Toratatsu Japanese Tapas Bistro (CLOSED)

Tora-tora-Toratatsu!

Toratatsu is one of many izakaya joints in Vancouver specializing in 'tapas' dishes, all the while serving up tasty cocktails and sake admist a vibrant and hip atmosphere.  It has been in operation for a few years now and is a sibling restaurant to the old Shiru-Bay Chopstick Cafe (Yaletown), which closed down a few years ago.  It's a nice deviant from the usual Guus, Hapas, etc. with a more spacious environment (than Guu) and a better value (than Hapa).

Food:

On this night, I arrived with a party of 4.  We ordered quite a variety and abundance of food.  Thought it'd best to summarize in note form:

Ebi Chili Mayo  - their most popular dish, huge plump tiger prawns wrapped in excellent batter coating

Cheese Tofu -  a super unique tofu made of creamy mascarpone cheese...it tastes pretty much guilt-free since it's tofu-based but contradicting at the same time given its similarity to the taste of devonshire cream! my favourite of the night

Ishiyaki Risotto - served in a hot stone bowl, another one of their specialities - risotto with seared scallops, mushrooms and Iwanori seaweed - a little salty but definitely tasty

Cold Ramen Salad - generous portion and very refreshing, a little too drenched though

Sashimi Platter - oysters, albacore tuna and sockeye sashimi (choice of any 3), it was ok - sashimi wasn't extremely fresh though

Power Roll - bbq eel & cream cheese filled... and seared on top - lovely!

Creamy Crab Croquette - nicely battered and tasty filling! one of their daily specials

Value:

Typical izakaya prices

Service:

Attentive and polite, although language could be a bit of a barrier with some of the servers

Ambience:

We visited on a rainy Monday night, so restaurant was about 30% full - but otherwise on weekends, it's pretty bustlin'!

Overall: 7.8/10

Yay: Nice alternative to the Guus & Hapas, etc!

Nay: Sashimi isn't tooo fresh, parking, not ideal for groups of 15+