It's been a while since my family has dined in a restaurant together, but we figured a birthday dinner for my sister was a good excuse. We decided to try out Soban, a new-to-us restaurant that's recently been making buzz since changing owners and undergoing renovations.
I've always known Soban as the Japanese restaurant that looked like Pizza Hut, but alas, the red roof is no longer red. I don't exactly know what the restaurant looked like pre-reno, but it's quite spacious inside. I appreciated the room dividers which gives each table a semblance of privacy.
The menu is mostly Japanese, with a smattering of Korean food. The menu is extensive and the prices are quite reasonable.
I can't resist ordering Korean fried chicken whenever it's available. We chose the garlic soy sauce flavour ($15.00) which comes served in boneless, bite-sized pieces. The chicken was crispy and tender, with a sweet, garlicky soy glaze. It turned out to be one of our favourite bites of the evening.
We were also fans of the assorted tempura ($13.00), which comes with 4 pieces of shrimp, 3 pieces of yam, and 3 vegetables (pumpkin and asparagus). The tempura was hot and fresh, with a light, crispy batter. They really know their way around a fryer here. The tentsuyu (dipping sauce) was also great. Flavourful in a subtle, balanced way.
The deluxe assorted sashimi ($45) was definitely a work of art with beautiful presentation. The 20 pieces included salmon, toro, hamachi, tai, tuna, amaebi, tako, and some masago. Nice clean cuts and everything tasted fresh. I liked that there was a good variety of fish.
Onto the sushi rolls! There's a huge selection to choose from and it was pretty overwhelming to narrow it down to just a few. Our first pick was the black dragon roll ($13.50). A dynamite base with unagi, fish eggs, and a drizzle of unagi sauce. A pretty standard offering.
We also got the volcano roll ($14.00) which is a California base with seared chopped scallops, moto sauce, and spicy sauce. I felt like the spicy sauce overwhelmed the flavour of everything else, so it wasn't my favourite.
The red hot chili roll ($14.00) had chopped scallops inside, spicy tuna on top, and fried shredded yam. Unfortunately this one stuck to the plate and fell apart quite easily, but the flavours were good.
The pressed salmon sushi ($14.00) was also okay. The sauce was super creamy and everything melted in your mouth. I'm used to places that garnish with a sliced jalapeno on top, which I think would've been a better choice than the slices of onion here.
On the other hand, I loved the moto negitoro ($3.50 each)! Chopped toro with green onion, seared with a combination of spicy mayo and hot sauce. They were super generous with the fish to rice ratio and I thought this had more flavour than the salmon. The seared, char flavour was also more apparent.
We were pretty full at this point but my dad felt like he could eat more. We placed another order for yaki udon ($13.50) as a filler. It took quite a while to come out, but the restaurant did get a bit busy at this point. The noodles are pan-fried with your choice of beef or chicken and veggies. It also came with a jammy boiled egg on top. The udon was quite saucy and had a distinct tangy flavour to it. It wasn't bad, just unexpected and different to what we're used to.
Overall, it was a nice introduction to Soban. We were pretty pleased with the food and would love to try new dishes next time, as well as revisit some of our favourites.
The Soban Restaurant
7450 82 Ave NW
Edmonton, AB
(780) 756-7228
- CT
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