Hyoga Japanese Cuisine

Excellent sushi, Japanese-run. Decently priced, good service and attentive staff. The presentation of the rolls is excellent and everything tastes fresh!

My food travels brought me to Kingsway for sushi. Recommend by my guests as an authentic Japanese restaurant. They were proud to advertise that they were Japanese owned and operated with a hand written sign, visible right on the door as you entered. By looks alone, this wouldn’t be a typical restaurant I would choose at random, or would it even stop me as I walked by. It didn’t have some of the bell and whistles other Japanese and sushi restaurants in Vancouver did. There was nothing visually to set them apart. What they did have was a sign painted red and scraped for a distressed look. A traditional Japanese post that marked its location and lit the way at night. And a wooden sandwich board enticing you with colour photos of their specials and a full written description.

Hyoga is an authentic Japanese restaurant hidden away in a small shop on Kingsway. When you think of all the restaurants on Kingsway, you seldom think of authentic Japanese food. Hyoga provides a fresh take and reminds us that there are still small authentic Japanese cuisine in Vancouver. 

The restaurant is right off of Kingsway and is quite small. The outside decor would definitely intrigue you and when you enter, you find a quaint shop that seats at maximum capacity 20 people. The shop has a mix of the a traditional Japanese restaurant with a modern twist. There are specials placed throughout the restaurant so make sure to take a look before you sit down. 

We entered the restaurant right around 5:45PM and were told to sit anywhere we liked. There was 2 parties of 4 people already seated on the larger tables so only the 2 people round tables retained. Once we sat down, we were promptly greeted again and thanked for choosing this restaurant. We were asked whether we wanted to start with tea or water. The tea had a very subtle taste to it. It was, by no means, the overpowering green tea taste you have at most Japanese restaurants in the Lower Mainland. After looking at the menu, we decided to order the Burger Steak Set and the Korroke Cod Set. The food arrived in about 15 minutes and it was well presented.

The Burger Steak Set contained a large ground beef patty, gravy (mixed with ketchup), green leaf salad, and rice. We really enjoyed the salad because the dressing provided a unique and refreshing taste. it was different from that of other vinaigrettes we have had in the past. The rice was well cooked but relatively bland in flavour. Perhaps this was intentional to complement the ground beef and gravy. The ground beef patty was nice and thick. The outside was nicely browned where the inside was nice and soft. It was thoroughly cooked but again was a bit under seasoned. The gravy that's provided is mixed with ketchup and tastes alright. When you mix the gravy, the beef, and the rice together, you get a tasty bite of food. 

The Korroke Cod Set comes with deep fried cod, korroke, green leaf salad and a bowl of rice. This set also comes with two dipping sauces that were the tonkatsu sauce and mayo. The salad was identical to the one of the Burger Steak Set. The Korroke itself was great. It had a thin crispy outer shell and a thick creamy filling. The filling is potato and corn though we imagine that creme was also used to get to this level of creaminess. Again, we thought that it was a bit under seasoned. The fried cod was alright. Some pieces were fishier than others but they were all nicely cooked. 

Both sets came with miso soup and we thought it was pretty standard. It had seaweed and small pieces of tofu in it which again is pretty standard. 

The service was great throughout and our server was friendly and approachable. She checked up on us mid meal, filled up our tea, and did everything we could want her to do. The service definitely reminds me of service you would get in Japan and other Asian countries. 

When it came down to the food, we thought everything tasted alright but nothing that would set it apart from other restaurants. This was a bit disappointing for us because when we walked by, we thought this place had a lot of potential. We'll likely come back and try their non-set items because they looked quite appealing as they came out the kitchen. 

We would recommend this restaurant for their service alone. The food was okay with nothing major to note. It is a true Japanese restaurant experience though the food won't wow you.

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Fresh ingredients are used at this small local Japanese restaurant in the Collingwood area. The sauces used in the various dishes are quite tasty. The restaurant has expanded its menu since opening a few years ago. I'm happy to see that business is still going well for this place and their service and quality has been maintained. Come by for a taste!