Asian Persuasion and I took Office Dad out for a belated Father’s Day lunch. What’s Up Hamsup didn’t show because he’s a bad office son. I picked Zipang because Office Dad loves high quality sashimi. As we walked up to Office Dad’s car, Asian Persuasion and I politely offered each other the front seat. Office Dad said, “You both sit in the back”, and starting throwing some stuff from the back seat in the front seat. I thought he was joking until I saw him gently lay a white coat over the front seat. “What? What is this, Driving Miss Daisy?” Asian Persuasion quipped. Office Dad explained that only his wife could sit in the front seat. I’ll have to remember to tell my husband about this rule. I think it’s a good one.
We got to the restaurant and ordered three green teas ($4.50) chicken yakitori ($7.00), two sashimi lunch specials ($18.50) and one sushi and sashimi lunch special ($16.50).
The tea was strong and hot. Office Dad is always courteous and refills our teacups at Chinese restaurants. At Zipang, the cups are taller than your typical teacups and the tea is served hot. Office Dad would fill the cups up with tea to the top. I said to him, “Thank you for filling up our tea. However, mind if I offer a suggestion? Perhaps you should only fill it half way, so that the tea stays hot and we don’t burn our fingers trying to drink it”. Office Dad started to argue with me but then laugh when he noticed my dirty napkin wrapped around the cup. I showed him my red fingertips as proof.
One of Asian Persuasion’s favourite foods is chicken yakitori. The aroma of the chicken was mouth-watering, the dark meat full of flavour, hot and juicy.
The temperature of all the seafood was ideal, cool on the tongue. I find most places in Calgary don’t serve sashimi at this temperature. It’s either too warm or frozen. My favourite cut was the salmon, which was fresh, light and buttery. The octopus had a nice bite to it. The scallop was small and fishy. The only other minor quibble is I found the rice overcooked.
Office Dad was still hungry, so they ordered vanilla ice-cream ($4.50). We received three scoops with slices of strawberries.
I’m happy to report that both Office Dad and Asian Persuasion thought Zipang has some of the freshest sashimi they ever tried. Yay! Happy Father’s Day Office Dad. So glad you enjoyed your meal.
Hitting the Sauce 