Vincci Tsui
Upon entering the recently opened Calgary branch of the Vancouver-based chain Hapa Izakaya a server welcomes you with an “Irasshaimase!” All the staff in the dining room and kitchen then echo back with their own loud greeting. A similar call-and-answer happens whenever a table is seated an order is taken and a table gets up to leave.
So like other Calgary restaurants that follow this tradition Hapa Izakaya has a flair for showmanship. But how about the food?
The restaurant’s one-page menu is divided into salads cold tapas hot tapas rice and noodles sushi and sashimi — and all are meant to be shared. There’s a full page of libations at the back from sake and shochu to beer wine and cocktails plus a separate sheet of monthly food and drink specials.
Despite the relatively short menu we still had trouble deciding what to eat. Should we go with dishes we see at every Japanese restaurant like beef tataki and tuna carpaccio? Or should we try some of the more unique creations? It was at this point that we started noticing that the service at Hapa was a little inconsistent — one less-experienced server came by and struggled to answer our questions then another came by a few minutes later and was able to quickly give one suggestion from each section of the menu.
Finally we decided to have the pork belly lettuce wraps ($10) and the signature Hapa roll ($14) to start and split the chipotle beef curry ishi-yaki rice bowl ($12) and kani ma-bo ($13) one of the month’s specials for our mains.
While pork belly is generally known to be fatty with a melt-in-your-mouth texture Hapa renders some of the fat off in its pork belly lettuce wraps producing a slightly chewy less indulgent dish. Both the tart apple yuzu jam and pickled onion add lightness to the wraps while crispy wonton chips provide texture.
The Hapa roll is similar to the restaurant’s vegetable roll with avocado cucumber carrot asparagus and radish sprouts except it is topped with salmon and spicy mayo then torched tableside. The mayo seemed to hinder the torching a little bit but eventually the salmon came out slightly charred with a nice smoky flavour. I was a little wary of carrot being in a sushi roll as it’s not a common ingredient but it was thickly cut adding crunch and a distinct earthy sweetness.
The chipotle beef curry ishi-yaki was served in a hot stone bowl and the server made a bit of a show out of mixing all the ingredients together for us releasing the sweet-spicy aroma of the smoky curry. This was definitely our favourite dish of the night — the saucy rice was hearty with bits of tender beef egg tomato and greens. There was also a touch of cheese in the rice giving the dish extra richness while helping to crisp up the rice.
The kani ma-bo is Hapa’s take on ma-bo tofu the Japanese version of mapo tofu a spicy Chinese dish. The main differences in Hapa’s version are the pieces of deep-fried soft-shell crab in the sauce and the grilled rice ball set on top instead of the sauce being served on a bed of rice. It was good but nothing overly exciting.
For dessert we decided to try the cheese tofu which is mascarpone blended with tofu served in a pool of honey dotted with strawberries alongside thin lightly toasted slices of bread for spreading. The cheese tofu was buttery yet light and though I enjoyed the dish I’m not sure if the presentation was dessert-like enough for me.
Overall while I enjoyed my experience at Hapa I wouldn’t say it was a standout but I’d be willing to go back to try some of their other dishes.
Hapa Izakaya is located at 816 11 Ave. S.W. 403-452-6737.
