WA Bagel

Very surprised seeing the @aburirestaurants expand their culinary concepts to Japanese-style bagels They had a huge variety of unique bagel flavors such as Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), Kinako (Japanese roasted soybean flour), Mochi Bean, Sweet Potato & Black Sesame etc. Unfortunately by the time I got there (only an hour after opening), they were sold out of most flavors (can count on Vancouverites, including myself, to be as excited about grand openings, even on weekdays ). I ended up trying the following:

1 Pacific $17 - smoked sockeye salmon w pickled red onion, cured cucumber, shiso, caper crisps, and shiso ume cream cheese on a plain bagel
2 Matcha Kinako $4.25

The toppings in the Pacific worked so well together Not to mention the matcha in the Matcha Kinako was surprisingly potent and I loved the Kinako dusting on top and filling on the inside. Not sure how I felt about sweet bagels though because when I think desserts, I definitely do not think bagels..... but to each their own! The bagels also had a bit more of a chew to it than regular bagels, but I believe that's intentional

I cannot believe how good this Japanese bagel bakery is. A little bakery under a commercial building is a bit hard to find but is right across Burrard st skytrain station. They have mochi, Sakura bagels and I can't wait to try the other. They sell them frozen too which I was tempted to get but didn't... fresh is best. They have special Mondays before 11am I think and coffee is only $1 with bagel purchase. Only open weekdays unfortunately. Wish they have another location open weekends too but they have pop ups occasionally at Brentwood. By always sold out! Aburi market has stock too.

A japanese take on bagels, which have a very different chew and softness level versus montreal or new york style bagel. I love all the unique flavours that they have, plus the fact that they're seasonal. We got the matcha mochi and red bean & cream cheese for around $5, which had a nice japanese twist to them. Probably will stick to their sweet offering as I feel like I would prefer a more traditional dough for bagel sandwiches.

Btw, this place came before a bit hard to find as it's located on the basement floor of an office building. I noticed they recently posted notice boards outside to help guide visitors.

The veggie aburi bagel was delicious! The bagel itself was amazing - fresh and very chewy, different from Montreal or NY-style bagels. Reminded me a little of sourdough without the crustiness. I loved the tofu "hummus" which basically tasted similar to cream cheese with a little more texture. The sandwich was a unique change-up from the usual veggie bagel sandwiches because it had a characteristic Japanese flair from the sauce and the choice of veggies - the mushrooms added some umami.
I know they're downtown but I'm not quite convinced by the price - $16.5 for an average-sized sandwich seems very steep. The base price of a bagel with schmear is $6, which I think is reasonable, I just don't see how throwing on the veggies should add $10 to the price. Nonetheless it was an enjoyable and healthy light lunch.
Very friendly service.
The shop itself isn't visible from the street, but they do have some sandwich boards set up at the entrance to the building to let you know you're in the right place. You have to enter Park Place (from Hornby or Burrard St) and then go downstairs. There's a pretty spacious and chill seating area - it was a nice change to hang out here and get away from the heat and tourists.

Fan of mochi and bagels? This is the place to be! Hidden on the lower level of park place is Wa Bagel! As if bagels aren't chewy enough, having mochi in the inside made it even better! I also love that they make everything in house

I bought a few bagels here during lunch. All of them tasted fresh and unique. They were very different from the Montreal or Canadian type of bagels. Each of these bagels includes some Japanese styles of flavours. I loved them all.

This bagel shop is on the basement level. They put an A-board on the ground outside the commercial building on Burrard and Dunsmuir. Customers need to get into the building before seeing a second sign. I was a bit lost when looking for the shop at the first time.

The bagel shop is nice and bright. Some of the bagels were packed in individual plastic bags. Each flavour has a sign with its name and description of the ingredients. I might go back and try some other flavours.

I took Skytrain to downtown, so it was easy to walk to this bagel shop but if I drove, it would be a bit painful to look for parking in the neighbourhood.

First time trying this new bagel spot! It was hard and a bit confusing to find. Figured it out from reading other reviews that it was inside a building and downstairs.

The eating area was a cool cafeteria / lounge vibe, and I think I saw a Foosball table in the corner. The crowd on a Monday afternoon was a mix of corporate people and some people who likely lived in the building upstairs.

Staff were friendly and quick! Ordered 1 bagel to go - the red bean and cream cheese. I liked the flavours a lot! It was a unique bagel, with the filling on the inside. I was pleasantly surprised that the cream cheese paired well with red bean for a smooth mouth-feel. I asked for the bagel warmed up, and that is definitely the way to go if you're going to eat it right away. The outside was a little crispy, and the inside was chewy. Near the end of eating, as the bagel cooled down, it started to feel a little bread-y and tough.

I would like to come back to try other flavours!

Vancouver's first Japanese bagel shop recently opene. Wa bagel is owned by the ABURI group who also owns Miku & Minami. The Japanese bagels include fillings inside and they also sell unique premium bagel sandwiches. There are also other Japanese snacks, drinks and sushi available.

Montreal Sandwich $15-plain bagel with Montreal smoked meat, miso caramelized onions, and Japanese mustard aioli. It came topped with a pickle! This was delicious. The bagel was airy & had a nice chewy texture. The flavours all balanced well and tasted fresh. I would get it again!
Mochi Matcha $4.75-this is a matcha bagel filled with mochi red bean paste & chopped walnuts. I liked the unique filling & the walnuts gave it a nice crunch. The matcha flavour isn't that strong and there wasn't much of a mochi pull!

Overall a great addition to downtown! They're open Monday to Friday 8AM-3PM. Located in Park Place Building on the Concourse Level.

Price: Bagels range $2.50-$6 and Sandwiches range $15-17
Parking: Underground parking

Recently opened Japanese-style bagel shop in Vancouver by Aburi Restaurants. The bagels are soft and has a chewy almost mochi-like feel. You can see the kitchen and fresh bagels coming out! There's a range of flavors and bagel sandwiches at the shop as well as to-go options of aburi sushi. They carry coffee from 49th parallel and a selection of Japanese snacks.

I tired the aburi veggie bagel sandwich, pumpkin bagel, and red bean cream cheese bagel. The red bean bagel's sweetness level was just right (not too sweet). The veggie bagel sandwich was a bit garlicky and very delicious.

Staff were super friendly and the wait for the sandwiches was not too long. I suggest avoiding the lunch rush because the line around noon was very long.

This was my first time trying Japanese bagels! I got a kinako (roasted soybean powder) bagel and a red bean and cream cheese bagel to share with my partner. The servers toasted the bagels for us which was much needed and appreciated!

The red bean and cream cheese bagel was really good! A good amount of filling to bagel ratio. I do wish there was more red bean in it though--the bulk of it was cream cheese. As it got colder, the bagel started getting much harder, so eat fast!

I wouldn't get the kinako bagel again--in my opinion there wasn't enough kinako to bagel ratio. Also I think for this type of flavour which is just powder, it's necessary to also have something make it more smooth and less dry. This bagel also happened to be too hard--my soft mouth struggled to bite and chew it.

The space was really spacious. It's on the concourse level of an office building so it felt like a start-up lunchroom. Many corporate workers around eating their own lunch, lunch from different establishments, etc. Tables were really large as well--great place to sit and do work on your laptop and eat some yummy bagels!