Hapa Izakaya @Yaletown-Hapa Izakaya?

I should say Hapa Izakaya is the first izakaya I have heard of when I first came to Vancouver. Maybe for that reason, I have always wanted to try either one of the three Hapa Izakayas (Kitsilano, Robson and Yaletown), especially the one in Robson. However, with the wide selection of izakaya in Vancouver, I've never got the chance to give them a try :P

After having a super-filling lunch with EU at Maple Castella, EU and I decided to have a lighter meal to end our day. Want a fast and satisfying meal? Izakaya is a good choice. My izakaya wishlist? Hapa Izakaya. Okaaayy, so off we went!

Hapa Izakaya (Yaletown)
1193 Hamilton Street, Vancouver BC

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

Food: 4
Price: 3.5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 4.5

• Japanese fusion restaurant
• The newest branch of Hapa Izakaya
• Customers are mainly locals
• Suitable for crowds/large parties
• Late night

Saba-5/6

• $6.80 (I don't remember the exact price)
• Marinated mackerel sashimi, seared at your table.

• I preferred it raw. It was very soft, smooth and juicy. We could still taste the fishiness of the saba.
• The base of the fish was like tuna tataki; they gently seared it in the kitchen. Then they seared the raw top part of the fish in front of us.

• It was good, but it was not enough to satisfy EU and my cravings!

Smoked Tofu Canapé-5/6

• $5.50
• House smoked tofu with roasted pepper puree and candied nuts

• I like the contrast between the soft tofu and the crunchy toast. Even though this dish was nothing skillful, EU and I did enjoy and spent some time tasting every bite of the food (even the sauce!).
• EU could taste the smokiness of the tofu, but I found it nothing special. Hmm...maybe my tastebuds are not as strong as hers :/

• The roasted red pepper puree smelt really good. Apart from the puree sauce, they also added some syrup from the candied nuts on the tofu. Nice.

• These candied nuts were surprisingly good! The syrup they've used was not too sweet, and they went well with the not-so-tasty tofu. I like them a lot.

Bacon & Potato Tempura-4/6

• $6.80
• Served with a spicy sauce (think tabasco)

• It was like a pork and potato sandwich. The bacon was totally different from what I had expected. I thought the bacon would be the long and thin one, but it turned out to be the one I had in the Chinese restaurants (aka Chinese barbeque pork).
• I found the frying part was nicely done. The outer layer was thin and was not too oily.

After I got home, I went to Hapa's website and took a look at the menus of the other two Hapa Izakayas; their menus seem different to the one in Yaletown.

Maybe because the location is in Yaletown, that's why the menu has to suit the locals (bars, cocktails?). Of course I don't mind seeing this new Hapa Izakaya branch in Yaletown, but I think it will be better to alter the name a little bit.

Anyway, the food here is still good and I like how relaxing the atmosphere is ;) I will sure go to the one in Robson one day! (Can you hear me EU?)