Review: Shibuya Izakaya

[max_boost]

Shibuya Izakaya
453 16 Avenue NE
277-8823

*Formerly Ice Bar*

Ambiance/Atmosphere: 8/10
Simple, a lot different than its former state. Nice, earthy, Asian colors, very intimate setting. The music was a little loud to have a conversation, but other than that it is a great little place to relax and enjoy the company.

Food (quality, portions, presentation): 9/10
Lots of variety. Very creative ideas for hand rolls and the presentation was very nice. We ordered the Lobster Tempura Roll, it was very nice, more tempura batter than lobster, but for the price $16.95, it was what to be expected. The sashimi was delicious. Nice, generous cuts, the fish was fresh and the salmon had lots of marbling. Very tasty and decently priced for the cut. The sushi rice was also very good, sticky, nice flavor and moist.

The miso soup was a little bland and I missed the bits of tofu and seaweed as ingredients. Also ordered Gyoza, very good. Perfectly fried on one side and left soft on the other.

Did not order dessert as some of the items were not available.

Service: 10/10
We went late so the restaurant was emptying out. Our service was great. We were checked on regularly.


Pricing: 8/10
A little more expensive than my usual favorite (Wa's) but as I stated above, the cuts are generous. Being unique as the only restaurant to offer sushi and various Japanese fare as a late-night alternative, expect to pay a premium.

Overall: 9/10
Great place for late-night sushi instead of the usual fare of noodles, pizza, fast food, ect. :thumbsup:

[Team_Mclaren]

I heard they are open till 2am, is that right? If so, good sushi joint for late night for sure, none of the sakina (sp?!) BS

[JordanAndrew]

^^^Do you mean Sakana Grill?? You need to go out more buddy.
Good review, I'll try to check it out one of these days.

[max_boost]

They are open fairly late. I believe it's open to 1am Mon-Thurs, 2am Fri-Sat and 12am for Sundays.

[npham]

Just went to this place the other day and I must say this is a diamond in the rough. I had my worries with this place when we got there and there was only 1 other table besides us. Although it was early in their dinner service on a Sunday.

Ambiance/Atmosphere: 8/10
Food: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Pricing: 8/10
Overall: 9/10

Well my ratings were quite close to boost, I pretty much feel the same about the entire dinner.

- The decor was simple and the dark(near black) chairs/tables/booths look really clean.
- The waitress was great. Clearing plates quickly and checking on us often, but that is expected with only two tables.
- Pricing was decent, rolls are around 5 bucks for average sized rolls and the sushi was priced quite well for the amount of fish you got, $2 for a monster piece of salmon is a good deal.


Now for the important part, the food.

Gyoza - Nicely fried, but came out last. Sauce was great, but the dumpling itself was not the tastiest, nor was it bad by any means.

Salmon, Unagi, Smoked Salmon - Salmon, smoke or not was great. The pieces as I mentioned before was huge. Only issue I had with the salmon was it was a bit warm. I am not sure if this is all the time, but I am nit picking. Unagi was amazing. The piece of eel was huge as well and the sauce was nice and thick with great taste. Perfect balance of sweet and salty.

California Roll(Outside) - This was the worst roll, don't know what they did to mess this up, but it wasn't very good.
Spicy Tuna Roll - Very good, tuna portion was decent and it had lots of heat.
Salmon Skin Roll - Amazing. Lots of salmon skin and it was fried up very nicely which kept it really crisp when we were served it.
Dynamite Roll - This was good as well, the tempura shrimp was pretty decent size for the price.

Highly recommended place, and the late night hours make it such a better option than the usual fast food joints that most people are left to choose from at night. I'll be going back there soon.

[jdmXSI]

Yeah i agree that the ambiance was quite nice there. But the pricing seemed alittle obsured. I think we had maybe 6-10 plates of food (including buttered corn, really good by the way), 3 of the big beers and 2 bottles of sake and our bill was just over $300. Maybe it was highend sake? Over all experiance i would have to say is a 8/10. Mainly for the customer service!

[malcolmk14]

Good late night place, not my first choice during normal hours.

Their Shibuya Roll is good, and I recommend trying the Miso Grilled Cod. Worth every penny.

[clem24]

I have been here twice. The owner is also one of the chefs.

Ambiance/Atmosphere: 8/10
Food: 5/10
Service: 9/10
Pricing: 6/10
Overall: 7/10

Atmosphere is good, as long as you're not intimidated by the gangsters hanging outside Bubblemania as you are walking to the restaurant.

