Zakkushi

Zakushi first opened up shop on Denman near Robson as a little Japanese BBQ/grill place. It was a noisy little place filled with BBQ smoke and poor poor ventilation. After my first visit, my ears were ringing, my clothes stank of BBQ meat, I had a nice full stomach, and I was probably a little drunk......I loved it! It really reminded me of some of the places I went to when I was in Japan, and the nostalgia really hit me. This was all part of the charm, but some winy customer probably complained to health and safetly official now it's a lot less smokey - in fact, there's no smoke at all.

Since then, they've opened a few more shops and the one I usually go to now is the one on 4th Avenue near Burrard Street. It's a cozy little place, but the problem is, there's very little seating and the place is always full. Still, despite all that, I still like to go there as I don't have to fight through downtown traffice to get there. Sake to go with the snacks....actually, should be the other way around....snacks to go with the sake, but I guess we just don't drink that much...
Tako-wasa, one of my favourite drinking snacks.
Gomae

Bacon-wrapped asparagus and p-toro (pork belly) More P-toro goodness.
Beef carpaccio....I think.
Ahi-tuna salad
Chicken karaage
Grilled shishamo, a nice alternative to the typical deep-fried variety often found in crappy all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurants. This really is one of the ultimate companions to sake or beer.
I think this was black cod.

More p-toro
Tori-kawa

Beef stew - something that tastes like home. Mentaiko kimchi udon.

My friends and I have gone to Zakkushi on numerous occasions, even booked the whole place and had a few birthday parties there. The prices are reasonable for a drinking establishment. I personally don't go there to get full, but it's a defintely a pretty cool place to have a few drinks.