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Ponshu

3.6 (74 reviews)
ModerateJapanese
Closed 11:30 am - 9:30 pm

Ponshu Photos

PONSHU ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Good for groups
Good for kids

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Recommended Reviews - Ponshu

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Reviews With Photos

Looking back into main dining room
Victor P.

This used to be Sakana Grill. It's gone upscale, with a refreshed interior that exudes a more contemporary urban vibe. We ordered the chef's sashimi special (salmon, tuna, mackerel), beef tongue on hot stone, calamari, dragon roll, dynamite roll, California roll with real crab meat, and wagyu unagi roll. Everything was fresh, delicious, and presented beautifully. We'll return.

Denise W.

The decor is nice but the food is not at the same level. So came here for the late night special and ordered a bunch of things. Everything was disappointing. From something so basic like tempura to sushi. Also the best deal was their toro sushi during late night and we were told that they don't have enought toro so that special isn't there anymore (for this location ???? only???) Service was meh as well. At least they came to clear the plates. If I had to compare this place to all you can eat quality, I would say the grade was definitely lower than all you can eat. The salmon sushi wasn't fresh and had too much rice. Not to mention the salmon was very thinly sliced. The most disgusting sushi, I ever had was from this place the unagi dragon roll. First off it was cooked and second of all, unagi doesn't go well with lemon. Why is their slices of lemon between the roll? Nasty. So nasty. Never coming back.

Salvador G.

Ponshu review Visited this restaurant in Calgary almost 5 months ago. Maybe it changed since but I wasn't too fond of it. Started off with some popular appetizers. There was the Sea of Japan Ceviche where I only wanted it for the gram, it's presented in a glass and comes out smokinnnnn (prounounced like the Mask, do people know what the Mask is? Am i really old? Yes is the answer). However, the flavor wasn't too smokin at all, it had some decent but very small pieces of scallops, shrimp, salmon, tuna, octopus and salmon caviar (which is just roe but apparently, you can upcharge something if it has caviar in it *eyeroll*). Dish is basically all presentation. Also had the chicken karaage which was pretty oily and nothing more than a Japanese chicken nugget here, Texture wasn't crisp at all and the chicken tasted dull. Ordered some pressed sushi as well. The first impression of them is that they were pretty small. We had the aburi salmon and negi toro pressed sushi. The salmon had a creamy sauce which made it taste ok, while the toro had some wasabi soy for a better flavor in my opinion. What's interesting is that the chef here apparently is from Miku in Vancouver. Where I loathe the sushi there and the pressed sushi was terrible. So having this just gave me flashbacks of paying for the oceanside location prices at Miku. Also had some spot prawns which were small as hell, but they deep fried the heads so all was well. I'm seriously gonna research the difference between prawns and shrimp because I swear some places are charging prawn price for a shrimp. One of these prawns were 6 bucks...pretty pricy for sure. Forgot we had the Stone Plated 6oz AAA steak and for $22 it was not worth it. Nothing about the steak was special in anyway. I'll stick to the Shokunin for steak prepared in the appropriate Japanese way. Overall the service here was garbage tier. Seemed like during the pandemic they were insistent on packing the entire restaurant then even getting us some water. Will probably never come back here so don't be fooled by their social media. Sal says: Just Skip It (2.6/5) Tracey says: I thought the place was pretty clean... The fish tasted pretty fresh; flavours were good but not amazing. The shrimp thing was very mediocre haha. Portions were def small, especially the pressed compared to dorinku as u had mentioned lol. I didn't really care for the yuzu drink either but also I usually only like alcohol that doesn't taste like alcohol. Service was subpar, they were friendly enough but didn't even offer water and dude ignored my first water request haha

Tempura shrimp
Rachel M.

I've been to Sakana Grill 3-4 times already, both with family and friends and it is a favourite spot for sushi. The atmosphere is contemporary and welcoming, with booths for larger parties and tables for couples. The staff can be straight to the point when it comes to bringing your food, but I have never had to send anything back or had a complaint. This is a traditional place in ways of food delivery---it comes all at once so large parties may share their plates, be prepared to shuffle plates around. Pricing is $60-$80 for two people (not during happy hour) and about $120-$140 for parties of four to five people at least in my case. Bottom line: come for the food. Come to socialize. Good for kids and large parties. There is limited parking in the back. You will become a master plate shuffler.

Chicken Karaage with spicy mayo & Japanese Calamari and mayo sauce
C T.

