Tokyo Noodle Shop

It was a crazy week at work so cooking was minimal. To wind down the week I decided I wanted sushi. Living so close to Whyte Ave, Nick and I are within walking distance of 4 sushi restaurants, but I always choose Tokyo Noodle Shop!

They just went through renovations so I was worried that they'd change their style and what they have to offer, but was pleasantly surprised that all they did was spruce up the place. They changed the layout slightly, gave the area a nice coat of light green paint, and bordered the dinning with these beautiful green glass tiles. Luckily they kept the beautiful brickwork and their great menu!

Nick and I got our favourites to share! We started out with the green tea, miso soup and assorted tempura, which is pretty standard for most Japanese restaurants. Their miso soup is full of flavour, and the tofu swimming in it is wondefully soft. The tempura was perfectly battered, light and not greasy, and was piping hot.

Next we had my favourite thing on the menu - the beef sashimi! The thinly sliced beef lays on top of onions and is topped with a great ponzu sauce, seaweed, and finely minced daikon radish. I cannot say enough about how much I love this dish. Oddly, the sauce reminds me of cola, which is acidic and sweet and perfectly complementary to the beef and seaweed. There is a heat to the dish on top of the ponzu sauce that is just great in rounding out flavours and I can never get enough.

We then had the assorted sashimi which consisted on tuna, salmon, surf clam, scallops, octopus and yellow tail. I love sashimi (and let's be honest, I have a slight addiction to soya sauce) and the quality is excellent at Tokyo Noodle Shop. The pieces were large and well cut so that they weren't chewy.

Finally we got a specialty roll to end off the meal - the Dragon on Whyte! This deep fried roll is really something different. Crunchy exterior, chewy rice interior with a smoky salmon center and covered with this creamy, smoky, spicy house sauce that really rounds out the dish. It's a great roll that takes sushi to a different dimension.

Despite their amazing food, you never have to wait long to get a table (if ever!). The service is friendly and quick, and the atmosphere is fun! Overall a great restaurant to call your Japanese restaurant go-to stop!