Yokozuna is a family run Japanese restaurant that currently has three locations in Edmonton: the original at Whitemud crossing, one on the University of Alberta campus, and one at Riverbend Square. The one I tend to favor is the one at Whitemud crossing, because I've found this location to be the most consistent with the overall food and service.
We usually go for dinner, and this time, we decided to go for a light dinner before a big night out. We didn't want to end up too full, so we decided to stay not to order any maki or nigiri. Instead, we ordered an Assorted Sashimi (Medium), Oyster Ponzu, and a Sukiyaki Udon.
It was a busy Friday night, so the Sukiyaki Udon actually arrived first, which is a bit unusual because noodle dishes are usually served after sushi or sashimi, because it is meant to finish off your meal. I assume it was because it was so busy that the sushi bar was being annihilated - this is not unusual at Yokozuna, in fact, if you see a busy restaurant, I'd highly suggest getting your order as quickly as possible if you're hungry, because there's only ever two sushi chefs working, even on the busiest nights!
If you must order any of the soup udon dishes, I'd highly recomment the Sukiyaki Udon (and yes, being the noodle fiend I am, I have actually tried them all ^___^). The soup is beef based, and quite a bit sweeter as Sukiyaki would imply. It's served with thin beef slices, sui choi (Chinese cabbage), spinach, firm tofu, naruto (the white slices with a pink swirl in them - they're sort of like a fish/squid sausage), broccoli, carrots, and a generous topping of green onions. Perfect, as usual, in other words, we both couldn't help but fight for the soup at the end!
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| Sukiyaki Udon |
Next, the Oyster Ponzu arrived. Again, SO good. I know this is a simple dish, but as we all know even better, the simpler a dish is, the harder it is to do just right. The oysters were perfectly fried, crispy to the point of being crunchy without being overcooked, which allowed it to hold up the crunch even when soaked in ponzu sauce. Served with paper thin onions, green onions, wakame (seaweed), spicy minced daikon, and ponzu. Yokozuna does a fantastic ponzu, the perfect balance of saltiness from the soy and sourness from the citrus and vinegar. We love it so much, that we will often order extra ponzu to dip other things in!
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| Oyster Ponzu |
The last item to arrive was the medium Assorted Sashimi, and it was well worth the wait. The items included are:
- Salmon (sake)
- Albacore tuna (maguro)
- Shrimp (ebi)
- Surfclam (hokkigai)
- Red snapper (tai)
- Octopus (tako)
- Scallop (hotate)
- Mackerel, topped with minced ginger and green onion (saba)
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| Medium Assorted Sashimi From left to right: Top: Tuna, Salmon, Shrimp Middle: Surfclam, Red snapper, Octopus Bottom: Scallop, Wasabi, Mackerel |
Every time we come, I'm always tempted to order an extra order of saba sushi! Normally, I'm a tuna belly (toro) sushi fanatic, but I find that Yokozuna cuts their tuna belly too close to the rest of the tuna filet, resulting in the overall taste being less buttery, which defeats the purpose for me.
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| Close up of the silver skinned Mackerel |
Again, another good meal at Yokozuna. I come so often that the servers recognize me and I know how they work, but if you're new to Yokozuna, you might find the service a bit slow. Just let them know if you're in a rush or if you need anything, they're always happy to help. That being said, don't expect the items from the sushi bar to come quickly if they're busy, because they never sacrifice quality just to get items out quickly in my experience!
Yokozuna Whitemud Crossing
http://www.yokozunarestaurant.ca/
yummy
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