Inside Calgary's newest spot for Japanese hand rolls and more
After announcing it was Calgary-bound last summer, we’ve been waiting with bated breath for YYC’s very first Hello Nori location to open, but the time is finally here!
Hello Nori, which touts itself as Canada’s premier Japanese hand roll bar, is set to open its doors officially to the public on April 24 at its brand-new Bridgeland home.
After hearing great things from our Vancouver and Toronto friends, we couldn’t wait to see what the hype was about, so Dished was able to sneak in for a little preview of what to expect.
Calgary’s first Hello Nori
Charlie Hart/Dished
Upon walking into Hello Nori, the first thing to catch your eye is likely the sculptural wooden ceiling. This is a feature that’s found across every Hello Nori location, though each design is unique. In Bridgeland, it resembles a tree sprouting from behind the bar and sprawling across the ceiling, with the waves in each panel representing the rolling Alberta foothills.
The entire space feels clean and modern, and somewhere you could just as easily visit for a quick lunch as well as take your time on a date night.
Hello Nori is set up similarly to any bar, with stools around the perimeter and a large open work space in the middle where you can watch the magic happen.
What to order
With six other locations already under its belt (Calgary is its seventh), there are already some clear front-runners on Hello Nori’s menu, one of which is the truffle lobster hand roll, but we’re pretty sure there are no wrong answers here.
Depending on your preferences, there are some set menus of between four and six hand rolls, but you can also mix and match by ordering à la carte. Either way, each hand roll is made one at a time, so you can eat it fresh without the texture being compromised.
Charlie Hart/Dished
The first we tried was the Negitoro, a mix of baby tuna and green onion, with rice, rolled up in a nori sheet. This was incredibly fresh (quite the feat for a landlocked province), with the fish pairing beautifully with the green onion. The rice was cooked perfectly, and the nori was still crispy.
Perhaps a sleeper hit on the menu, but one we would highly recommend, is the Pickled Vegetable hand roll. The crunchy, tangy veggies were finely sliced and provided a really nice contrast to all the fish.
Charlie Hart/Dished
But as for the absolute favourite of the bunch, we couldn’t get enough of the Spicy Bluefin Tuna. The spicy sauce (which we would buy by the bottle if we could) cut right through the fatty tuna and paired so well with the soft rice.
Charlie Hart/Dished
As for other dishes, we tasted the Salmon Oshi and the Sashimi, both of which we would highly recommend.
Charlie Hart/Dished
For beverages, Hello Nori has soft drinks, a range of teas (including a nitro matcha tea), beer, and its own sake, which is specially brewed for the restaurant in Northern Japan.
We can see Hello Nori being a huge hit in YYC, and fans of Japanese hand rolls are going to want to march themselves down to Bridgeland stat.
Hello Nori
Address: 885 1st Ave. NE, Calgary
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