Big Catch (Kingsland Farmer’s Market) – Calgary, AB

I’ll admit that I’m usually a bit of a sushi snob. I typically will not bother with sushi from take-out/fast-food joints in food courts and definitely not the stuff from grocery stores either. But after reading rave reviews from local bloggers about Big Catch, which is located in the Kingsland Farmer’s Market, I was really intrigued. Many of the bloggers have placed Big Catch in their top 5 list of favourite sushi places, up there with Wa’s Japanese Restaurant, which is my favourite place for sushi in Calgary. Imagine restaurant quality sushi at food court prices. What’s there not to like. The only catch is that their hours are limited. They are open during the farmer’s market’s hours, which is Thursday to Sunday 9am to 5pm for  both dine-in and take-out. As well, they offer take-out service after hours  on each of those days from 5pm-7pm. All the sushi is made fresh to order and usually takes about 15 minutes. If you are in a hurry, you can call in the order ahead of time.

On my first visit, I was with two coworkers as we decided to order the Dinner for 3 ($40), which included 1 California roll, 1 Dynamite roll, 1 Rodeo Rider roll, 1 Spicy Tuna roll, and 1 Passion Sunrise roll. We also shared an order of the Toro Sashimi ($7.50 for 5 pieces). The Rodeo Rider roll consisted of tuna, salmon and tempura bits topped with spicy sauce, garlic chips, green onions and sesame  while the Passion Sunrise roll consisted of crab and avocado topped with salmon, green onions, tobiko and volcano sauce. Out of all the rolls, our favourite by far was the R0deo Rider. The crispy texture and flavour of garlic chips really made the roll unique.

I was impressed enough with the food, especially the toro sashimi that I went  back again the next day with my friend M. I was particularly interested in trying the custom order items as I had learnt that Big Catch will make items upon request that are not on the regular menu as long as they have the ingredients.

We started off with a few pieces of Seared Salmon Nigiri ($1.70 each). This is not on their regular menu and has to be special ordered. Usually, I’m not a big fan of just regular salmon nigiri but I absolutely adore seared salmon. The slight searing changes the flavour of the salmon and makes it more creamy. There aren’t that many places that offer Seared Salmon. Before this, I’ve only ever had it at Sushi Boat here in Calgary. In Vancouver, I’ve had a variation of this, the Seared Salmon Oshi Sushi, at my favourite sushi restaurant, Miku, and also, at Kishimoto Japanese Kitchen & Sushi Bar. These pieces of Seared Salmon Nigiri at Big Catch were tasty and my friend M loved it. Personally, I just wish that they could sear the salmon a touch more for a slightly stronger charred flavour.

We also asked them to do a custom item for us and they made us a Special Roll ($8.95). This roll consisted of salmon, tuna, cucumber, and tobiko wrapped in rice paper instead of sushi rice. It was served on a bed of spicy miso sauce. To me, the spicy miso sauce wasn’t that spicy at all. The roll was interesting as it was reminiscent of a Vietnamese salad roll except with sushi.

We also ordered a Spicy Salmon Roll ($5.50), Spicy Tuna Roll ($5.50), and Unagi Roll ($5.50). There is actually a bit of a discount when you order 3 of the regular rolls such as these. As a combo set, these three rolls combined ended up being $14.25. Again, I didn’t find the spicy sauce for the Spicy Salmon and Spicy Tuna to be all that spicy at all. Overall, these rolls were pretty tasty.

Lastly, of course we had an order of the Toro Sashimi ($7.50 for 5 pieces).
The toro was of a decent quality. It actually is a bit of a steal considering the price as I often pay almost $4 of a piece of toro at other sushi restaurants. Since I’m a huge toro fan, I’d definitely be back often to get my fill.

A couple of weekends ago, my friends went to Kingsland Farmer’s Market to check out Big Catch. While they were there, I asked them to pick up some take-out for me as I was really curious about the Meteor Rain Roll ($11.75). It consisted of crab meat and wild salmon, and was topped with torch seared salmon, onion, mayo and mixed spice. I really wanted to try this roll because I love torch seared salmon. The roll was tasty although I wished the salmon on top would be seared more so that it would have more of a charred flavour.

I again had an order of the Toro Sashimi ($7.50 for 5 pieces). The Toro was again pretty decent although there were a few pieces that were a bit chewy. Still, I think it’s good value considering the price.

Overall, considering this is take-out sushi, I would say Big Catch is one of the top places in Calgary for take-out/food court sushi. It certainly beats other places in this category. I liked that everything is made fresh to order. And the prices are really reasonable, which is really good as I can eat there often without going broke. I’m really looking forward to trying more of their special rolls as well as their custom order chirashi.

Big Catch
Kingsland Farmer’s Market
7711 Macleod Trail S
Calgary, AB
(403)708-5555
http://bigcatchcalgary.com