Yum. I don't understand the negative reviews, this place is tasty, quick, and awesome. A little hidden north side gem. The service is quiet and efficient, and I don't believe for a single second that the lovely lady who cooks there would yell at anyone, she is always all smiles. Their Isobe is to die for - seriously, the one must-have on their menu! They also have excellent Tuna Tataki.

Impressed. I love sushi. I've tried sushi on the east coast of the States and the West coast of Canada. Edmonton sushi is a bit difficult to enjoy when you've had the really fresh stuff, and it's even harder to find good sushi in the humble North side where dining is more pub and pizza than anything.

And then there's Hakone. We dined there for the first time tonight and I was delighted as soon as I walked in the door. This relatively tiny environment has a very modern interior design and comfortable booths with tasteful dishes and decor. We picked up the menu, and I was a little disheartened by the prices. For such a small restaurant, the prices seemed high; on par with larger, more popular places - but what we received was worth every penny and more.

We were greeted and seated within moments of walking through the door, with a young server offering us beverages. Tea and water, naturally. The flowed freely, and we only had to lift the lid on our tea pot to check the water lever before we had a gentleman kindly offering us some more tea, which we received promptly afterwards.

We ordered a lot, because I wanted to get a good idea of this place, and you never know how to portion sizes will be (Spoiler: Portion sizes are good for appetizers, and wonderful for entrees and rolls!)

My partner and I ordered the gyoza (a favorite dish of mine to make at home) and the spring rolls (his staple for Asian dining). Both arrived together after a very short wait, were packed with meat and tasty treats to start our meal. We never waited long for anything.

He had a bento (#2) which started with miso soup and had a great assortment of tempura - a piece of everything and three shrimp. The meat was "tender, juicy and fresh" and the korokke were delicious. This was his first time having them, so i had to sample them myself to make sure they were just as good as he proclaimed, and they were!

I have a horrible habit of ordering WAY too much when trying a sushi place for the first time.

We both ordered a roll, and I ordered some assorted nigiri as well.

The nigiri were dainty little peices of sushi topped with generous portions of fish. While the salmon was a little on the tough side, the tuna practically melted, it was so succulent. The tamago was a bit sweater than I usually make myself, but was still tasty. And the avacado nigiri was very well presented with thin, fanned out slices - very pretty.

The rolls were a big hit for us. The dynamite and Mexican rolls were both a fantastic ratio. Tonnes of filling, and the spicy tuna was just right - that awesome hot, garlicy kick that I look forward to when I order spicy tuna, but with big chunks of tuna that most sushi restaurants lack. I was delighted by the fact that instead of the usual thick layer of rice with a teeny tiny nugget of filling inside, Hakone's rolls were packed full of flavorful ingredients that didn't hide in the rice.

We ended up trying everything, but were too stuffed to finish and decided to take some left overs home for a snack later on. The older woman who was preparing the sushi was adorably sweet as she packed it up for us, and she was certainly a highlight of our time there.

In the end, we ordered a tonne of food, and it all came out in small segments, giving us time to savor every dish with no lull between. As soon as we finished, the next came out looking beautiful and delicious. We left full and happy, and my partner stated on the drive home that his only regret was that he was too full to eat more.

VERY excited to have a place like this close to home. We WILL be back, and OFTEN!