Restaurant Review: Globefish

Location: 6455 Macleod Tr SW Website: http://globefish.ca/ The first time I visited this restaurant was with my family. We had heard rave reviews about this place and as my sister was a sushi fanatic, it seemed natural to pay this place a visit. When we first arrived, we had a hard time finding a parking spot so my dad dropped us off to get a seat while he parked. The restaurant interior was fairly small and there was already a line up out the door. This was a good sign, it meant that it was popular and we could expect the very best. We waited for over half an hour outside in the heat with the disgusting smell of sewage wafting up at us. After a very long wait, we got in thinking we had escaped the smell, but alas, that was not true. They decided to keep the doors open, making the smell unbearable as we ate and I had no appetite for food. And it wasn’t as though we could eat quickly and leave to escape for service was incredibly slow. However, in this situation I can understand, as the restaurant was packed with a line out the door; it’s easy for the kitchen to quickly become overwhelmed. My dad has always emphasized giving restaurants a second chance. Today was their second chance. As we walked over from the mall to the restaurant in the rain the familiar smell of sewage rose up to greet us. We arrived a little early (five minutes or less) so the restaurant wasn’t open yet. We waited outside, being one of the first to enter. From the moment I walked in, I did not feel welcome. The hostess who seated us pretty much didn’t even say a word and just led us to our table and left. Our waitress was not any better. We were barely even settled when she came over and asked what we wanted to drink. We hesitated momentarily earning us an irritated look.  She returned quickly with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. Having just come from my ophthalmologist appointment, my pupils were still so dilated that I couldn’t read and had to ask my sister to read off the menu to me. We asked for a couple of minutes to agree on the last few rolls and she walked away irritatedly. When we were finally ready to order, she was nowhere in sight. We ordered takoyaki and a mentai calamari to start, a prawn tempura, a tuna and salmon sashimi, and three rolls: the Power of Love, Tokyo Sky Tree, and Men in Black. Of course we had to get a calamari, it’s me we’re talking about. This calamari, as expected, had a Japanese spin to it. It was strips of battered and seasoned squid served on a bed of mixed greens and three slices of red bell peppers, drizzled with what appeared to be togarashi mayo. The first few bites were delicious and the balance between the oily heaviness that often comes with deep fried foods with the tartness of the mayo were spot on. However, as the ratio of mayo to calamari was a bit off, the calamari began to get heavier and thus harder and harder to eat. On top of that, it appears that someone was a bit heavy handed with the Japanese spices which I’m pretty sure had salt, so I had quite a time drinking the whole pot of tea trying to maintain the balance of sodium to water within my body. The takoyaki here is a bit better than I’ve had at most places. It isn’t swimming in sauce and it has more octopus in it. The prawn tempura was just sad. It was very clear that these were from frozen. They were tiny and stick like (like a little too rigid). I didn’t have any of the tuna and salmon sashimi, so I can’t comment much on that, but according to my sister they were up to par. The first of the three rolls, the Power of Love, wasn’t all that special. It was essentially a California roll topped with Unagi and Red & Green Tobiko. The second, the Tokyo Sky Tree, just looked so bizarre. The roll was stacked in three columns and topped with a tendril that looked like a piece of whole wheat deep fried Vietnamese vermicelli (inedible) and shredded green onion. Inside the rolls themselves were salmon, mango and the outside had avocado. The strangest part was that there were Cajun spices sprinkled on it and the menu stated “spicy mayo” but it was hot sauce and mayo drizzled on the plate. I liked the bit of sweetness from the mango in the roll, but other than that I don’t have too much to say other than I didn’t like it. The last roll, the Men in Black roll is a roll specific to the Chinook location. Unlike the other rolls, this one is made with black rice. I can’t remember exactly everything that went in there, but I do know there was cucumber, salmon, avocado, and tobiko. There may or may not have been Unagi. It was drizzled with a sweet sauce. It wasn’t like the Unagi sauce that I was used to though it tasted similar. This has to be my favourite roll. The addition of the cucumbers gave it a fresh taste in contrast to the heaviness of the calamari and takoyaki.

Based on the food and service, I most likely will not be returning here. When I go for sushi I prefer it to be a little more on the traditional side. I don’t ever want to find cream cheese on my sushi at any point in time. The presentation was a bit lacking and the wait time for service and food was a bit long for my tastes. For those reasons and those listed above, I’d give this place a 2/5.

Takoyaki

Mentai Calamari

Prawn Tempura

Tuna and Salmon Sashimi

Men in Black

Power of Love

Tokyo Sky Tree