Ponshu is a new face in Crowfoot. It has taken over the Sakana Grill location. The food we ordered via delivery was amazing! I am so happy to see such a fine Japanese restaurant in Crowfoot! We ordered the following: - Japanese Calamari - so cool with that mayo sauce! - 5 kind assorted Sashimi- wow! I was so impressed with the fresh sashimi. There was tuna, red tuna, Hamachi, scallops, salmon decorated with edible gold leaf and rosebuds!! Came with Wasabi, ginger and soya sauce. - Endamame- good - Sea Urchin Carbonara - OMG! Best uni udon I have ever had! Creamy and so uni- delicious! -Melting Chashu - OMG! Ponshu has a very unique way of making pork sing, or in this case, melt! It literally melts in your mouth! - Habanero Pork Cheeks - a slightly chewy pork cheeks in an interesting sauce - Chicken Karaage - best part of this juicy fried chicken, Ponshu gave it for FREE! Thanks, Ponshu! In love with this chicken and spicy mayo sauce!! Needless to say, we love the food at Ponshu! Will definitely order again!

Tuna tataki, udon, bakes oyster and pina colada
Danielle L.

I have never been to Sakana grill outside of the happy hour. Happy hour occurs from 9pm to closing. There is also a lunch time happy hour which is around 2pm to 4pm (don't quote me on this). Almost every time that I come here, I order the love boat deluxe - this is one out of the two love boats and this one comes with cooked food like gyoza and teriyaki. This boat also comes with a miso soup and salad to start. It will definately keep 2 people full, even 3 if you're not too hungry. The Crowfoot location is very open and clean. I've been coming here for a few years and they have renovated the restaurant and the decor looks very welcoming. The food quality is always good, not the best I've ever had but well worth the price. I would recommend coming here for a late night dinner.

$1 a piece! Sushi or sashimi
Lorena N.

Excellent happy hour! $1 salmon: either as sushi or sashimi! Customer service is fairly standard, nothing extraordinary. The quality of food at this location seems better than the downtown location. Only sad thing is they only serve toro sushi (from the happy hour menu) from mon-thurs. I didn't order it this time but the deluxe boat is pretty good. it has a great mix of sushi, sashimi, and kitchen items!

Miso Soup
Melissa P.

I was really impressed with the sushi here. There wasn't a roll I had that I didn't like! My favourites were the ocean mountain roll and the squid leg roll. Also, I want to commend Daniel for amazing service! He was very kind and on the ball. I would definitely go back!

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3 years ago

Best sushi in Calgary. Authentic staff and food. Must try! Great daily specials as well.

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Fantastic restaurant from Darren Maclean! Had the Yakitori Omakase experience at first sitting on…read moreSunday night. Restaurant wasn't terribly busy - probably because it was Super Bowl Sunday!!! Seated promptly - there are only four seats for the omakaze experience. You have a view of all the preparation of the food - sat right in front of the charcoal grill which emanated heat through the glass. The starts of the experience - the Hokkaido scallop and the chicken ass (only available on the omakaze experience and cannot be ordered in the regular dining room now). Never felt rushed, unlimited sides. Only thing that could be improved is difficulty hearing the server and chef over the background music and restaurant noise. Also some of the background music didn't seem to suit the environment (pretty sure I heard some Dr Dre!!)

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Mr Lu Restaurant - Burners with pink gel (for personal hot pot)

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The boys and I came here for lunch on a Tuesday(contrary to the hours listed on Yelp, they are open…read moreon Tuesdays). The interior of the restaurant has seen better days and they will be undergoing a major renovation from September 21st to 2025. The owner, Jay, was pleasant and attentive. He brought us a plate of complimentary spring rolls with sweet chili sauce. They were piping hot and super crunchy! Our family ordered three personal hot pots to warm us up on a cool autumn afternoon: spicy miso soup with lamb; Tom Yum soup with seafood; kimchi soup with beef. Our soups arrived in a timely fashion on top of individual burners (this was my first time seeing pink gel used as fuel) and they were intensely flavourful. My lamb was tender and the fish cakes, crab sticks, tofu, enoki/brown mushrooms, suey choy, and konjac vermicelli were deliciously satisfying and comforting. As usual, the boys and I had a taste of all three soup bases, and we decided that we liked them all! Just one thing of note: the soup tends to thicken halfway through your meal, so you might need to add a bit of hot water. We will certainly be back!

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Ponshu - japanese - Updated May 2026

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