Cafe De L'Orangie

Hey cool!  A cafe that serves Japanese family restaurant-style food!  Found this place on Granville near 70th (pretty close to Mr. Pickwick's fish and chips) and had a chance to try it a few weeks ago.  When I walked in, it appeared like most other coffee shops/cafes around town, but have a look at the menu, and there's a bit more to it. 

There's no actual Japanese food on the menu, but there is definitely a heavy Japanese influence.  For example - Hamburger Steak - $10.00.  That's basically hambagu.  Their pasta of the day even says Japanese Style.  For those nit-pickers out there who are always moaning about authentic - yes, the owner is Japanese, and the staff that work there are Japanese.

When I went, the restaurant was pretty quiet.  I suppose it was a good thing because I only saw the proprietor and one other staff working. 

The decor in interesting.

The simple green salad ($4.50 on it's own - but I did a combo...more info below) had a nice mixture of greens, something I don't eat enough of.

They had Pumpkin Soup ($2.99 for small on it's own) which was pretty good.  For $3.00, I made a combo out of my meal which included a soup and salad. 

I ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara ($9.50).  It was the first time I ever had spaghetti carbonara so I have no frame of reference, but what I can say is I liked it.   

Garlic cream sauce, bacon, egg, and parmesan cheese, how can you go wrong?Sounds like a pretty simple dish to make at home, but I was quite happy having someone else do it for me for only $9.50

Hashed Beef with Rice - $8.50.  Another dish that can't miss - beef, gravy, and rice?  It's a no-brainer it's going to taste good, unless you are a really terrible chef.

Cafe De L'Orangie is about as Japanese as you can get for a Japanese style-cafe/family restaurant.  Even the title reminds me of Japan (even though it's French).  The food was great quality, everything was clean, the prices were very reasonable and the service was typical (very polite, food came quickly etc) of any small eatery I visited in Japan.  Off the top of my head, the nearest comparable restaurants would be Yoshoku-ya, and BareFoot Kitchen.

It wasn't very busy when I went, but I can tell when people get wind of this place, is going to get popular and that's going suck because I hate line-ups and I hate waiting.  One glimmer of hope is the location, in Marpole, kind of tucked away in the corner so it might not get so bad.  Sorry, that's just me being selfish - I hope the place does well.