The culture of Lethbridge Alberta is changing. We are getting more and more restaurants featuring food from all over the world. A few years ago there were no Indian or Korean restaurants to be had. Now we have both. For the longest time there was only 1 Japanese restaurant, and now there are 4. I have friends that work at 3 of the four, and the fourth I haven't been to yet, but that should change soon.
On a side note, I did live in Japan for 10 years, and I loved the food. Not only the great Japanese food, but in Tokyo all you had to do was walk a few blocks and you would find wonderful French, Italian, Korean, Indian, Japanese and more. And it was cheap for a great lunch. But again, we are talking about Lethbridge Japanese restaurants. I never had a $10 cup of coffee, but people did tell me about them.
The first that has been around the longest is Oshos. They feature good sized portions, and a great and inexpensive lunch menu. My favorite there is the Tuna sashimi bento box (which is not on the lunch menu, but available all day). I have it almost every time, and my daughter eats up my teriyaki beef. My husband who is less adventurous, always goes for the chicken katsu and Teriyaki beef. I love going there with the kids because they have the little rooms in the back, and the kids can move around a bit and not disturb people too much. If you want to have a larger sized party, they can rearrange the rooms in the back to accomodate your group.
The second restaurant is Lighthouse. Lighthouse is owned and run by Japanese people. My husband likes their food the best, especially their chicken katsu and the teriyaki beef. I love their lunch time bentos. It may take a little longer to get full at Lighthouse though, and you will have to order several items.
The third restaurant is DonoSushi. Many of my Japanese friends like Dono the best. They have very private booths, and some of the booths have a little button for you to call your server with, (just like Japan). I once went by myself to Dono Sushi on the way home after showing some property in Magrath and treated myself to a sushi dinner and ordered whatever I wanted. It was great.
The fourth restaurant is Makisu Sushi. It is an all you can eat Japanese restaurant. At the time of writing this, I have not yet been there. It is not a buffet style, but you sit down at your table, order what you want, and then eat it. If you are still hungry, you order some more. They have both lunch and supper, and the price is of course higher for supper. I have some friends who have been there several times for lunch and think it is AMAZING. I have another friend who did not like it at all, (he said too much of the food he got was deep fried). I guess I will have to check it out myself to be sure.
If you drive down Mayor Magrath drive, you will see so many restaurants, (both DonoSushi and MakisuSushi are on Mayor Magrath Drive). When I gave real estate tours to people thinking of moving to Lethbridge, many of them were worried about the lack of culinary options. But that is changing all the time. Lethbridge people are expanding their food horizons, and I could not be happier about it.
