Sushi Hikari Calgary 320 16th Avenue NW

I almost hesitate to let such an awesome new restaurant be truly discovered. But it's the least I could do for the exemplary service and beautiful fresh array of foods. Hikari is located on 16th ave and 2nd st NW in Calgary, Where Mamas Italian restaurant used to reside. The interior transformation makes for an odd fusion. Classic pillars and fireplaces, European cabinets and stone floors right beside rice paper doors, katana swords and lanterns. More impressive than their use of the space is their huge menu. Their menu is comprised of a multitude of both Japanese and Korean dishes. For a new restaurant I was surprised to see how large their menu was.

I was again shocked when we were served a marvelous arrangement of appetizers, free of charge. There was a little starter bonito broth and rice noodles, mashed potatoes, fried fish in sauce and sesame seeds, potato pancakes and lightly boiled kelp with spicy sauce. It was all amazing. The mashed was light and chunky with vegetables. The Broth was also very light but tasty none the less, it was a nice balance between soy, bonito and kelp. The seaweed was a little rubbery but I didn't mind it, the spicy sauce that went with it also gave a real zing.




Lately I have been compiling lists of what is in season when and I ask when I go out if they have some of these specialty items. The reason for this is sometimes the special pieces aren't on the menu and you have to ask the chef for it. Remember though when asking do not ask what is freshest, ask what is in season or what is the specialty. Asking about freshness implies that it's not all fresh and thats an insult. Sadly I haven't been able to find most of what I'm looking for. Instead we went with some red maguru (red medium fatty tuna) Hamachi(yellow tail) a piece of tamago for myself and a tuna roll. Their tamago was surprisingly good. It was nearly gray which is weird because most places have the off yellow tamago. It also was not overly sweet which was nice. As a bonus I didn't have to ask for wasabi on my pieces.





To mix it up a little we figured we would try their signature roll called the Hibiki Roll. It was a layered delicacy with flying fish roe on top of thinly sliced avocado with shrimp tempura and cucumber in the middle. The mix between crunchy, poppy and smooth worked out very well. The textures flowed well from one to the next. This was also the first time I had a crunchy unagi maki which is simply bbq eel with cucumber and sesame seeds on the outside. The bbq sauced eel was very tasty and not overpowered by cucumber nor by the seeds.





And when we were stuffed and near finished we were suprised yet again by desert! Can you believe it? It was a simple orange, fancyfully cut and presented. We ate it up happily.





To just reiterate quickly. Amazing service, bonus dishes, great food, awesome atmosphere, good location, unbeatable selection, very agreeable pricing ,etc. I can't actually think of any complaints for this place so I'm going to give Sushi Hikari a straight 10 out of 10!




I hope you enjoyed this, Mata ne! Keep those chop sticks sharp!