Oku Izakaya is Japanese food, and hospitality, at its finest

Strewn amongst the cruise ship tourists, the overpriced restaurants and the cobblestone streets of Gastown, across the street from lines snaking out from Guilt & Co, a Local Public Eatery, you will find Oku Izakaya.

Set in the corner spot of the former Flying Pig, Oku is a hard seat to get. After multiple attempts to visit, never finding the right reservation time, and realizing that walk-in seats at the bar are rare, I gave up. I thought Oku would remain a mystery.

Luckily, my colleague from Ottawa knew the owner, and we were able to grab bar seats at the 5 p.m. opening. Within 10 minutes, the place was full. 

In a sea of sushi restaurants and overpriced omakase, Oku Izakaya stands apart. Traditionally smaller Japanese restaurants, Izakayas are a boisterous experience of drinking and small shareable plates, a place to visit after work and unwind. Unlike other Japanese restaurants, there tends to be little specialization. Each one I visited in Japan was a special experience, exploring many different types of food. 

As you walk in, you notice the staff. The tiny space is jammed with servers, cooks and the owner, Takeshi Hasegawa, who makes everyone feel welcome. At the bar, where all the meals are created, there is a seamless orchestration of tuna sashimi slicing and edamame deep-frying. Loud welcomes and thank yous in Japanese accompany each customer’s entrance and exit.

Oku’s frenetic energy is matched by a meticulous attention to detail with the food. Take the simple edamame. Whereas most places don’t think much of it, Oku and Hasegawa take the simple dish, deep fry it to a blistering golden brown and sprinkle it with garlic black pepper powder, a forceful declaration of umami saltiness that stands on its own as one of my favourite dishes of the year.

Deep-fried foods can easily fall into overdone territory in the hands of lesser cooks. Luckily, the chefs behind the bar wield the fryer with exacting precision. Little prawns are cooked until the entire tail is edible, while okra, with one small undercooked exception, was easily chewable in one bite.

Yet for all the skill with hot oil, it's with fish that Oku shines. The Hokkaido scallops, considered some of the finest in the world, were the best I’ve had in the city, simply cut, with a fatty butter taste that washes over your entire mouth and lingers long after.

Rare is Oku’s rolls, most between $6-$8, are, to put it simply, transcendent. Both the tuna and the horse mackerel oba offered heaping layers of diced fish, atop seasoned rice and a crunchy seaweed square, a harmony of flavours. It’s like discovering fish all over again.

It is, of course, an Izakaya restaurant, so drinks are needed required. We were informed by Hasegawa that many of his sakes were unique, some even rarely exported out of Japan. Do yourself a favour and get a big bottle with friends.

The saddest part of the experience is knowing you can only eat so much and eventually must leave. It’s a place best enjoyed with as many friends as possible, to maximize the number of dishes to try (and drinks to drown). 

Oku is a rare spot in Vancouver that stands uniquely on its own, a testament to Hasegawa’s team behind the bar and their commitment to exacting quality. It’s a place I suspect that any Japanese person visiting would feel at home. If you can’t visit Japan, Oku may be the next best thing.