Hapa vs. Gyoza King

[Coop]

Went to Hapa Izakaya with my sons on Saturday night. We liked it a lot but maybe prefer the Bin 941 type feel of Gyoza King a little more. Both places have great food though. Especially like the Tongue and Daikon, the Ebi Mayo and the Kim Chi.

Does anyone have an opinion on any of these places?

Does anyone know what the staff are yelling at Hapa? It seemed cute at first but after a while...

[Sam Salmon]

I haven't been to Hapa yet but I have been to 2 Guus-Lower Robson & Gastown-the staff in both places shout constantly.

I can't speak Japanese very well but I know some of the servers are shouting orders, some are repeating the same orders for no good reson I could determine and some greetings/farewells are being yelled.

On a more subtle level I believe that some of the hollering is an attempt to somehow 'build community'.

[DameD]

I have heard constant great things about Hapa and can't wait to go there. In the last issue of Vancouver Mag, they forgot to put it in the Best of and made it a runner up. I heard though it gets crazy busy and you have to go early or wait.

[Keith Talent]

They're both awesome. Both have great food, both are super reasonably priced, both have great atmosphere but in spite of all that, they're different beasts. Hapa is where I'd go with friends for an "adult" night. Gyoza King is where I take my kids. Line up before six, sit on the floor, let the monsters try all sorts of new stuff.

Neither "feel" like Vancouver. Hapa has a touch of "too cool for you", without being whereas Gyoza definately feels alien. I love the fact that the food at Gyoza is the same stuff you're used to eating at every other Japanese joint in the city, but it's good. Something like miso soup that is warm and salty and you drink out of habit can be a revelation at Gyoza. I love the slightly too loud super bad japanese pop interspersed with shitty local music too. Richard Marx and Joan Jett never sounded so good.

We went to Japone a couple weeks ago. Living in Richmond I was hoping for it to be my new local. Sadly the food while really really good, was quite expensive (at least by the standards of the other two) and the portions were quite small, tiny in some cases. They really do seem to care about quality at Japone. I'll give it a second go in a couple months.

Back to Gyoza King, or more accurately, the coffee shop next door. They were truly gracious and kind to me on outr last visit. I'm sorry I don't know the name of the place, but it is directly next door to the east. We were waiting for the opening at Gyoza two Saturday nights ago, when my girls need to use the washroom. Now three year olds aren't the best with patience, nor is their abilty to deny themselves instant satifaction of bodily wants particularly good. I took them next door and asked the girl if I could please borrow the washroom. She was happy to let us, although it clearly wasn't intended for public use. I really appreciated the gesture. I intended to go back after dinner for coffee's, but a plan was hatched to visit the Aquarium after dinner, (not by myself or wife, my kids spend a fair amount of tiome and energy in conspiracy) time was oif the essence, so we never got there. Check it out some time, maybe the coffee is horrible, I don't know, but the owner is a really nice person.

[Jerry_A]

Comparing Hapa to Gyoza King is like comparing Feenie's to Lumiere. They are two unique restaurants offering contrasting styles of cooking, presentation, and atmosphere. Gyoza King does feel a little more rustic, and offers, as Talent says below, "the same stuff you're used to eating at every other Japanese joint in the city, but it's good" while Hapa offers new (at least for me) and different dishes that I can't get at Gyoza King, Guu, or the million other Japanese restaurants in the neighbourhood.

Overall I prefer Hapa because I feel they offer greater variety for my tastebuds, but if it is the usual suspects (gyoza, etc..) I am in the mood for, Gyoza King gets the nod.

[Coop]

DameD there is never a line up at Hapa. I would recomend you go at around 7:00 on Saturday.

[DameD]

I probably heard there are line ups and waits is becasue we never get to a retaurant before 8ish - 9ish.. yes we are late diners.And so do our friends that go there out.. 7pm is when we might just be starting some cocktails, esp. on a Sat. night. But i have heard about the wait thing from probably 6 or more people. They all still love the place, but don't get in a lot of time.

[Keith Talent]

In a group of eight, including a couple of sugar high kids.