Food: this is where it gets mixed. Their menu selection if fabulous, but their food is *not* on par with the prices they are charging.

First, the sushi. I would personally stay away. Their prices are too high for what you get. And the fish is only about 6/10 on the freshness scale. When I went the first time, the menu mentions "ask for chef's special". I was skeptical, and lo and behold, there were no specials. Except it was briefly mentioned that Hamachi was special that day. I would take it that it is especially fresh or something. When I got it, it was probably the least freshest piece on my plate. Anyway, if you want good sushi and true "specials", go to Zipang about 10 minutes away.

Second, the rolls. Too expensive for what you get, and waaaay too much rice. Also, I didn't find them to be that good. So far, Misato in Sunterra/Signal Hill is the king of rolls.

Third, the cooked food. This is where it shines.. Well, sort of. The Takoyaki is by far the best I've had outside of Japan. But they do it unconventionally by deep frying it. Personally, i think it's premade, they microwave it to warm the inside, then put it in the deep fryer. Whatever they do, it's good. Also had the spicy house ramen, which is also quite good. So regular cooked stuff, great! And having a huge selection is icing on the cake.

However, their grilled fish is still not better than Zipang. But, this is only because they are charging the same amount if not more than Zipang. Basically, they charge the same amount as Zipang, but the way it's cooked is inferior, plus portions are generally smaller and not presented as well. Anyone who's been to Izakaya I urge you to try Zipang's grilled fish and you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, to sum it up... Great for some cooked foods, bad for sushi, and overall too expensive for what you get.

[blinkme_210]

Ok, I guess I won't be trying this place out tomorrow night.

[l/l/rX]

is this place still a gangster hang out? cuz its still the same owners as before when it was ice bar.

[max_boost]

I didn't see any gangsters during the few weeknights I went. Plus it's more of a restaurant/lounge than a bar/lounge anyway. :dunno:

I like Shibuya but only as my late night choice. During the day, I am loyal to Wa's only.:drool:

[schocker]

hmm i never noticed this place on 16th, i will have to go check it out and give it a try.

[jay42w8]

I missed going to all the Izakaya's on Robson Street in Vancouver, so many hot Japanese fob girls....is this the only one in Calgary?

[FallenAngel]

Tried it out last night, and was duly impressed. The restaurant has a seating capacity of about 50, but they arranged the tables to accomodate our party of 12 fairly easily.

Food - 4.5/5

Keeping in mind that I was very hungry, the food was quite tasty and well portioned.

We started with the Oyster Motoyaki, which is basically a baked oyster in the shell with a creamy sauce. I believe they added tapico and onions into the sauce.

Also had a Miso Soup with Clams. The clams were a nice touch, although they were a little difficult to eat out of the soup since they were still in the shell. Ours did include the seaweed and tofu that max_boost was missing for some reason. :dunno:

We started our sushi with the Kiwi roll, which I enjoyed but my wife found to be a little too sweet for her liking. That was followed by the Lobster Tempura roll, which was a very interesting idea. Unfortunately, I find that the flavor of lobster is very easily overwhelmed by other ingredients, but the roll itself was quite good. The Unagi Roll was probably my favorite roll, but not unique to this restaurant. The more traditional sashimi and sushi was well prepared with generous ratios of fish to rice, and was quite fresh.

The Sashimi Salad and Sharkfin Salad are somewhat unique dishes. The Sashimi Salad is closer to the standard idea of a salad, with an addition of salmon and tuna sashimi. The dressing is quite good, and somewhat unique in flavor. The Sharkfin Salad actually appears to have real sharkfin in it, not the jellyfish that you sometimes find masquerading in Chinese restaurants. It is served with a sort of vinaigrette, which some people may find a little odd.

The Black Cod was very tasty, cooked to perfection, and a pleasant contrast to the sushi. However, my wife did not like the fact that it was a little bit sweet in flavor, something that I noticed but didn't mind.

Beef Tataki was excellent, served in Ponzo sauce with some ginger and green onions. Probably my favorite dish of the night. (Although not very filling)

Ambience - 4/5

My first steps into the restaurant included a glance at the large TV, a brief perusal of the many sake bottles, and then into the kitchen. I'm not sure why the kitchen is open for viewing, but personally I didn't find it that attractive. The dining area is clean in a very Zen fashion, with dark wooden furniture, white seating cushions, and sandy-colored walls and floors. The lighting is subdued, but well lit. The music was a little loud, but I quite enjoyed it with a large group of people. I suspect that couples looking for an intimate dinner might have problems hearing eachother.

