For the Love of...: ...Misato Sushi & Grill - Calgary

Overall Rating: 9/10
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Food: 8.5/10
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 9/10

Location: 420 1851 Sirocco Drive SW

Dynamite Roll (left), Spicy Tuna Roll (right)

This was our first visit to Misato Sushi and Grill having driven by it multiple times. Luckily we made reservations, we got there at around 7:00 pm and the place was completely packed.  We knew immediately this was going to be a good experience when we saw that the majority of customers were Japanese and we were not dissapointed.

Assorted Tempura ($13.95)

We started off with the assorted tempura which I have to say was pretty amazing, super crispy, not greasy and just the right thickness of tempura crust that didn't slide off the food when you dip it into the sauce. Another plus is that they don't insult you by including tempura broccoli in the mix. Does anyone like the tempura broccoli?  All spaces in between the florets get all gummed up with batter.  It's like eating a broccoli dough ball!  It did however, include prawns, carrots, yams, string beans and Japanese squash.

We decided to go all out and try 4 of their special rolls each costing about 8$ for 6 rather large pieces. Our favorite by far was the spicy tuna roll which unconventionally featured a miso/seasame based spicy sauce.  The miso imparted a sweet savory flavor that I've never had in any other sushi roll before.

Dynamite Roll ($7.25, left) & Spicy Tuna Roll ($7.95, right)

The remainder of our rolls included the dynamite, blush and anita rolls.  These contained tempura shrimp, salmon and tuna respectively. The fish tasted fresh and the rice was perfectly cooked, seasoned and pressed.  We liked the clean presentation and pickled ginger that was not neon pink.

Anita Roll ($7.95, left) & Blush Roll ($7.95, right)

The only thing that could have been improved was the location of our table, which was near the entrance.  Since it was a busy night, there were people waiting to be seated, who were literally standing right behind Darrin's chair.  All in all, great food, decent prices, skillfully and authentically prepared sushi.  Service was friendly and quick, even with a packed house. 

* Update: Misato has undergone some renovations and tables near the entrance are no longer a problem.  For this, we up-ed the rating for Ambiance to 9.