Oku Izakaya Bar: Japanese bar and small plates in Gastown
Oku Izakaya Bar is a new Japanese restaurant that opened in Gastown. Izakaya means “stay-drink-place”, often referring to a bar that serves drinks and small bites.
I visited Oku twice so far, one for a date night when they first opened and another time for my birthday dinner this month! This review is based off of both experiences, and I feel like I have ordered almost everything on their menu.
May is my birthday month + also my partner’s so stay tuned for a lot of restaurant reviews coming up! 😝
The vibe
Oku is a relatively small restaurant with a round of bar seating plus a few tables. The first time I came here, they only took reservations via phone but now they are on OpenTable for online reservations. However, a note of caution, when I came the second time with an OpenTable reservation, they had trouble finding my reservation in their system 😰.
The vibe inside is very cozy and intimate. Both times I sat at a table so I’m not sure what the bar seating is like, but the table seating is comfortable with wooden tables and chairs. The entire restaurant is pretty dimly lit so you may see some photos in this review have better lighting than others.
Food and drinks review
Prices are rounded to the nearest CAD.
Onigiri margarita ($16) + Shishito maitai ($17)
The second time I came here, they had a specials menu so we ordered 2 cocktails listed on their special menu. The regular menu also has sake, cocktail, beer and non-alcoholic options.
The onigiri margarita (funny name 😆) is 1.5oz of tequila and mixed with kombu, aonori, yuzu, and a salt rim. I dislike tequila-based cocktails, but I felt the terrible taste of tequila was masked quite well by the strong yuzu flavour (quite a sour drink).
The shishito maitai is also 1.5oz with Jack Daniel’s and topped with shishito, cucumber, lime, grapefruit and juice. I found the shishito did give it a nice little kick/aftertaste without it being too spicy.
Deep-fried edamame with garlic black pepper ($6)
Okay please don’t stop reading because you found out I ordered edamame 💀. I usually never order edamame nor do I allow the people I eat with to order edamame because literally why would I order this at a restaurant, but my friend really wanted to order it because not a lot of things on the menu suited my friend so I just let it pass. But yes, usually I would never ever order this.
At least it came in a pretty decent portion (i.e. lots of edamame). I also liked that garlic black pepper that they sprinkle on it – gives it a bit more flavour. The deep-fried part is questionable because you don’t eat the skin (just the inside of the beans) so I’m not sure really what it adds to the dish.
Anyways, if you are a person who usually orders edamame, I imagine this would be a level up than your regular edamame.
Ikura potato ($9)
This is a little appetizer dish that my fiancé really enjoys because he loves ikura (salmon caviar). It is a small bowl of mashed potatoes with some nori seaweed and topped with a bunch of ikura. It is a unique and strange dish that works in my opinion 😳.
I like the softness and creaminess of the mashed potatoes, along with those bursts of salty umami flavour from the ikura. One order is good to share with 2 people.
Yellowtail with wa-chimichurri sauce ($18)
So this appetizer seems initially overpriced for what you get – $18 for 5-6 pieces of hamachi (yellowtail) sashimi. However, when I tasted it, I really liked it and thought it was very special 🤯.
I have eaten a lot of hamachi over the years and it has quickly become one of my favourite sashimi or nigiri options. But I have never eaten hamachi with a chimichurri sauce! I thought it would be too salty, but actually I found it to be quite a flavour enhancer. It was herby and a little spicy, paired with the sweetness and freshness of the hamachi fish.
I was also blown away by the tomato 🤯🤯! Yeah, I know… the tomato?!
I ate it thinking I need to eat more vegetables 😅, but it totally didn’t taste like a tomato. It was an explosion of a different flavour! It tasted like a mixture of the chimichurri sauce + soy based sauce and it was just very unexpected and delightful.
Deep-fried house mackerel ($14)
This appetizer is a good option if you are looking to share with more than 2 people. It comes with 5+ pieces of deep fried mackerel – thinly battered and crispy. It is served with some ponzu mayo and shichimi-chili.
Red tuna karaage ($16)
This appetizer was on their specials of the day menu, so it may not be available every day. Chunks of red tuna are deep fried with onion ponzu sauce and creamy spicy mayo.
I’ve never tried tuna karaage before, but it was similar to chicken karaage. The inside was soft and cooked tuna meet and I felt the portion size was pretty good.
Spiced chicken karaage ($15)
We also ordered the chicken karaage and it looked very similar to the red tuna one, except the pieces had a more round/ball-shape form. As expected, the chicken karaage was delicious but there have been very few times where I ordered chicken karaage and was disappointed 😅. It was served with some mayo sauce and a bit of pickled onions – less pieces than the red tuna version.
