Izakaya Innovation
One of the best concepts imported from Japan since sushi is the izakaya, a Japanese pub serving food and drink to the after-work crowd. Izakayas like Zakkushi are lively places animated by shouts of welcome, servers yelling orders and the buzz of conversation. When the original Zakkushi opened on Denman in 2004, it became a fast favourite with Asian students and successfully spawned a Kitsilano branch in 2006. A location opened up on Main Street in 2008. All locales specialize in robata or Japanese barbequing over charcoal so the mouth-watering scent of grilling meat and the hiss of steam greet customers at the door.

Group Get Together
Since both restaurants are modestly sized and popular with groups, reservations are a must on the weekends. Guests are seated at dark wooden tables or stools at the bar with a view of the grill. Groups of a dozen can be squeezed around a sunken table at the Denman locale while the Kits branch has communal tables and benches. The overall rustic feel is tied together by walls covered in squares of textured paper painted with energetic ink brushstrokes.

Hot Off the Grill
The menu is mostly snacks or small tapas dishes for sharing so multiple orders are the norm. Juicy meat skewers are made with morsels of pork, beef, chicken or chicken offal (hearts, livers and gizzards). Cherry tomatoes, asparagus or garlic stubs get wrapped in thinly sliced pork prior to grilling. Tsukune is minced chicken molded around a skewer like a meatball then grilled and garnished with toppings such as ume and shiso (a fragrant herb) or cheese. Seafood choices include clams boiled in sake, grilled yellowtail and prawns done two ways, as buttery sashimi and crispy deep-fried. For vegetarians, the menu offers several tofu dishes, salads with daikon and spinach, rice congee and dishes with udon or soba noodles. The meal concludes with a complimentary bowl of miso, unless you decide on dessert.