Nupo

NUPO sits in Calgary's East Village, where Chef Darren MacLean built a Japanese-style restaurant around his mother's influence, blending plant-forward and vegan cooking with sushi, some of it dry-aged in a specialty chamber. The à la carte dining room and Birchwood cocktail counter operate alongside a separate, more intimate experience: a six-seat counter reserved for Calgary's first counter-service omakase.

The omakase runs fifteen courses, built from up to five seasonal snacks, a sashimi tasting, and up to fifteen pieces of nigiri sourced sustainably from around the world, finished with butter-roasted miso soup and dessert. Fish is cut, formed, and dressed piece by piece at the counter, with the chef working directly in front of guests. The restaurant classifies this as easy in difficulty, with counter seating as the format.

Pricing sits at an upscale tier (3 of 4). The space runs on Japanese tea-driven cocktails, an extensive sake list including exclusive NUPO selections, Japanese whisky, and a mix of Canadian and Old World wines, available to pair through the à la carte menu even outside the omakase seating.

Reservations for the omakase counter run exclusively through OpenTable; the experience is timed, non-refundable, and begins promptly at the scheduled slot. NUPO is closed Monday and Tuesday, with service from 5pm, running later on weekends. There is no lunch service. The address is 631 Confluence Way SE in Calgary's Downtown core.