Shokunin

Gosh... how I WANTED to adore the sushi. Gosh.... how I WANTED this to be the BEST sushi in Calgary. The truth is... it was GOOD, not GREAT, but GOOD. Fish was fresh and the presentation was top-notch. What was disappointing was the amount of rice that was used in the nigiri. Definitely more like a "rice ball" vs what one is accustomed to from a high-end / omakase presentation.

We loved this place so much! We come from out of the country but this is a go to for us when visiting Calagery! This time, the robata was a little salty but I do love my salt

Honestly the sushi could be worth a meal by itself but if raw fish isn't your thing (like our calgarian friends) you can get a comple meal from the robata! Love this place

Sushi and sashimi are very tasty and fresh. I ordered Miso Gindara Roll and Salmon Belly Nigiri. They were awesome.
Service was great. I sat in the bar, they were quick.
This restaurant is little bit pricey, but other than that everything was great.

Our first meal after landing was shokunin-- we came straight here and it did not disappoint

The staff were sweet and was able to take our luggage away for us while we dined

Everything we had was top notch. Every dish was well seasoned and the combinations were great. I wish we came here earlier in the day as lots of the chicken skewers we wanted were gone. Will definitely be back.

Some highlights:
- drinks 5/5
- nigiri 5/5
- skewers 5/5

Some lowlights:
-Broccolini 3.5/5, a bit dry and burnt
- rice/beef fat and eggs 3.5/5 a bit underwhelming

I didn't have much hopes coming out to Calgary for dinning. Decided on this place bc of reviews and Japanese food.

Well worth the experience. I see the menu they do a little play on parts of chicken, i didn't have a ton of expectations. I figure it was more of a trendy establishment for cocktails. Yakatori probably some of the best I've had. Nothing In LA was this good. That oyster meat with part of the skin, juicy hot and tender (still reminiscing). Next was the Ass I mean who doesn't love some Ass the butt meat. That's what all the free range running is for.

Bison takaki is lean like beef jerky definitely good texture. As for the Wagyu Sando as described aged and smoked than grilled, packed with flavor feels like pastrami but all wagyu.

If you can't decide when you're in town, this is probably a must

Shokunin is perfection, in my eyes. The service is impeccable, the sushi & oysters are so fresh Great atmosphere too. Wonderful for a date night

Every single bite was entirely enjoyable. We started with the cold shucked oyster which is pure perfection from the acidity to the mouth feel. Some other favorites include the gyoza, the avocado, and of course the yakitori.

I haven't had the chance to visit Calgary much yet, but Shokunin is definitely one of my favorites so far. It has stood out as a gastronomic high point from the city.

I had already anticipated a good experience from Shokunin since we knew about the famous chef/owner from The Final Table (Darren Maclean) going in, as well as its numerous esteemed reviews. Our dinner still blew me away, which is not an easy accomplishment when entering with such lofty expectations.

Darren wasn't present the day of our visit since he probably had important things to tend to (being famous now and all that), but his chefs still delivered a near-perfect meal. I'm unable to pinpoint individual standouts from the dinner since everything we ordered was just so good... and we ordered a lot. All I can say is, you can't go wrong with their famous dishes (e.g., yakitori and beef gyoza), but even the lesser known items, such as cold shucked scallop, were outstanding. Everything was cooked on point; the flavour combinations and refinement were exceptional.

We also loved their cocktails. The Sunny D is SO dangerous! I could have easily chugged ten of them... and then would've passed out.

I also have to give a very special thank you to our server, Antar, who was so personable and kind. He provided one of the best dinner services ever, which will be difficult to beat in the future. In combination with the food, this is an experience I'll never forget.

Such a wonderful meal and can't wait to go back!

I am a super fan of the show Final Table and was so excited to finally try Chef Darren's restaurant. To begin I must say I saw him working in the kitchen and requested a photo with him through a server at the end of my meal. Unfortunately he declined to take a picture which left a sour taste in my mouth. After all I booked a reservation 4-6 weeks in advance and flew from out of town!

Now on to the food!

The scallop was delicious as a starter! Very fresh and all the flavors were incredible together.

I got the small sashimi platter which was $42. A great price especially for how fresh the fish was. The sable fish sushi pcs was also a major hit across the table!

I got a variety of yakatori which were delightful, unfortunately they were sold out of the most popular ones such as the chicken ass and oyster.

I did get the rice ball as a side which was underwhelming as it was very burnt and under-seasoned. I advised the waitress who mentioned it was cooked on a charcoal grill. Regardless, I know it was well overdone.

Overall I think I hyped myself up for the restaurant. The food was good but if you're hoping to get greeted by chef Darren don't bet on it.

Shokunin is a restaurant I'd been highly anticipating for a few reasons - The biggest one being that the owner and creator of Shokunin, Darren Maclean actually dined at a popular Japanese restaurant that I work at and I heard from the server that he was keen on comparing our sources of ingredients and basically hyped up his own restaurant. Given that he was a finalist on the Netflix competition show (The Final Table), I was intrigued with his talent and super excited to try this restaurant especially since I love Japanese food.

First and foremost, service and ambiance was amazing. Our server was really sweet and gave us a full explanation of the menu and food all came promptly with full descriptions of the food.

Now onto the food...I really want to give the benefit of the doubt because I do know that the menu tends to change routinely so maybe we just didn't catch it at a good time. The friends I had dined with last night said the first time they went they had a good time. However this time, we all thought it just wasn't the best.

Buttermilk chicken kaarage - Crispy texture was there but it was way too salty, the shredded daikon (?) on the side was good and it was the only thing that made this dish slightly better.

Charred avocado - My mom had this dish and she said it had good texture especially the nori chip, but in terms of the flavour of the avocado it was slightly lacking.

Yakitori - I tried the beef tongue and skin on thigh (not pictured) and it was quite good (smoky flavour and juicy texture) but just a tad small.

Ora king salmon nigiri - This one was amazing and very on par with sushi in Vancouver. Rich fatty texture that just melts in your mouth but still with a slight chew. 10/10!

Salmon tartar roll - Hmmmm, taste was good but it wasn't anything special and I felt a lot of Korean flavour profiles with this roll...Felt like I was eating at Gami Sushi (all my Richmond locals know this) except the quality of fish was better.

Braised yakiniku style pork belly - This dish was tasty but I was very confused with where the style was going. There was gochujang and pickled vegetable that basically tasted like kimchi on the side but there was also miso butter corn (this was fire btw) and lettuce and rice??? It didn't feel put together well. Pork belly had good flavour but was slightly dry.

Tokyo Bellini - (sorry no pic) My friend has this bellini and it was lovely! He said the flavours of sweetness, peach and Prosecco were perfectly balanced and very enjoyable.

Overall, I'm a bit sad that the restaurant didn't live up to my expectations but maybe next time I'm in town, I'll give it another chance.

Shokunin was amazing. In the span of 4 weeks I visited 3 times. And each time I found new amazing things to try as well. Service was top notch and fast, never once was I left wanting a drink or another bite to eat. Stunning food and amazing cocktails. Highlights for me were were the entire menu. But some cannot miss items are the Yakitori for sure. It seems overwhelming at first but pick a couple things and it's all delicious cooked over the charcoal fire. Cold shucked scallops, it just falls apart in your mouth(I could eat 5 of these easily). Eggplant & goat cheese tempura, I could live off of these!! Doesn't matter what your looking for they have something to satisfy. 100% will be going back when I'm in Calgary. Can't wait!