Towa Sushi (4th Street, south of 17 Ave) now has a sister location in the west part of town. The new location of Towa Sushi and Lounge is located at 105 – 8560 8A Ave SW. It’s opening August 9, 2016 and is located in a really neat strip mall with lots of shops and restaurants. I really wish there were strip malls like these in my neck of the woods…
I was invited to a VIP Tasting Event by folks from the new Nomme app, in partnership with Towa Sushi. Towa put on a great spread and it was really neat to meet a bunch of the heart behind the Nomme app. I’ll be honest and admit I had never heard of Nomme before. It turns out it’s similar to SkipTheDishes and JustEat (neither of which I’ve ever used), but Nomme has over 200 restaurant partners, and many of the restaurants offer discounts when you order through the app! The Nomme app can be downloaded through the App Store for free, and you can search for restaurants near you using the map feature. Use the app to place orders for delivery or pickup. Jay’s pretty excited that the Mary Brown’s in our neighbourhood is on the app – now he can order before he leaves the house and it will be ready when he gets there! (great?…). The app is improving with a couple new features on the way, so download it and use it to be kept in the loop!
The chef and owner of Towa Sushi and Lounge gave us a great pre-opening example of the food they’re going to offer. A number of rolls and lots of seafood & meat were on the menu. The Rainbow Roll was substituted with the Towa Special Roll (filled with lots of raw fish) and the BBQ Lamb was substituted with a chicken skewer with a sweet and sour flavour. The presentation of the food was quite delightful.
The Salmon Tatami was awesome – big chunks of fresh seared salmon with a nice hint of fresh ginger and lemon. Dipped in ponzu sauce, this was my 2nd favourite dish of the evening. The BBQ Pork Belly had a nice grilled flavour with the house special BBQ sauce. Unfortunately I’m really not a fan of pork belly however it’s cooked, but I did eat one slice and gave Jay my other. It did taste good, I just don’t like the idea of eating that much fat.
The chicken wings were stretched on a skewer and grilled with the house special BBQ sauce. Again, nice flavours, but I found them hard to eat off the skewer. Jay quite liked them, but he really likes chicken wings and doesn’t mind pulling meat off bones. The sweet and sour chicken was okay – not as much flavour as I expected.
I think where Towa Sushi excelled (other than the Tataki) was with their rolls. They were large, filled with lots of good stuff, and with many unique flavours. They are creative with their flavours and use a lot of fish, which is a nice treat. The Mango Paradise Roll was really delicious. I’ve had a number of mango rolls across the city and this is one of the best – it wasn’t too sweet and had a lot of great flavours. I would definitely order this roll.
The Spicy Salmon Roll was my #1 favourite, and a number of other folks I talked to, including Jay, thought the same. I honestly think it’s the best spicy salmon I’ve had in town. It had great flavour, was fresh, and tickled the back of my throat with a great heat. Yum! If you like something spicy you need to try this one! The Towa Special was also served on this plate – it was full of fresh fish. It didn’t have a lot of extra flavours with sauces or seasonings, so you could definitely appreciate the fish.
The Playboy Roll was kind of fun. It was wrapped in aluminum foil and the dish was set on fire once delivered to our table. We had to wait for the fire to go out then we unwrapped it to eat it. The flames lightly cooked the tuna on top of the roll which was a neat treat. The yam tempura gave a a unique texture and taste to the roll. If you don’t yam, this roll isn’t for you. If you’re looking for something fun to share with the family, give this roll a shot. It’s not available at the downtown location – just the new west end restaurant.
I think Towa Sushi will be a great addition to the west end. Maybe next they’ll build one up in Coventry Hills near me 🙂
Thank you to both the Nomme App and Towa Sushi for inviting me and Jay to a delicious evening!
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