Kakurenbou Japanese Dining-Open Sesame!

I was flipping through some magazines few weeks ago and saw there was a new izakaya opened in downtown. Curious enough, I decided to give it a try. Also, given the fact that it is during the Winter Olympics, I would love to visit downtown and experience the "GO! CANADA! GO!"

What is the best way to go to downtown? Bring your buddy with you! (or you can bring your map too if you want) So, I brought my foodie buddy, EU, with me to experience the enthusiasm of the people, with a taste of this new izakaya :)

As we were walking along Robson Street, people were cheering and some even stood outside the stores and watched TV. I love this atmosphere.

When we arrived Jervis Street, my one-and-only guide EU immediately reminded me to make a right turn. At first, I stood outside their door and could not see any lights in the restaurant. I then gave them a call and asked them whether they're opened or not. Suddenly, a Japanese girl came out and opened the door for us. I was really pleased by her services.

There was a big, old, heavy, wooden door when I entered. Kakurenbou is even larger than I expected!

Kakurenbou Japanese Dining
#793 Jervis St., Vancouver BC

Ratings
1:Yucks! 2:Improvement needed 3:So-So~ 4:Good 5:Very good 6:Heavenly

Food: 4
Price: 4
Services: 5
Ambiance: 5.5
Overall: 4.5

• Authentic Japanese restaurant
• Chefs, waitress, bar tender are all Japanese
• Suitable for hang-outs
• Large variety of cocktails available
  
  
• Interesting interior design
• Menu is not large in variety. To be honest, EU and I had a hard time deciding what to order
• I could only see one waitress (who is the girl), so services were a bit slow
• Mon-Sun 5:30pm-midnight

Strawberry Pineapple Cocktail-4.5/6

• I don't remember its actual name and price
• Strawberry flavour is stronger than the pineapple, but overall both flavours blend well together
• Yes, it's a cocktail but I don't think they put much alcohol in it

Orange and Ginger Cocktail-3/6

• again I don't remember its actual name and price
• Hmmm...this cocktail's flavour is not as appealing as the first one. I could taste a little bit orange flavour and some ginger flavour. I wish they could add more ginger to this cocktail.
• Same as the first cocktail, they didn't put much alcohol in it

Tuna Tataki-4/6

• I don't remember the price
• It came smaller than I expected
• I like the onions they served on the side; it tastes good with the tuna tataki
• I didn't try the sauce they gave us but I think it's a ginger mix soy sauce
• Tuna is soft and fresh
• This is a really common dish so it doesn't really require any skills

Pan fried Mochi Pizza-4.5/6

• Sorry no price again!
• This came as a surprise to me. I thought their pizza was going to be the mini version of Pizza Hut/Domino's. However, the crust of this pizza is thin and crispy! It's like eating biscuits!
• There are mochi on top but I think it will be better if they add more
• It is served with Tobasco sauce on the side, so you can choose whether to add it or not (I didn't add)
• Looks like it got too much cheese on top? No worry! The mozzarella cheese in this pizza is not that heavy
• It is not those heavy, super-filling pizzas you have in the typical Western restaurants. EU and I finished the whole pizza and we were still able to have desserts afterwards. Haha

Grilled Cod Fish-4.5/6

• No price again
• The cod fish is actually pretty big. Oh, or I should use the word "long" instead of "big".
• The fish tastes good but it's a bit salty for me. Thus, I squeezed some lemon juice on top-yummy! problem solved! ;)
• I remember there are quite a number of tiny, thin bones in cod fish. So be careful when you eat this.