Banff National Park, Alberta

There aren’t many things that I don’t eat. If a rhinoceros was offered to me I would find it hard to turn down (though certain animal rights groups may complain). However, up until recently I had never tasted sushi and Japanese food in general. The Sushi Bistro is Banff’s most recent acquisition in Japanese cuisine in a town which is already packed full of Asian options. I thought the time had come to finally sample the delicacies on offer in the Sushi Bistro.

There is no longer a reason to fear sushi!

Located on Caribou street, just off Banff Avenue, it is hard to miss with huge windows providing natural light in abundance. The first thing that grabs you as you walk in the door is a feeling of calmness. The place is so clean and the waitresses so polite and friendly that immediately you feel comfortable. Ordering is similarly easy as you have all the time in the world to flick through the menu and write down what you are after with the paper and pencil handed to us. There are different price sections varying from $3 to $6 so you can treat yourself to as much diversity as you like.

As this was my first time tasting sushi and I’m not the biggest fish fan, I left the ordering up to a friend who ticked the Teriyaki chicken, tempura and spicy salmon rolls on the list for me. Wasabi and ginger were brought out, I practiced using my chop sticks until the plates came out and we were ready to roll, excuse the pun. Now you may be thinking how can a man who has never had sushi review a sushi restaurant when they have nothing to compare it to? Well when you think about it who better? My mind has always told me no and yet this food was fantastic. The salmon was delicious, especially with a touch of ginger, the teriyaki chicken, though nothing new to me mixed beautifully with the asparagus tempura.

I now have a great excuse to review the rest of the sushi restaurants around Banff, Jasper and Canmore solely for the purpose of research. There are plenty of options around Banff for Japanese and other Asian cuisine but I can guarantee you that this one is going to be one of the best. Roll on in – did I already use that one?!