Do a search below using the city or postal code search box if your city is not listed above.
Get dining news including restaurant closures and qualify for giveaways.
29th Avenue Cafe serves up Japanese Izakaya cuisine.
Went to this place once as Yoshoku-ya on Denman, and again as 29th Ave Cafe.
Food - decent home-style Japanese food. We had the katsu curry, cream croquette, salad, and omurice. Portions are very generous, however the flavour could have been tweaked slightly. The pork katsu was fine, but the curry was oddly sweet even for Japanese curry. The omurice--I got tired of eating the rice after a while. I think too much tomato sauce was used so it got to be too sweet and acidic. Even the egg couldn't balance it out. The salad itself is really basic but the veggies were fresh and I thought there was just the right amount of onion in the dressing. The cream croquette was very smooth, and super tasty.
Service - was friendly and warm. It looks like they have a lot of regulars, the waitress was carrying on conversations with various customers.
Ambiance - the decor was basic and a slightly sparse, but somehow felt warm and homey. They also had some TVs so it felt a bit like I was eating dinner at home watching TV :)
Value - the food isn't stellar, so if you can cook them yourself it probably isn't worth it to go here. On the other hand the service is friendly and the portions generous. I'd come back for certain things (cream croquette) but not for others (omurice, sadly).
I wanted to love this place especially since it's truly Japanese owned and operated but there are a few issues.
I ordered the Katsu Curry and a salad. My wife had the Chicken Cream Croquette.
Both were ok, but resembled home cooked meals, not the type you would get in a restaurant. Which is ok, except for the price, it was far too expensive.
Onto the food. The curry was WAY to sweet. I'm not sure why they make it this way since this is NOT the way Japanese curry is made. It just got sickening after a while. Plus, the curry was just mostly sauce with no potato or carrots in it which is a staple of Japanese curry. I can accept this way if it wasn't so sweet though. Next was the salad, it was a nice size but again, the salad dressing was like an onion bomb! WAY too much raw onion taste in the dressing. It actually hurt my stomach, and yet I can handle some pretty spicy food many others can't. The actual pork cutlet was too thin, and was a bit over cooked, hence making it dry inside. It was tolerable but Japanese cutlets are usually double the thickness. My wife's croquette was ok, but seemed to be undercooked and mushy and also too much onion.. so overall, it was disappointing. It wasn't terrible, just that it should be much better especially for the rather expensive price the dishes have.
Other issues include the menu missing a drink menu. I guess they only serve water here.
There was no music playing, but rather a TV blaring volume of a TV show. Very unattractive while eating. This also cause everyone's conversation around you to be heard.
Customer service was fine, the washrooms were relatively clean and the decor was simple and tidy. There is ample good free parking. Location is very strange though.
All in all the amount of food for the price was not really worth it. I can make this at home for 3 quarters of the price and it will be better tasting.
I may try this place one more time to try a different dish, but it won't be a priority. Once again, I'm sad to write this review because I love to support TRUE Japanese owned and run businesses, but I must speak the truth.
Yoshoku-Ya restaurant has been around Vancouver downtown for more than a decade, it was located on 774 Denman Street but it was closed earlier this year. I was a regular who visited once every few weeks, and I felt very disappointed when one evening I saw it closed forever while I was going to have my dinner there. However, it now has a new location on 4441 Boundary Road as well as a new name, 29th Avenue Cafe! The people, the food, the quality and the menu are the same, the difference is the environment, but I was there for its food, I don't care about if it's a fancy restaurant or not as long as it serves great food.
| 1. | Zorro's Pizza (31 m) |  |
| 2. | Little Dream Bake Shop (621 m) | |
| 3. | El Inka Latin Deli (628 m) |  |
| 4. | New Cairo Cafe (634 m) | |
| 5. | Panaderia Latina Bakery (709 m) | |
| 6. | Mr Pan Pizza (713 m) |  |
| 7. | Papa Joe's Pizza & Pasta House (754 m) |  |
| 8. | Sushi Kimura (910 m) |  |
| 9. | Golden Oscar Cafe & Restaurant (910 m) | |
| 10. | Pho Thanh Hong (911 m) |
