Japanese Bistro Hatzu

Today I was invited to “Hatzu” for a media tasting like no other. I was the plus one to Jacqueline of @porkninja fame, and we were two of a panel of over 15 people invited to give invaluable feedback to the restaurant, in the form of a tasting panel. Our resulting feedback would be used to determine their newest menu, set to launch in the upcoming week.

I enjoyed the food here a lot. The sushi is a bit on the pricy side but that's ok. I ordered the Hatzu crunch tower and oh boy it was absolutely delicious! (and instagram worthy) Service was good for the most part but the waitresses kept coming up to us like every 5 minutes to see if everything is ok lol. Definitely recommended if you're looking for a good sushi place in the west end.

Small restaurant on Davie. It is more a fusion style of Japanese restaurant than a traditional one. We ordered some rolls and some deep fried items, all pretty tasty.

I came here with a Groupon, but I'm really surprised this restaurant was even registered with Groupon as it seemed pretty popular. It doesn't appear much from the outside, but when you step it, the interior is quite sleek. There is also a bar at the back of the restaurant for drinks. <br/ <br/ I ordered the Pork belly with Ginger and garlic and my boyfriend ordered the teriyaki chicken dish. Each came with 3 side dishes: an egg, seasoned peas and pickles. It was definitely a huge meal! The pork was slightly hard to chew, but overall, the flavour was amazing (the teriyaki chicken was definitely a winner!  <br/ <br/ This place is a must-go, especially with the Groupon. It's also in a super convenient location in Yaletown, so I'd absolutely recommend trying it out!!

I have tried Sushi Bella which is a decent sushi joint operated by the same owners so naturally I had to check out their latest establishment: Bistro Hatzu. We were a group of 4 and had the following: spicy chunky sashimi, ebi mayo, chicken karaage, I got lazy roll, rib eye steak roll, hot stone bowl and lastly steaky don. All were excellent taste and presentation wise. Portions are decent. Servers were attentive and friendly. As far as the style of the cuisine goes, its not traditional in the slightest so if you're an aficionado of traditional Japanese cuisine this place might let you down. However, if you just love reasonably priced delicious food you will enjoy Bistro Hatzu. Would I go back? Definitely.<br/