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If you live in Vancouver, hopefully you have already visited hapa izakaya many times. The stylish Robson location is better known, while the newer and cozier Kitsilano location is where you can find me frequently. It has fast become my go-to izakaya restaurant, supplanting Guu (my first love). Hapa is the kind of place that you can stay a long time, order a vast amount of food, not count the beers and sakes, and yet never seem to be able to do any serious damage to your VISA balance (just maybe to your liver). The waitstaff is uniformly beautiful and the service is usually great, although can get a little frenetic on the weekend. The menu has many delicious dishes on it and my favorites include the hamachi (usually on their “fresh sheet”) and the spectacular sablefish, (pictured) marinated in sake and miso and then baked. ($10.50) They have some korean-style hot rice bowls and a nice selection of raw fish and grilled meats. And yes, they will deep fry those prawn heads for you if you ask (served with lemon and salt).
Hapa Isakaya
Robson
1479 Robson St, Vancouver, BC
Tel: 604-689-4272Kitsilano
1516 Yew St, Vancouver, BC
Tel: 604-738-4272
July 16, 2009
Kitanoya GUU with Otokomae | Food and Tell said,
[...] never seems to add up, no matter how much sake is ordered. Although I have found myself going to Hapa isakaya more often in the past year, Guu will always be my first [...]