kabuku

Located near the Westin Hotel. Went their for lunch and it was quite full. We were able to get a table in the corner near the window. The attire for the female wait staff was different, but it made it interesting.
We enjoyed the food there and would go back again. The staff was accommodating to our three year old — so that was a plus!
Their crispy calamari was tasty along with the three different sauces! Sushi was good as well as the teriyaki chicken.

One of the better and affordable sushi places in the city!
Love the personal chopsticks

This place is meh. Usually quite packed at lunchtime for all the business lunch folk.
Seems like their really half ass their sushi and gouge you on the prices to take advantage of the downtown clientele. It’s really just slightly better food court quality sushi in a nicer sit down restaurant.

Nice place! Service was great, very personable and courteous from start to finish. The restaurant is clean and fresh. Ordered the 10 piece nigiri sushi with miso soup w/​hot sake. Portion was perfect, nigiri and soup was great! From my experience I would recommend a visit.

Good choice for Japanese food in downtown Calgary. This place definitely caters more towards business travelers staying nearby as it is quite empty normally. Came here multiple times for take out and dine and favorites include the Sushi & Sashimi combo, Saikyo yaki (miso marinated black cod) and Agedashi tofu. Definitely one of my go to restaurants when staying across the street at the Westin.

The seating is comfortable. We went on a Friday evening at 5:30pm, and by the time we left at 7:30pm, about 90% of the seating was (and remained) open. Unsure why it was so empty, but not a great sign for business. Price wise, it was pretty expensive for the size of the portions. Sure, that sushi platter has 20 pieces… but really? $ 70? The food is good, but feels distinctively less Japanese than say, Zipang. There were some hints of fusion, like the kind of mushrooms used for the cod dish, or the mayo in some of the sushi. Variety wise, there wasn’t a lot of option. There are tons of fish types, sure, but the variety of dishes isn’t a lot. I can imagine this as a good option for groups or families. Overall, we are pleased and understand why this place had good ratings. But, it really is way over priced. We may go back. Unsure at this point.

I ate at Kabuku with my Manager and this was our third occurrence in the past two months and our last. Service was poor for the price point, slow drink service and clueless server (McDonald’s has better trained staff). We found plastic in our rolls. The server barely reacted to the situation like it was normal and we asked for the Manager. When the Manager came over he said «oh just a little bit of plastic» with no apologies. The item was taken off the bill however however the customer service is atrocious! Never going back!

My boyfriend and I stopped here for sushi one night. We’d planned on going to ZEN, but we couldn’t find it anywhere and stopped here instead.
Overall, a great experience. The place had underground parking which is reasonably priced and an indoor entrance which was super useful on that snowy night.
We showed up and it wasn’t very busy for a Saturday night, but we were seated immediately in a nice quiet booth. We were given a drink and entrée menu, and a menu to mark which sushi we wanted.
I ordered an alcoholic beverage called Sakura Blossom — lychee lower and vodka (?) with cranberry and pineapple juice. Mmm, good! I usually find these drinks not sweet enough for my taste, but this one was really well balanced!
Next, we ordered mushroom and sweet potato tempura as an appy. I thought it was really good! I usually find tempura too oily, but this one was tasty and not too greasy.
My boyfriend and I ordered 4 sushi rolls — super eruption roll, vegetable roll, Chinook roll and the dynamite body roll. All of them were well prepared and fresh! There was also low sodium soy sauce at all the tables, which was a great healthy option, and plenty of wasabi and pickled ginger came with the sushi.
For dessert, we tried the frozen chocolate mousse. Honestly, not the best option. It came with banana brûlée and matcha powder, and maybe it was because I was so full, but it just didn’t blow me away. The portion size, however, was perfect for two people to share.
Overall, I would definitely return if I’m nearby because the service was amazing and the food was delicious!

Fish was fresh tho portions were small (friend was not happy w size of sashimi. He left hungry). Haha.
Menu limited (especially for me who has shrimp allergy).
Staff friendly.
They have a second location in Aspen.

Sushi…4 stars. The sushi here is pretty good. The top sirloin beef in the Alberta roll is buttery tender. The rice used in the rolls, however, is not as good as Ki’s. I don’t know if it’s because of the purple rice they use, but it’s just not as tender or pleasing to the mouth as the typical white rice variety. I’ve had many varieties of purple rice and they simply firm up faster than white rice when cooled or sitting around until being used… perhaps it’s because they have a higher starch density and are best when used immediately.
Tempura…5 stars. The star of this establishment! Regardless of which ingredient you chose, they are all perfectly prepared with a light and crunchy batter. Certainly some of the best I’ve had! Loved the tempura avocado!

The sushi was excellent. The service was very good and very prompt.
The meal started with a hot towelette which won me over immediately. My dinner partner ordered sushi by the piece and I ordered the Shrimp & Tempura entrée. We did not speak be uses the good was so good… we just kept eating. I had a glass of green tea and a Sapporo.
Very impressed. Will eat there again before we leave.

