furusato japanese restaurant - edmonton, ab

furusato japanese restaurant
10012 82 ave
780.439.1335

Wait, wasn't I just here last week. You betcha! Sushi is something I'll never get sick of, and with my father wanting to dine out for the evening, it seemed like the simplest choice.

Having to run an errand, and not knowing when he would be done, I opted to go for a ride. It seemed easier, as we just agreed to head over when ever he was done. Strangely enough, it didn't take much time at all and we arrived on Whyte 10 minutes before they open at 5. As we chatted on the sidewalk, a line started to form. A line I tell you! There are certain things I have to see to believe, and a restaurant lined up at 5Pm, is one of those thing.

Before long the doors were open and we pulled our selves up to the bar. The itamea, and general manager, Dave, remembered me from the week before and welcomed us to the bar with open arms. We ordered our tea, and it arrived with a plate of salmon. Unlike my previous visit, where I was offered a complimentary non-menu item, salmon balls, this was a plate you could ordered from their menu. Pieces of salmon, cooked in a similar teriayaki sauce, and presented with a crispy bean sprout salad. With a wink and a nod, Dave said, it's on me. A nice but unnecessary gesture, the salmon was cooked perfectly. My only complaint; I could have eaten a whole bowl of the sprouts myself. So good!

I fell back into my regular sushi routine, and ordered chirashi (scattered sashimi on rice). While not the most elaborate of presentations, that award goes to Sushi Wasabi, the bowl was quite filling. Atop a bed of rice sat tuna, salmon, octopus, red snapper, mackerel, roe, scallop, shrimp, surf clam and egg. Delicious. I switch back and forth a lot between a sashimi plate and chirashi, as I find my choices fairly limited. With so many elaborate and doctored up rolls available for those who don't necessarily enjoy fish straight up, my hankering for sashimi leaves me with only a few choices.

My father ordered a rainbow roll. How about a side look.

It was the first time I've seen a rainbow roll like this. In all my sushi eating experience around Edmonton, the sushi chef usually cuts through the entire package. Here, the roll was made and sliced, before being adorned with sashimi. It may seem like no real difference, but it looks so much better to me, and allows you to snag a big piece of fish with each piece. A definite must have at Furusato.

He followed the rainbow roll up with a spider roll (soft shell crab). This is probably one of my favorite rolls, and my father loved it.

I was feeling the need for an additional piece of sushi so I asked the itamea to prepare two pieces for me. I told him to be as creative or basic as he would like, and that it could include anything available to him. What I got was the above, and boy was it delicious. Stuffed inside this sweet tofu pouch, was (starting at the bottom) a slice of avocado, rice, smoked salmon, roe. The combination was really fantastic. I'm not a fan of smoked salmon, but this was like a mini firework of taste going off in my mouth. I even offered to trade the second piece with my father for a piece of his spider roll, but he declined. Too bad for him, lucky for me!

I asked about the new lunch hours, and things seem to be alright. It's only been a couple of weeks, but Dave mentioned people are starting to get wind. I also inquired if they are running the full menu, or just a sample of it for lunch, and he said all the same choices are available. Until the next visit..which I'm sure at this rate will be sooner than later!