Damso Izakaya — Restaurant in Greater Strathcona

Sushi is such a funny word, if I sounded it out it would sound out at Suh-Sh-ih instead of Suu-Shee. It's good that the King of England decided it would be a Japanese word back in the day. Makes things way easier for us now adays. Especially since the English monarchy would never have been creative enough to come up with the decor in this restaurant!

Honestly this establishment at first glance is confusing. Its appearance is not that if traditional Sushi restaurants. In fact I think if were to whistleblow them to Big-Sushi they would quickly write a strongly worded letter saying that "Your decor is too good" and "it's not fair". And then would send the Interior design police to raid them and steal the ideas while claiming it was a "routine S.B.I. (Sushi Bureau of Investigation) Check".

Now I'm no expert in Sushi restaurants, I have only eaten food in 40ish different sushi restaurants, but I'm pretty sure that the internet people would say that I am a good looking guy which means my opinion matters. So with that validation we can say my expertise is in the top 1.7% of reviewers in this frozen wasteland.

Now here is why I keep talking about the decor: it is Brilliant. Not like it's briliantly bright or brilliantly sparkly, but brilliant that someone named Brill must've thought of this idea for decor. Brill being a name that could only come from another world!

What world you ask? Like a Japanese world. Now in Japan there are these little traditonal Markets with cute little restaurants and shops. How do I know this? Because the Internet people said so. Oh and I've been to one. In Japan. But only one, so I'm trusting the internet people that there is more than one. What does this have to do with the restaurant? Because they have made the place look like a little Japanese market! Now it's not 100% accurate, because those markets are normally in Alleys, and this is in a restaurant. So there is a lack of ally-ness. However it is the most beautiful decor I've ever seen! They definitely could make 7 viral tiktoks out of the decor. Out of 7.

Now it's apparent if you look at it the decor was Handmade. I don't want to assume, but I think it was the owners who did it. It could also have been a random citizen taking it upon themselves to decorate a whole restaurant, but I think it's less likely. Still possible, but less likely. Honestly it must've taken them between 7 and 328.7 hours to do it all! Every wooden beam, every photo and artwork shows an amazing attention to detail an ADHD kid could only dream of! Honestly my Pinterest board would be at least 1000 pins to match the inspiration of this place.

Small request to the owners, if you could do a Re:Zero, 86 or Arpeggio of blue steel next please!

The innovation is Kool too. Tablets to order from. Prevents embarrassing moments when the waitress realizes your secretly a fatty. Would recommend them to other sushi restaurants, but I think they want to keep them here. Or maybe they want to stay here. I don't know enough about being a server.

Finally the food! It's hard to call it food, for instead we have drippings from the table of the sea god Posieden. The best sushi I've had in all Canada period. Unique rolls, the salmon is so fresh and delicious, honestly I would eat here every day if I could! I can't because my wife would be annoyed I don't eat her cooking, or that I don't cook for her, but technically sushi isn't cooked so I don't know what her problem is.

My favorite is the $1 Salmon sashimi on Wednesday. It's not little dinky pieces either! It's big old slices of Salmon! I mean not so big you need to chop them smaller, (like how my cousin Larry needs someone to pre-chew his food) but rather at the maximum size you can comfortably pick up with chopsticks. And the Angry roll looks angry! Like that the chef is done with making the roll which causes a feedback loop which just makes it even angrier! Whats the Japanese word for Angry?...... Just googled it, it's I-Carly, which was a show that made me angry, so that makes sense.

Anyways come here if...

Sometimes the best places are found by accident, or when you're on a late night search for sushi!

After a late night workout, my partner and I had a huge craving for sushi but most of our usual go to places were closed by this time. A quick google search sent us to Damso Izakaya and what a pleasant surprise and treat.

Since it was late, we just ordered take out. Damso Izakaya didn't have the option to order directly through them but I was able to order via Ubereats. My first thought was that the rolls seemed more expensive than usual but was also intrigued by their menu and I was eager to try their pressed salmon sushi. We ordered the Tofu Tornado, Avocado Roll, Vegetarian Roll, Midori Wave Roll and the Salmon Pressed Sushi. Our total order came to approximately $83.00.

Damso Izakaya is located on Whyte Ave, just next to Calgary trail. Our first thoughts when we went in to pick up our food was how magical and amazing the atmosphere was inside. Damso it fairly narrow so it looks quite small but it's also decorated with lights mixed with "cherry blossoms", lanterns and anime art. It created a feel of being transported to Japan, which was really amazing. I also noted that several of the patrons in the restaurant were all speaking Japanese, which was a great sign to me. Before we even got our food, we had decided we needed to come back to Damso Izakaya for a sit-down meal.

Once we got home and unpacked our dinner, we were surprised by how big the rolls were. Usually when you hear Avocado roll, you'd think a small kappa roll or something but these were a decent size and much more than a typical Avocado or vegetarian roll. Everything was DELICIOUS and I was quite impressed by the Tofu Tornado that we got as an appetizer. It was hot, flavorful with a small hint of spice. The pressed salmon and the Midori wave was super filling and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

All and all, I think it would be fair to say that we found a new go to sushi place and not just for late night eats. I can't wait to go and have a...

Went to Damso on April 30th around 3:30pm. The place wasn't packed and the atmosphere had a chill vibe. We ordered the tofu tornado, Tamago yakitori, kuro black garlic and thr mushroom trio Alfredo.

Tofu tornado: soft and juicy tofu inside and crispy texture outside. The Sriracha is a good add on as it's not too sweet and adds a unique flavor profile on top of the existing flavor. The Bonito flakes and green onion add style

Tamago yakitori(2 for $6.00): looks glossy , strong egg taste, strong seaweed taste, soft but firm egg.

Mushroom trio Alfredo($16.00): kinda dissappinted as there was a lack of mushroom umami. It was basically udon, thick cream, and pan fried mushroom, presentation was good.

Kuro garlic($23.00): fake wasabi, nice presentation. The rice is soft and not mushy, the tempura was crunchy but not overpowering, you can't tell the garlic is there, the sashimi with the sauce umami is powerful

Definitely would go again for the kuro garlic and the tamago yakitori!

Tl;dr food was good, Alfredo could have been better.

Feb 19,2023 updatw Crunch roll 17- sweet may osayce with crunchy tempura bitsand tobiko. Overall balance was good, a bit of sweet, spicy, and salty flavors.

Pork katsu curry rice Cute little bowl with some flavorful curry. Thr pork curry is so flavorful and delicious. Thr pork cutlet is savory and a little salty but the sauce is super rich and not overpoweing. Wish there was veggies like potafoe and carrots

Takoyaki A bit crunchy with a soft texture. The sweet and salty mayo plays with your pallets.

Tamogo yaki Sweet egg with a sweet sauce that warms up your mouth. Still savory and cut into bite size pieces

Carbonara udon bacon Thr noodles were hot and creamy. The overall dish wasn't as creamy or rich as I thought. The flavors didn't stand out to me as it did with other places. The fatty bacon was a nice texture as it was a little salty and the fat added...