Last week, I went to Calgary for a school competition. There was still snow on the streets and the temperature was in the negatives! Totally appreciate Vancouver weather now… Anyways, we were trying to figure out where to eat for a late lunch, but most places were not within walking distance. We walked out of the Westin Hotel, and one block down we saw Koto Sushi Lounge, so we decided to check it out.

The interior is quite nice. The place was filled with high tables and high booths. Unfortunately, we were eating at around 4 pm, so there was only one other table. There was also only one server working who definitely failed to give a good service. We understand that the place is completely empty, but doesn’t that mean that it’s easier to provide service to us since you only need to keep an eye on one table? But no – after waiting for 10 minutes waiting to place our orders, we literally had to walk up to her to give in our order sheet. The Japanese restaurants here seem to use order sheets a lot even though it’s not all-you-can-eat.

Spicy Salmon Crunchy – salmon mixed with volcano sauce, jalapeno pepper, fried red onion chips on top of a crunchy roll of tempura asparagus, tobiko and mayo
Koto San’s Seared Salmon Roll – seared salmon, Korean sweet and spicy sauce, imitation crabmeat, mayo, cucumber, avocado and sesame
Yammy Yammy Roll – avocado, yam tempura, mayo, mango sauce and crispy yam tempura slice

Our food, however, came quite quickly. We chose three of their specialty rolls. The one in the back was the Spicy Salmon Crunchy. It is definitely full of spice with the jalapeno pepper! At first, I ate the pepper on its own, which was definitely a bad idea, but when you eat the whole roll in one bite, the spiciness isn’t as apparent. In fact, it tasted much better with the spice mixed with the sauce.

In the middle is the Koto San’s Seared Salmon Roll. This was opposite to the first roll, where it was a little sweet with the mango. Definitely good to eat after the first one! A cleanser almost!

The roll in the very front, called Yammy Yammy Roll, was surprisingly really good. At first, I thought it would be a typical yam roll, but it actually had a spin to it. I loved how it came with yam chips, which were really crunchy and gave the roll a nice texture.

Overall, the food was alright. I found the sushi rice to be a bit hard though. The service was definitely poor. Even when we wanted to pay, it took forever to get her attention. The prices are also a bit pricey, but I guess it’s because it’s right in the heart of downtown with business people everywhere.