Husband and wife restaurateurs, Justin and Lea Ault have recently opened their third Hapa Izakaya location in Yaletown inside the former Shiru-Bay space at 1193 Hamilton Street, right beside the Cactus Club, who interestingly held on to the space for over a year with an eye to expand their own room; luckily for us, they turned it over and the neighborhood scored big with the addition of a lively and well-run izakya that delivers the goods on all the important fronts: good food, fun atmosphere, and real value.
True to their winning form when I visited during just their second service last Thursday, the place was hopping and on my subsequent visit early the next day the restaurant was filling up at a solid clip right from the moment the doors opened. Bonzai!
The now widely popular Japanese izakaya format that the Ault’s helped pioneer in this city back in 2003 with the opening of their first location at 1479 Robson Street, followed by their second location at 1516 Yew Street near Kits beach, slowly continues to be refined. While many of the classic menu items can be found at all the locations (ebi mayo, tuna carpaccio, yakiudon), each restaurant has its own chef driven fresh sheet that gives some well-deserved creative freedom to each of the kitchens.
The new Yaletown room has a total of 75 seats with 65 dining seats and 10 at the bar. There is a 20 seat patio planned for the early summer.
Beer: 2 draft, currently Sapporo ($6.25 per sleeve $21.75 pitcher) and Okanagan Springs Pale Ale ($5.75 per sleeve or $19.95 per pitcher).
Wine: an eclectic selection of 18 (9 red, 9 white) local, regional and international wines ($7.50-$12.50). 12 wines by the glass all kept fresh using the Ver de vin preservation system.
Sake and Shochu: 20+ offerings by the glass($4.50-$9.00) or bottle ($19+) with a gradual expansion and desire to create the top sake list in Vancouver.
Cocktails: a total of 12 cocktails with a mix of a couple classics and some Japanese inspired creations ($5.75-$8.50)
Hours of Operation:
Sunday-Thursday 5:30pm – midnight
Friday & Saturday 5:30pm – 1 am
Last kitchen orders are taken one hour before the restaurant closes.
Hapa Izakaya (Yaletown)
1193 Hamilton Street | Vancouver
Tel: 604-681-4272
www.hapaizakaya.com
Congratulations on the new opening! ~ PK
