Izakaya Edokko (the return)

Izakaya Edokko

532 Waterloo St

204-306-3333

https://www.edokkowpg.ca/

info@edokkowpg.ca

Facebook:  @edokkowpg

Instagram:  edokkowpg

May, 2021 (three days after opening)

Izakaya Edokko was one of the newest Japanese restaurants when it opened downtown in 2018, and it was the best.  Sadly, it was also one of the shortest-lived as it fell victim to COVID in 2020.  

Review here:  http://foodwinnipeg.blogspot.com/2018/08/izakaya-edokko.html

Needless to say, I embraced the announcement of their resurrection with great enthusiasm and counted down the days until they reopen.  The new location sits where Chew used to operate; alas, Chew itself was one of the best restaurants in the city and it is a shame to see it fall.

If you ever visited Chew, you know it's a tiny location.  Fans of the former Yujiro know what I'm talking about--Edokko is very reminiscent of what it was like at Yujiro.  Talk about full circle, it was the very same Chef Masa Sugita who used to head up Yujiro.  Right now, COVID dictates that Edokko only serves takeout, but even when restrictions lift, there likely will not be seating for more than a dozen diners. 

Buried deep behind dining room, you can find a grocery store, perhaps the smallest grocery store in the city.

Have a look (photo courtesy of Edokko):  what you see is what there is.  The shelves house the typical accompaniments that go with sushi:  soy, other sauces, seaweed, and other snacks.  

The freezer side has assorted fishes, including eel, octopus and others I cannot recognise on sight.  You can also find ramen, other kinds of noodles, pot stickers, tofu and Japanese ice creams.  

About the food--Edokko offered some of the most creative, freshest and best tasting creations at its former location.  In its infancy right now, the new restaurant's menu does not have the creativity of the former incarnation, but it has a wide range of the usual and most popular dishes.

One of the best measuring sticks to use when eating sushi comes with the hamachi (yellowtail tuna).  If the hamachi is even a tad past its prime, it has a strong, fishy taste.  For that reason, many people do not like hamachi, claiming it tastes too fishy.  It is one of the most under-ordered and underrated fishes on any Japanese menu.  When fresh, hamachi is like essence of the ocean, tasting mild and clean, with a buttery, melting texture.  That is exactly what you get here.

On the other end of the popularity scale, salmon appears on almost every sushi diner's plate.  The salmon here tastes rich, buttery and melts in your mouth.  Have a peek:

See how bright orange the meat looks, the heavy striations of fat goodness:  fantastic.  On the other end of the tray, you find toro (tuna belly), the fattest and, most unctuous and most tender cut of the tuna.  This is an absolute treat.  

Buried in the middle of the tray and barely visible, the unagi (fresh eel) has less colour and less sauce than what you often see in restaurants.  People love barbecue sauce, so most people want their eel slathered in sauce.  This eel comes mostly naked, giving you an opportunity to savour the unadulterated taste of the meat itself.  It's not trying to hide anything behind sauce here.  

All of the nigiris come with a generous slice of meat covering a modest clump of rice.  A favourite trick of cheap sushi joints is using paper thin slices of fish covering huge wads of rice.  The original intent of nigiri is to come with plenty of fish to taste the flavour, and just enough rice to add some substance, all meant to be eaten in one bite.  Shhhhh--I eat mine in two, just to have more to savour!

Baku Dan Maki comes with tuna, chilli sauce, and tempura crumbs, wrapped in nori (seaweed).  As seen here, the baku dan comes with a good amount of fish, just enough tempura crumb to give a little crunch, and a touch of chilli sauce for a kick.

The inside-out salmon and avocado roll features plenty of rich salmon, flanked by a big chunk of avocado, topped with sesame seeds.  All of the salmon, avocado and sesame inherently taste rich with umami, making this one of the most decadent rolls around.

Both the chopped hokki (surf clam) and chopped scallop nigiris come with heaping amounts of chopped meat, blended with rich tasting mayo and salty tobiko (fish eggs).  Tobiko has the added touch of texture, as you pop each of the delicate eggs in your mouth, releasing pockets of brine.  The hokki tastes tender and smooth, contrary to what you normally see out of hokki, which has a bite of resistance, and sometimes some rubberiness.  The scallops just taste rich, buttery and meltingly tender.  Both dishes come with chopped avocado--honestly, most everything tastes better with avocado.  

Neither the tobiko nor the ginger look bright, fluorescent pink, like you sometimes see in restaurants.  It's not as striking to look at but I'd rather go without the food colouring.

I'm really going to miss the elegant dining room and grand sushi bar of the former location.  I'm not sure how often I will eat in the modest dining room here, but I will come frequently for the takeout.  The food tastes as fabulous as it has ever tasted, and I am very happy to see Chef Masa and Izakaya Edokko back on Winnipeg's culinary scene.  Some of the best sushi in the city continues to come from his kitchen.  

This is an unbiased, free public service that I am happy to provide.  If you enjoy these reviews, please consider clicking on the accompanying ads.  This is the only compensation I receive. 

For continuous updates, please follow me on Facebook @RayYuenRestaurantReview.  As usual, thanks for reading and good food to you!

Ray Yuen, Pit Master / Grill Master
Certified Kansas City Barbecue Society Judge – Badge #97736
Certified Steak Cook-off Association Judge – Badge #7788
Canadian Barbecue Society Member