Great sushi in a cool restaurant.
I popped in here one evening for dinner with a coworker and it was delicious. The rolls here are delicious and very well prepared. Everything we were served was fresh and did not lack for an appealing plating. It can get a little pricy, so if you’re short on money you might want to skip this one. The price is worth it though! The servers are all friendly and polite and are helpful if you’re trying to determine portion sizing.
If you like sushi, you can’t skip this place over.

You know you’re hooked on Unilocal when you make a date with a friend just to earn a badge. But that’s exactly what I did with a fellow Unilocaler as we set out on a quest to earn the Sushi Sensei badge!
Not only did we want to earn the badge, but we also wanted to be able to compare the restaurants like for like. We decided that an order of California rolls would be our staple in every restaurant and we would supplement that with an order of the restaurant’s feature rolls. Now, you’re probably thinking «that’s a LOT of mayonnaise and fake crab». Well reader, read on, because although we risked OD-​ing on mayonnaise and getting mercury poisoning, we came out with some great tips for anyone seeking sushi in Calgary’s downtown area!
Sushi Stop #4: ZEN Japanese Restaurant
ZEN was a solid sushi stop. By the time we reached ZEN, our stomachs were bursting with rice, and mayonnaise poisoning seemed inevitable. But we pushed on and ordered one last order of California rolls. While they didn’t blow my mind, they were solid California rolls.
ZEN had solid sushi and good tea. The atmosphere was good. Not overly fancy, not overly basic or shabby. We were able to walk right into a table, which is a nice change from the busy lunch time crowds they usually get.
Would I go back? Yeah, for sure. But I think I need a little sushi break first!
Sushi Stop #1 was Sakana Grill — read my review here:
Sushi Stop #2 was Sushi Tokyo — read my review here:
Sushi Stop #3 was Ki Modern Japanese — read my review here:
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ZEN’s mission statement is «To maintain respect while consistently providing top quality food and service» — and I’d have to say they definitely honor this.
I’ve frequented this sushi place over the years and have always had a great experience — awesome fresh food, great atmosphere and service. My favorite appetizer is tied between the spicy scallops and prawns and the agedashi tofu. Their salmon sashimi is marbled perfectly and the volcano sauce used for the spicy tuna rolls is amazing!
With quality does come price — it is a bit expensive here, a lunch can run from $ 30-​$ 40 easily. But I think it’s nice to treat yourself every once in a while — especially when it comes to delicious food :)

This place is great, and conveniently located in downtown. I walked in after having a craving for sushi and was immediately greeted by the friendly staff and lovely ambience ZEN has to offer. The staff were wonderful and my tai-​out order was ready in a flash! I love the modern décor, it made me wish I had stayed to dine-​in. I took my sushi to go and trained home and was pleasantly surprised with how fantastic and delicious it was. I’m not sure how busy this place is at lunch, but I’d love to make ZEN a more regular occurrence. It seems pretty trendy and despite other reviewers, I didn’t find the prices to bad. I think I’ll definitely be back!

This would have been a 5 star, except the price. Wow, is it ever expensive there.
The hubs and I came here as we wanted to check out a new sushi place. And we figured being downtown Saturday afternoon it wouldn’t that busy. Which it wasn’t.
The sushi was fantastic. Nice thick white lines in the salmon and the miso soup has mushrooms it in. It was sooo good!!!
Great service, not busy, no crazy lines like some places. Parking can be a nightmare due to area, but that is ok.

Very good and fresh sushi!,. This is definitely my favorite sushi place in Calgary… As they fly the fresh fish everyday it is very very fresh… Everything I have had there is just delicious… I haven’t found a better place for sushi at the city yet…
Tip: as it is sooooo good, it is always busy, I would recommend to call for reservations. Or make the reservation online.

This is a fabulous sushi place in downtown Calgary. I placed a to-​go order here when I was working late at the University of Alberta Calgary Centre a block away, and was super impressed with my experience. Even though it was dinnertime (6pm) on a weekday, my food was ready in 10 minutes. When I got to the restaurant, the staff helped me immediately. It looked so nice inside I wished I could stay to dine in! My seafood sashimi dinner was amazing and reasonably priced. I know if I lived in Calgary I’d be stopping by Zen on a regular basis. Can’t wait until my next visit!

On this trip to Zen, I had an assortment of sashimi, spicy soup, and chocolate mousse. This place is consistently the best suishi place in Calgary. Its a little pricey by my Toronto standards.
I like the quirky décor — mostly traditional asian with a few standout north american pieces.
The server was great. She was quite chatty and offered good descriptions of the dessert menu.

A friend of mine spent six months in Calgary, staying at the Westin across the street from ZEN. I understand that he was in here nearly every weekend and many week nights. So when he recommended that I give this place a try, I knew that it would be good. And he was right!
Interesting specials and well prepared «edible art», I had the toro sashimi special and the toro maki roll special. And when my tummy still had room, an order of the volcano chicken finished me off. All of it was absolutely excellent quality sushi and cooked food.
Draft Sapporo. Awesome!
Sadly, no wifi and the Starbucks across the street wasn’t broadcasting.
You would never find this place if you didn’t know it was here. They have a very plain entrance and not a lot of signage.