I never knew that there were so many other Izakaya places in Vancouver. I was only really familiar with Guu and Hapa, and only until recently I learned about Zakkushi. I was helping my friend look for a place for her birthday. Wanting to try new places, I found 3 Izakaya restaurants around Denman and Robson that I hadn’t been to. Unfortunately, we went to our last choice, Wanoma. This place is really tiny, and at the time was hosting two fairly large groups, ours of 10 and another across from us with probably about 10 too.
They weren’t very busy whereas Kingyo right beside Wanoma was packed. We were late for our reservation by 30 minutes, but we were still able to get a seat for 10 immediately.
I ordered the Chicken Karaage of course, and Crispy Pork Belly. The karaage had a little bit of sauce drizzled on top. From what I can remember it was a very subtle mayo based sauce. The chicken was a bit overcooked and stringy at first, but the more I ate, the better it got. Either just a few pieces were overcooked, or the Soju was getting to me. I’m not sure. I do remember the later pieces being more tender and jucier.
I had the choice of either salty or spicy pork belly. This time I chose salty. What I got was something almost bacon like, in that it was thin strips of pork with fat. It wasn’t very crispy though. It did have a nice saltiness to it. Just the right amount. Again, some pieces were more tender than others. Under all of the pork was a mix of different long thin green vegetables. I think they had a mix of asparagus and a long string bean. The salt and fat from the pork gave the vegetables a nice flavour, and were actually more enjoyable than the actual pork!
My friends ordered a bunch of different foods, sadly I can’t really remember the names of them all, but you can check the pictures. I tried some of the ramen, but it wasn’t up to par with the likes of Benkei (the only ramen I’ve tried here). The noodles were a lot thinner and softer, but the stock wasn’t really salty. Instead of a nice piece of fatty pork, it came with ground pork and a bunch of different vegetables. I also got to try a beef and rice dish. The beef was a bit different, and my friend kind of described it as Chef Boyardee beef (you know, the beef ravioli) on top of rice. Though similar in texture and slightly in taste, I have to say this isn’t that bad. I’ve tried Chef Boyardee fairly recently, and it’s not good at all.
From what I can remember, they really liked the stuffed mushrooms! I wish I could’ve tried it, but I think there was crab stuffed in the mushrooms.
The service was OK. They were a bit slow at coming out with some of the food. One of my friends pretty much got all her dishes last. We brought in an ice cream cake for the Birthday girl, but I don’t think they put it in a fridge or freezer. Though they came out with the cake with lit candles, we had to ask for plates, forks, and a knive to cut it. And that took a while. Water was slow to be served too.
I didn’t enjoy the food or the service here as much as I have at Hapa, the Guu’s downtown, or Manzo. I didn’t hate the place, but I did wish I went to Kingyo or Toratatsu.
Wanoma Izakaya
867 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC
(604) 687-6601
