There were 2 sushi chefs working when we entered Sapporo Sushi. They were preparing a lot of take-out orders.   They have many “Eat Smart!” Awards displayed on their wall.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with Sapporo Sushi.  I had a lot of hope and expectation for it since I had heard of good things about it (current 90% ratings on Urbanspoon!).  Their staff is made up of Japanese people which means that the food is authentic.

The girl that is the only server there — it is a very small restaurant with only 8 tables — was extremely, extremely nice and genuine.  If anything, she was the best part of the entire restaurant.  Sad, I know.  My opinion of this sushi joint may be redeemed for another time — you’ll see why in my comments below, but for now, it was a lack-luster affair.  Boo.

Sapporo Combo — an excellent deal where you get a little bit of each — 10 pieces of sashimi, 5 sushi, 3 rolls, 2 gyoza, and 3 shrimp 3 and vegetable tempura. $16.99 if I remember correctly.

Close-up of the sashimi. The white tuna (?) was colder and better tasting than the salmon.

Double Dragon Roll Combo. $11.95.
A salad plus a Black Dragon Roll (unagi on top) and a Red Dragon Roll (salmon on top with shrmip tempura in the middle). It also came with a choice of a spicy or crispy hand roll. I chose the spicy one. 😀

My mom and I shared the Sapporo Combo and the Double Dragon Combo.  Everything was pretty good up until the rolls.  The rice on all the rolls was super hard!  You had to chew pretty hard for each bite.  One of my favourite parts of eating sushi is definitely the rolls, and for the rolls to have been so hard and hard to chew, it was a mighty let-down.  Also, the tempura shrimp and tempura vegetables were not steaming hot, but rather disappointingly cold.  The hand roll was excellent, the gyoza was moderate, and the soup was moderate as well.  I appreciated the green tea ice cream at the end, and again, the girl was so nice that it was hard to hate on the restaurant.

Spicy hand roll that came with the Double Dragon combo. Usually I’m not a fan of hand rolls because they are difficult to eat and features a big blob of rice that fills you up, but this one was very good. The seaweed was crispy and not chewy; there wasn’t a lot of rice; and there were a perfect amount of spicy salmon in it. It was very good! It makes me rethink my opinion of hand rolls now!

I know, I can’t believe I took a picture of their miso soup either. Haha. It was hot and had a single mushroom in it. Not too MSG-y.

One interesting thing to note is that while we were nearing the end of our meal, there was another couple that was just starting their meal.  I actually overheard them complain to the server that the rice on the rolls was too hard.  I saw the server convey this message to the sushi chefs.  I watched the chefs take a ball of rice and roll it around in their hands and say something in Japanese.  The server then told the table that they would be getting new rolls.  Omg!  That probably meant that their rolls are not usually hard like this.  We probably got a bad batch!  So sad.  And now you can see why this restaurant has a chance of redeeming itself.  The next time I return, and I probably will, I hope that their rolls don’t disappoint!

Yeah, I can’t believe I took a picture of the garden salad either. Food blog ftw!

Close-up of the Black Dragon Roll because I like close-ups of food. Here, you can see the creamy avocado that’s inside the roll. The avocado totally made the roll!

Ice cold green tea ice cream in a metal dish. Flavour wasn’t too strong. It was a nice ending to the meal.

After I visit this restaurant for a second time, I will post my updated thoughts on it.  Stay tuned!