Note: The automated paper towel dispenser in the men's room didn't work for me, so you might want to bring a napkin with you.

Service - 5/5

Service was friendly, prompt, and very attentive. We never needed to ask for refills for our tea and water, and the food was announced as is was promptly brought out. Questions were cheerfully answered and splitting the bill was easy. (Some restaurants have given us huge hassles about splitting the bill amongst multiple cards)

Overall - 9/10

Definitely will be visiting again, and will likely recommend to friends to try at least once. My favorite will likely still remain Wa's for just myself and my wife, but this would probably be my choice for late-night group dining. Since it is right next to Bubblemania, I suspect that you could easily have some good eating then walk over and have a Bubbletea for dessert.

Note: If you have ever seen the parking lot for Bubblemania, you should know that the parking is difficult at best. I wouldn't recommend bringing your prized summer-only car here if you are scared someone might ding the doors. There is construction along 16th in front right now as well, so there are some road closures in the area.

[gkAeris]

Ambiance/Atmosphere: 8/10
Food: 9/10
Service: 10/10
Pricing: 8/10
Overall: 9/10

so we decided to try the new lunch menu that came out today.

i would pleasantly suprised at the prices, aparently the new menu has better (cheaper) pricing and set dinners too.

anywho so i went with 5 co workers, i decided on lunch special B1
sushi (3pc), roll (california, house), and teriyaki chicken bento box for $10.95 includes rice and soup and salad.

oooooooo where do i start:drool:

the salad, like someone mentioned previously was divine, the dressing...was unique i really liked it, the soup is like reg. miso soup so no comment but the chicken was cooked prefectly, it wasnt over cooked and dry, unlike sushi tokyo who cooks everythign prior to the lunch rush.

the sushi rolls were very fresh too.

overall i like the new menu, and the new dinner menu choices (that dont cost an arm and leg)

service was a 10/10 i think its because we were the only table there lol but the waitress came and filled up my teacup, was attentive (but not annoying)

pricing like previously mention used to cost an arm and a leg, but with the new menu its more in the general japanese food range (waa's, sushi towa etc)

conclusion
i think i found a new lunch hangout!

[shadowz]

I like this place, one of the better chinese run Japanese places in Calgary, the black cod is very good, as well the clams and other hot dishes are great, the sushi as mentioned is very decently sized

[GQBalla]

this place is pretty good,

when i was there me and my friend just sat around and drank while eating a bunch of dishes.

our bill with many drinks was $200 with tip

the uni we had was actually pretty good since most places its nasty cause uni HAS to be fresh

[autumnrain]

the black cod melts in my mouth
i love it..
that and the beef tataki

[TC06]

+1

[SpoonEK9@STRD]

I go there often, house salad is awesome.
there teriyaki chicken is best.

Currently my favorite sushi joint in town.

[Boat]

Went there for the first time a few months ago, I was very impressed the food tasted great and the presentation was excellent. Price was a bit high, but that's expected with sushi places.

[malcolmk14]

Their izakaya dishes are great. Sushi is just average, something wrong with the rice.

Black Cod is delicious.

[HyperZell]

Went to this place a few weeks ago, and I had never heard of it before. It turned out to be more than a pleasant surprise, for many of the reasons already listed.

While the food was quite good (albeit slightly overpriced) and the menu extensive, the real winner here is the service. Friendly servers that were professional and quick absolutely help this place to stand out. The ambiance is quite pleasing as well, and the whole overall experience impressed me. I'll definitely be going back and I recommend that you do too, if you haven't already been. And I didn't even know they had late hours, which is a nice bonus.

[K3RMIT.]

I went there not to long ago, i thought the service was excellent, and the food was pretty good. i went there pretty late, around 11ish?
:D :D

[xxxazntigerxx]

are they the same owners as ice bar?

[Sasuke_Kensai]

My favorite menu item is the cowboy which isn't even fish, but beef haha. But damn does it melt in your mouth.

[Wakalimasu]

went for their Valentine's special

yumm

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[InRich]

I also went there the other night... Oysters are 1.25 Tuesdays, I would give it a 8/10 overall. everything was great, but it was pricey for sure... Try the kewi roll next time your there, it was fantastic.

[RiceMonkey]

Damn it look so good..

[EG6boi]

Ambiance/Atmosphere: 8/10
Food: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Pricing: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10