I heard this horrible rumor that Yoshoku-ya is closed or has been sold to new owners....what a horrifying thought because I love that place. It doesn't show closed on Urban Spoon so one of these days, I'll have to head downtown and check it out myself. I just pray that the same thing does not happen to Cafe De L'Orangie. If Cafe De L'Orangie closes, I will cry.
The decor is still pretty much the same quaint style as before, maybe just a little re-arranging of some of the tables and fireplace.
A nice house salad with fresh, crisp veggies to keep me from feeling guilty.
I got the hambagu steak this time around and it was so increbily tender and moist....it was flawless. The veg were cooked better than some high-end places I've been to recently and the sauce is perfectly matched to the patty of meat. I could have eaten two of these.
Like many yoshoku-style food, the rice comes on a plate. I'm used to this now, but when I first encountered it, I thought it was weird to eat rice off a plate.
Although it's listed as a cafe, I don't drink much coffee and I like to go here for the food. It's about as yoshoku-style as you can get and I thank my lucky stars that it's around. The food is awesome, the prices are reasonable, and the service is incredibly friendly. Staffed by maybe one server, one person in the kitchen and a proprietor who clearly loves what he's doing, Cafe De L'Orangie is a place that I hope will be around forever. What I fear most is a double-edged blade. It's not well known so I never have to wait for a table (good for selfish me), but it will need to get it's name out there and draw more people to stay in business. I only hope that the rent is low enough to keep the owner interested enough to stay in business.
Other thing against this place succeeding is its poor location. Hard to access unless you're coming one way on Granville St. right?
ReplyDeleteHi Shokutsu,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! Yes, the location is good for me, but not really for the rest of the world. Unless you're heading northbound on south Granville St, you'll have to make a loop. Thankfully for now, the other Japanese restaurant in the same plaza is always empty and there's plenty of parking for Cafe De L'Orangie customers!
Peter
Hi Peter,
ReplyDeleteJust happened that we went to Cafe De L'Orangie last Saturday for lunch. I had the hashed beef rice and really liked it. My sister who lived in Japan for 2 years liked her hambagu steak but my bf who never had Japanese style hambagu steak found it too soft and unexpected for his taste.
Thanks for the review. I hope they stay around forever too! yoshoku-style restaurant is hard to come by in Vancouver. I like their location as well since it's only a short drive from Richmond.
Winnie
Yoshoku-ya is indeed closed for sure. I miss it dearly though! I walked past it a month or two ago and the restaurant was being renovated for a restaurant named Shibuya Bang. Chowhound has a whole topic devoted to it if I remember correctly.
ReplyDeleteAs for the food, I think the Hamburg Steak looks great. Sauce doesn't seem to be the regular demi-glaze sauce I found in other restaurants.
Hi ahungrybear, for someone who's never tried Japanese-style hambagu steak, they will probably find it too soft. It's totally different than the standard North America hamburger patty. The first time I tried it, I thought it was a bit weird too. But it definitely goes better with rice than a hamburger bun....just like a regular patty would be awful with rice. Give the bf some time, he may grow acustomed to it!
ReplyDeleteJer, that is *&%$@#! bad news. WTF is Shibuya Bang??? Sounds ridonkulous. It's truly a dark day for me. I used to love their kaki-fry. This is worse than when McDonald's cancelled their orange drink. Well, Cafe De L'Orangie better stick around!
Peter
Everything looks really good! Especially the carbonara from the previous post. Though if I can master it without the eggs scrambling, I'd save $9 haha! I've never tried hambagu steak before, I was going to try at Aoyama but I got scared at the last minute. But it looks really good here. I think I'll give that one a try if I'm nearby.
ReplyDeleteBTW Klip Magazine (which you can get at Daiso or here: http://www.klipmagazine.com/en/index.html) has a 10% off coupon for this restaurant! yay!
Hey Janice,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! The hambagu steak is really good here, definitely give it a try! And let me know what you think!
KLIP has coupons for this place? Cool, thanks for the tip!
Peter