What is everyone's favourite izakaya?
I love izakayas but I've only been to Guu, Kingyo, and Hapa Izakaya. When it comes to izakayas I'm a little careful with exploring, so I'd love recommendations!

You've been to all the good ones but here's my list in no particular order, depending on the occassion:

Guu Garden: only izakaya with an outdoor patio, & pretty good lunch specials

Suika: one of the underrated ones, same owners as Rajio Public house in Point Grey, the latter an easy pass.

Gyoza King: it's my personal favourite, a smaller, cozier one

Black Rice: the most priciest one but doesn't meat it's great, I'd settle them for being good.  Suspect Korean-owned.

Roo Izakaya: suspect it's Chinese-run, decent for the area.

Hapa to me is more for drinking occassions or when I bring out of town guests, trendy & fun atmosphere, not a fan of their food.

Kingyo is good too but a bit overpriced.

Guu Robson is the best for lunch, one of the few that open in day. That being said, Hapa in Coal Harbour also decent for lunch specials.

Don't forget Zakkushi!  

I'm pretty sure Suika and Rajio are part of the Kingyo group.

Miku/Minami are izakaya-ish. Kingyo/Suika be my faves still, although I'm not crazy about Rajio.

I found Rajio and Suika to be ok...

#1: Zakkushi Denman
#2: Kingyo
#3: Guu in Gastown (forgot what that one's called)

@Jamie: nice one there on Zakkushi...i initially thought they were more 'charcoaled' style than izakaya but it's all good food too

Thanks for this topic. I have a friend leaving Vancouver (forever!) who wanted to have going-away parties at Japanese izakayas. She's Japanese, and after researching (based on this thread, probably!) she settled on Kingyo and Suika. Hmm...

I was trying to pick a seafood place for a special dinner, and have decided on izakaya.  We have a few out of town guests popping in, and while they like sushi (not too sure how adventurous..), they would also a prefer a good spread of cooked food.

Zakkushi came to mind, and while the kushi looks good, the raw selection is basic sashimi, and I was hoping to find a place with a more interesting selection - like aburi sushi, oshisushi, etc.. not just plain sashimi.  

Thoughts?  I haven't explored too many of Guu's branches, curious to know if one of those would cater to what I'm looking for?

Becks.. I believe the last time I was at Guu Garden, they might have had an oshi sushi on their fresh sheet but I can't quite remember.  

Obviously there's Miku and Minami but not sure if that's in your price range.

A decent place on Oak near 15th, B-Bin or Biiru-Bin, they do have some oshi sushi and while not on the same scale as Miku, it's still pretty good.  It's been about a year or so since I've been back.

Gyoza King!

Oh and there's another place called Kimura on Rupert.. but it's been a while since I've been and some reviews suggest it's not the same since ownership has changed..

Thanks Jamie! I'm fine with Miku / Minami, but I'm just trying to get some options in a different atmosphere. Not sure if they're OK with something a bit more posh, or if they prefer more of a relaxed / fun place.  I'll check out B-Bin.. haven't heard of it!

Thats too bad about Kimura.. I went there a few times when it first opened and it was really good!

Well if they're sporting their proper English accents (using one myself as I type this), then of course nothing but the finest will do.  Caviar and Champagne all around!

Cheerio.

There's a place called Sushi Loku that is not bad! The sushi was pretty good and they have oshizushi and aburi sushi and aburi rolls and what not.  The atmosphere is very nice and cozy, and the food was pretty good. It's on East Broadway so if it's not out of your way I'd check it out!