The menu said it was spiced/Nagoya style, but it wasn’t spicy at all.
Kelp-marinated beef tartar ($23)
Beef tartare is one of my favourite appetizers and I order it a lot at restaurants. I thought the price for this beef tartare was reasonable so we ordered it, but ultimately I didn’t like it very much. So much so in fact, that we didn’t even finish it 😥.
This beef tartare is marinated in kelp, and I’m not sure if maybe that is the reason why I just found it to be too salty. There’s also chimichurri sauce too (also salty) so maybe just everything together made it too salty.
Also on the plate, they have pickled burdock root, pickled Chinese cabbage, green onion, onion chips and sesame seeds, served with seaweed (also salty). I just felt overall, the balance was off and I wouldn’t recommend this dish out of their menu.
Thick-cut braised tender pork belly ($20)
So far, I’ve been reviewing items as they are listed on the menu (appetizers and lighter dishes to more savoury/main meatier dishes). We are now entering the meat section of the menu.
I was pleasantly surprised by the pork belly dish because most of the dishes on Oku’s menus are tapa style and quite small, but the pork belly was a big dish that could be shared with 4 people. It is stewed in a miso broth with daikon (radish) and the presentation was very impressive.
The pork belly meat was indeed very juicy and tender – very comforting dish on a rainy day. The daikon was also super soft and stored a lot of flavour. Everything about this dish screamed warm and delicious.
Kelp-marinated beef fillet rare steak ($40)
The last “main” item on Oku’s menu is this beef fillet steak for $40. It doesn’t really say how many oz of meat you get, but you’ll get around 9-10 sliced pieces of steak. It comes with a nori seaweed mashed potato underneath the steak, a sweet onion sauce and a chimichurri sauce + a simple Japanese salad.
Between this dish also being kelp marinated, the mashed potato that appeared in the ikura potato from before, and the chimichurri sauce that I see in multiple dishes, I definitely see some shared/common ingredients across Oku’s menu.
Anyways, this dish is not a “bad deal”. The steak was cooked well and was not chewy, and I actually prefer my steak sliced for me (don’t kill me thanks). The mashed potato and salad was a nice little side accompaniment for this dish and both sauces were also quite yummy.
Super premium assorted sashimi ($50 per person)
Moving onto the sushi/sashimi!
For our date night, we had ordered the premium assorted sashimi, which comes to a total of 16 pieces of 8 kinds of sashimi. In our order, we got salmon, sockeye salmon, king salmon, hamachi, yellowfin tuna, albacore tuna, spot prawns, mackerel, and black cod!
I was pretty impressed with the freshness and cuts for the sashimi and I think the price tag is worth it. They also deep fry your shrimp head so you can eat it!
Temaki sushi ($4-10 each)
Oku offers a large selection of temaki sushi, which is like a hand-cone. The cheapest one is a vegetable option (don’t get this), which starts at $4 and the most expensive one is $10.
In the first photo above, we have the shrimp tempura with unagi (eel) for $7, a red shrimp with oba leaf ($7), albacore tuna with green onion ($5) and 2 seared king salmon ($7).
Here we have another order of these hand cones, featuring the $10 uni (sea urchin) and ikura, and a shoyu marinated tuna with oba leaf ($6).
My favourite is definitely the decadent uni and ikura hand roll – a burst of umami!
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We had 2 very enjoyable dinners at Oku. Each time, we found the food to be fresh, excellent, and with a few surprises so that was really awesome.
Out of everything on their menu, I definitely recommend you to try a few of their hand cones and the premium sashimi instead of their regular sashimi (more worth it in my opinion). For appetizers, the ikura potato and the yellowtail with chimichurri sauce are must-orders. I also highly recommend the pork belly if you are looking for something to “fill you up” near the end of the meal.
Service was excellent and I find usually Japanese restaurants with actual Japanese workers always have excellent service. Despite the original mishap of not being able to find my reservation, the owner or maybe head chef came to greet us himself and gave us some 10% coupons for our next visit. He even wished us a happy birthday and the man literally walked us to the door and bowed/greeted us goodbye as we left 😲. I felt very special but also I was like thank you go back inside 😭!!!
Because of the small size of the restaurant and limited table seating, I wouldn’t come in a group bigger than 4 people and I think 2 is the best table size because you can sit at the bar also and watch the kitchen team prepare the dishes. I think Oku is a perfect spot if you and your date love Japanese food, alcohol and want a more intimate atmosphere.
Sincerely, Loewe