Hapa Izakaya Coal Harbour – Vancouver, BC

110 West Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 4K2, Canada
(604) 420-4272

 

BBP Full Scorecard

Voted “Top Five Izakayas In North America” by Bon Appétit Magazine in 2011; topping “Industry and Readers Choice” 2012 awards for Best Japanese and Best Izakaya in the Georgia Straight weekly: and “Best Casual Chain, Silver” by Vancouver Magazine in 2012, Hapa Izakaya offers a winning combination of a sexy room, well-priced portions of Japanese tapas, sushi, cocktails and premium sake.

For more info & other locations, please visit hapaizakaya.com

Ebi Mayo
Tempura wild shrimp, spicy mayo sauce

Hapa, oh, Hapa. After hearing so many glowing reviews, I decided to crawl out from the rock I live under and join some new friends for a casual Friday night dinner. Verdict? A pleasure for the eyes, but not so much for the taste buds.

The food is spectacularly average. Aside from the unique and esthetically pleasing presentation of the dishes, there wasn’t much about the flavours that made me want to do a food induced face plant. Even though some of the dishes were good, I couldn’t help thinking there are many other restaurants around Vancouver who can crank out the same thing, and just do it better. Some of the dishes were very salty, others edible but uninspiring, and one dish, although flavour-wise was pretty good, just had the texture of rubber.

Beef Tataki
Lightly seared AAA beef, sesame-chili sauce

Arubi Saba
Seared marinated mackerel sashimi

I love the modern fusion concept of the restaurant, and the decor wasn’t too shabby either. Many people have said the ambiance can be a bit of an intimate mood killer since it gets pretty loud, but I actually liked the robustness of Hapa. The yelling, the music, the cocktails and beers – maybe I’m just one of the few oddballs who believes a combo like that translates into something lively and fun.

I wouldn’t mind going here for a night out with the homies, but it’s definitely not a place I’d go to for a good meal. To be fair, it may have just been the W. Cordova location so hopefully the next opportunity out there will be at a more renowned location.

Spicy Chopped Scallops
Scallops, cucumber, egg crepe wrapping

Ika
Grilled squid, sake soy garlic marinade

  Grilled Ika (squid) has always been my long time favorite. Tonight was deeelish! I totally sneaked more bites than the rest of group, guilty! However, this dish does has its good and bad days, tonight was definitely good. 😉

Hapa was the first Izakaya to join the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise™ seafood conservation program in 2012. Just handful of Japanese restaurant partners are in the program to date.

Karaage
Deep-fried boneless chicken, soy ginger sauce

Karubi
Apple and orange marinated, AAA beef short ribs; grilled

Bella Gelateria
Being in Coal Harbour, there are numerous fantastic places to eat, drink and play. One place that almost always has a line-up is Bella Gelateria. Famous for their Old-World Handcrafted Gelato, Bella won the People’s Choice Award in the 2012 Florence Italy Gelato Festival. When you walk by, BEWARE. There is a window showing them making the gelato behind the order counter….don’t have a Homer Simpson drool moment and walk into it, it’s like a mosquito to a zap light!
http://www.bellagelateria.com/

Murchie’s Tea & Coffee
As an avid tea drinker myself, I LOVE Murchies for its selection and knowledge. It doesn’t hurt that the founder, John Murchie, learned about tea while serving Queen Victoria during her residence at Balmoral Castle! Try the No.22 Blend at one of the five locations around to serve you!
http://www.murchies.com/store/

The Kaboom Box – Vancouver, BC

Granville St & Robson St.
Downtown Vancouver, BC

BBP Full Score Card

Honestly, who needs Nightmarket when we have these delicious food trucks sweeping the city? This week we decided to hit up a meals on wheels joint and stopped by Kaboom Box in all of its bright-and-red-as-a-fire-truck glory.

*** NOTE: Visit their website @ www.thekaboombox.com

Hot Smoked Salmon Burger

World Famous Hot Smoked Salmon Salmwich

Tasty, yes, but ‘world famous’? Ehhhhh. Smoked salmon with their maple-mustard coleslaw between a toasted whole wheat bun sounds like a winning combination, but the flavours left something to be desired. I do have to give them props for doing an awesome job on the smoked salmon (I wonder if they’ll sell those individually…), but I definitely think much of the flavour was overpowered by mayo. Someone may have gotten a little too sauce happy with the mayonnaise because all I could taste was mayonnaise and by the end of the sandwich, I felt like I had been eating mayonnaise all of my life.

It was a very good salmon sandwich, but that’s all it was; just a salmon sandwich.

I do want to go back to try their Oyster Po’Boy though, since I’ve watched enough Triple Ds to pretend to know what it is. Hopefully our second visit will be.

  You got me at Smoke salmon, really. Mmmm… These guys means business when it comes to serving only Oceanwise seafood and sustainable produced meat, and what’s even better is that they are committed to using local and organic vegetable whenever possible. Providing the streets of Vancouver with fresh, healthy, sustainable, and local food. Thumbs up in my books! Ohh, for those extra brownie points: biodegradable and compostable packaging.

The Re-Up BBQ
Another food cart in Vancouver serving up some delicious Southern BBQ with a side of attitude a couple blocks down at W Georgia St & Hornby St. These guys got BRISKET (yum), BACON (oh man), PULLED PORK (drool), and did I say BACON? You in the Fraser Valley and can’t make it out to the cart? Well you are in luck, Re-Up has just opened a brick-and-mortar location in beautiful New Westminster at Quayside Drive. There, they also have retail items and lots of other goodies.
www.reupbbq.com

Yew Restaurant + Bar, Four Seasons Hotel
This stunning environment, fashioned after Mother Nature herself delivers excellent seafood, cocktails and EVERY bottle of wine is available by the glass, which makes it a BBP Favourite! Stop by for Wine Down Sundays where every bottle is 50% off. See you
there!
www.yewrestaurant.com

Hy’s Steakhouse & Cocktail Bar
My personal favourite place for Prime Rib and Ribeye and the setting is just gorgeous. Leather, marble, wood, suede, embroidered napkins, romantic lighting, everything is perfect right down to the very last detail. The service is among the best in the city in my
opinion. Love it? Go check out their Whistler location as well. MUST: Get the cheese toast!
www.hyssteakhouse.com