there were no knife/fork presented with it. When we asked the server, they could only provide a fork and a plastic knife. Embarrassing to say the least.

There's no menus, just a QR code to the website which has no photos - if I'd seen pictures I would've ordered differently. The server did not ask if we had been there before, did not explain anything about the menu, and definitely did not have any recommendations.

At this point, I'm embarrassed I even brought my family to this restaurant to celebrate mother's day and will definitely have to take them somewhere else to...