Mehrdad Jafarigiv

Review of Zen8 Grill Teppanyaki restaura...

This is one of our usual sushi spots in Calgary. W...

This is one of our usual sushi spots in Calgary. We have tried quite a few places, and Zen 8 Grill is definitely in the top 2. The service could be slow at times, but the staff and the food make up for it. The waitresses/waiters are always nice and friendly. The food is quite tasty and dare I say even addictive. Best of all, they have a Friday and Saturday night promotion in which they offer sushi platters 50% off! Or at least, this used to be the case.

We were there last night, and even though the old promotion (with a minimum purchase of one drink, you can get a select number of meals for $5) was still available, the meals had gotten smaller. Each platter used to have 8 pieces in it previously and now they have shrunk to 6 pieces per platter. I completely understand and relate to the fact that Alberta economy is not at its best right now, but to raise the prices by 33% is a bit too much. And I think it unlikely that these prices will go back to normal with our economy improving in the future.

Aside from the prices, last night for the very first time in all of our visits, four of our sushi rolls completely fell apart at the touch of the chopsticks. This tells me that not only has the prices increased, but the quality seem to have declined quite a bit. And to be honest, I could completely sense the difference in overall taste of the sushi rolls.

I have always enjoyed my time at Zen 8 Grill and I feel like I was a bit harsh in my review, but unfortunately it is the truth. Even though things have certainly changed, I can see myself going back to Zen 8 Grill maybe once every couple of months to reminiscence the good old days. At the same time, if things don't change, I will probably start looking for another sushi hangout.