Earlier last month a few of my friends and I were dining at the Hapa Izakaya in Coal Harbour. I’ve been to Hapa several times and had no issues, but that particular dining experience was horrible and I felt bad for my friends. I won’t delve into it, but you can read it all on thefoodqueen.ca. We were invited back to any Hapa Izakaya location to have a re-do of our meal.
Hapa Izakaya has a reputation for delicious Japanese food with pretty waitresses according to some of my Toronto friends. I spend more time staring at food than at people. Thats why I spend more time snapping pictures of food than of my friends. Horrible habit, but hopefully that will change one day.
The Robson location is quite large, so there is tons of room to accommodate large groups. We came on a snowy day, so that’s why this place wasn’t packed. No one wants to brave though the snow for some eats. Vancouverites fear snow, no matter how much there is.
Pint of Sapporo is my drink of choice at a Japanese restaurant. It’s light, crisp and refreshing.
Hello Kitty ($7.50) is a cocktail drink made of strawberry puree, calpis, absolut vodka, and soda. It was a fun drink and it did not taste too alcoholic.
Shigoku Oysters ($2.99) was recommended by our waitress and is OceanWise. It is from Washington and flavour profile is salty, mildly sweet with a water chestnut finish. It tasted pretty darn good.
Hapa has a large selection of fresh oysters with 17 different varieties. Very impressed.
Ahi Tuna ($11.99) is OceanWise and is beautifully cut. Yumm.
Sockeye Salmon ($10.99) is also OceanWise and are good cuts.
Beef Tataki ($9.99) is a very popular dish. It is made of lightly seared AAA beef with a sesame-chili sauce. I didn’t like it because of the sauce, I much prefer it with garlic chips and ponzu sauce. Just a personal preference.
Bintoro ($9.99) is made of OceanWise albacore tuna sashimi that is lightly seared. It also has Ponzu Sauce and fried garlic chips. Delicious!
Cho Wagyu ($12.49) is a fun dish. You get a super hot stone and you get to cool your own kobe beef. It comes with garlic ships, green onion and ponzu sauce.
Beef Short Ribs ($12.99) has grilled AAA beef short ribs with an apple-soy marinade. Its really good! The meat is quite tender and very flavourful.
Karaage ($8.99) has fried boneless chicken, and a soy ginger sauce.
Teriyaki Mochi Gnochi ($5.49) comes with 2 pieces on a stick. It’s a deep fried potato gnocchi with a teriyaki glaze.
Spicy Pork Ishi-Yaki ($9.99) has rice, minced pork, garlic sprouts, egg, tomato, lettuce, and spicy miso in a hot stone bowl.
Ebi Mayo ($8.99) has tempura prawns with a spicy mayo sauce. It was ok, but needs more mayo.
Kaki Fry ($9.99) comes with 6 pieces. It is pan-fried sawmill bay oyster, and panko breaded. It comes with tartar sauce.
Gindara ($11.49) has baked OceanWise sablefish in a sake-miso marinade with some veggies on the side. The skin of the sable fish was crispy.
Polenta Fries ($7.99) has polenta tempura, soy-balsamic reduction and arugula gel. All the fries are piles up in a stack like Jenga. It’s a fun dish to share.
Oyster Risotto ($13.99) is a new item on their menu and it is served in a hot stone bowl. It contains rice, oysters, mozzarella, onion, carrot, mushroom, green beans, and a cream miso broth. It was a filling dish and it really good. I love mushrooms and oysters.
Chocolate Parfait ($5.99) is a mishmash of different ingredients. Blueberries, corn flakes, brownies, cake, and chocolate ice cream.
Creme Brulee ($4.99) is topped with fruits and cookies.
Matcha Roll Cake ($5.49) has matcha cream with the match cake. Good for those green tea lovers out there.
The desserts were all pretty comparable.
Overall, if you are looking for some delicious Japanese tapas and some drinks for a girls night out or a date, this is the place to go. But it can get pricey compared to some of the other izakaya restaurants in town.
We rate Hapa Izakaya: 
Address:
1479 Robson St
Vancouver, BC
Website: http://hapaizakaya.com/
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1 Comment
Nice review, but eek, that’s quite a lot of food to rack up for a re-do… I hope you tipped well.