Hikari Cafe

Fresh sashimi and friendly server. Its a small tiny shop /​café with Japanese food and waffle.

The annual Sakura Days festival was happening this weekend at the nearby VanDusen Garden with a lot of food vendors, but the lineups were long and hangry.
I decided to venture out to Hikari Café and I was the only customer in contrast.
Its a simple family run restaurant but the menu is inviting, whether you are in for a quick lunch or snack.
There is a lot of variety in the menu, and my order is the oyakodon with the side salad and miso soup. Its simple homely cooking offered with a smile.
Reasonable prices but limited seating. Fortunately I went during the off peak hours so there was no pressure to eat and move on.

Very friendly service, very delicious omelette with rice. A very nice neighbourhood place.

Been wanting to try this place for awhile now, after seeing all the rave reviews. We came by yesterday for lunch.
The menu had lots of different options — sushi, rice bowls, noodles, dessert, drinks, etc. (Side note: menu prices are now quite a bit higher than what was mentioned in the other reviews from just a few months ago.)
Since I love unagi, I ordered the Yanagawa Don (unagi & egg rice bowl) ($ 16.95). Having dined at many other local Japanese restaurants of varying price ranges, I know that anything with unagi is generally pricer across the board. But what arrived was unexpectedly small… I could literally count the few tiny pieces of sliced unagi nestled in eggs & onions atop a small bowl of rice. Overall taste was not bad, but to be honest it was really nothing special.
My friend got the Beef curry on rice ($ 12.50). Taste was decently good, but the portion size was also really small.
Keeping in mind that this is a mom-&-pop style small casual café with little to no special ambience, we probably won’t be back again to spend more money on small portions of only average tasting food.

I love it I love it!!! Authentic Japanese food made by Japanese chef, it’s small restaurant with 4 tables but I guess less people = not too loud. Their décor is so fancy.
Please please try their Om-​rice! That was my first pick and then try their Ginger pork rice too. I follow their FB for new updates XD I’m such a fan~

Small mom and pop restaurant. Great service and equally great food. I’ve ordered quite a few items from the menu and I have to say everything is flawless in taste and presentation. I’m not easy to impress and even harder for me to go back to the same place twice in a city chocked full of restaurants. And my kids love the food there too, which definitely helps. Try this hidden gem out before they get popular and busy. Ps they have the best chirasi don for the price in Vancouver.

Solid 3.5 stars, and a 4 star for honesty, which I’ll get to later.
Cute & cozy, much better suited than the 2 previous bubble tea places that were here before; with the price of commercial real estate here, just wasn’t feasible but I digress. Nice to have a walkable, authentic Japanese place on this block.
Ordered the toro sashimi, while good, not velvety like others, as per pic. Not a shade of pink whatsoever, maybe that threw me off. And the wasabi, wasn’t fluffy enough.
Their monthly specials is what I should’ve ordered, but after a heavy lunch at White Spot 90 min earlier, this is all I really needed to snack lol. Next time, I’ll try their spicy roe udon, if it’s still there.
But dessert’s always tempting, and owner was honest upfront about not being mango season so went with their green tea ice cream, handmade, with a yummy red bean paste sprinkle with whipped cream. I’d order this again.
Good place for a social though only 4 tables.
Clean washroom.

Good food, really delicious.
The service is excellent. A small restaurant but very welcome.
They even have Hirahara Ayaka’s songs!
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Went there again and the waitress thanked me because my review here. I asked her why and the answer was quite direct: I mentioned Ayaka’s single they were playing when I was there. This impresses me a lot since they can remember a common guest’s views and face. I really admire their attitude in working.
Again, their sushi is excellent and the environment is the best I’ve ever experienced in Vancouver.

This has been a bookmark ever since Marc D posted his pictures and review about this family-​run Japanese café.
The café is cozy and luckily my friend and I got a table next to the window.
I knew I had to have the Chirashi Sushi, which come with Japanese rice underneath it, even though it’s not under the Don’s. For an extra $ 1 you can have a miso soup or fresh salad as well. The chirashi had a delicious melody of fresh and rich sashimi: salmon, tuna, scallop, octopus, sea bass, mackerel, tamago, massago and imitation crab with julienned cucumber and avocado on the side. Everything tasted like it was caught that day and the flavours were all unique and held to their own name. It was a bowl of wonderful and melt in your mouth flavors. The ginger was nicely cut into small pieces to give that sharp ginger taste to clear the palate between each bite.
We also shared the Takoyaki. There were five balls which seemed to look like semi-​circles because it kind of melted down. However, all the flavors were there and it was a sweet and savory mouthful.
Service was prompt and friendly with our water and/​or tea being refilled regularly. I loved the interactions between this family-​run café and I would definitely return to try their desserts and omurice!
They also have various specials posted on the windows like Waffle and Tea/​Coffee for only $ 3.75! Like them on social media for a 15% off coupon! Parking is limited to street parking or impark pay parking.
Thanks for the bookmarc Marc ;)

I tried the chirashi sushi my friend tried the omelette on rice– tasted awesome and fresh! Thanks for the awesome service

Visited this restaurant several times already, and the food never disappoint me.
My favourite dish is the chirashi sushi. The seafood are very fresh and a bowl is only $ 8.95. Totally worth it! If you come to this café, I would definitely recommend you the seafood dishes!
I’ve also tried the beef curry and crab fried rice, and both are very authentic Japanese homemade meals. All the rice and dons come with salad and miso soup!
The prices are reasonable and the portion of the meals is just right. They also have great service :)
Would come back for sure to try their homemade salads!

Very small only 4 tables. Have to say that the sushi was as close to perfect as one can expect in Vancouver very fresh. We had the deluxe chiral hi with soup. Well worth the $ 16.50. It came with large scallops, raw prawn, salmon snapper, crab roll, etc
Very fresh. Rice was al-​dente.
Also had chicken udon which was quite authentic. Broth was great.
We wouldn’t recommend the waffle as the first one dark chocolate was sent back for being too dry. Then the green tea was okay but since they are all premade from frozen not so fresh.

I really really liked the fact that after all the temptations, all the times that I’ve wanted to come and missed the opportunity. I came on a day like today. On a Thursday evening, it wasn’t busy. There’s only four tables. Their better part of the business is more of a take out than dine in.
A combination of curries, sushi, salads, waffles and deserts make this a unique Japanese café that is a bit different from the few others that are in the lower mainland.
The food that we had was good. At first look at the menu, I was happy to find the salads. I don’t always eat Japanese food because of the rice. At best I’ll limit myself to a few pieces of sushi if I have to eat rice.
Seaweed salad — simple, nothing too fancy (if you’ve had this before) and it was as expected. I enjoyed it quite well.
Two pieces of Tobiko sushi — equally good and as expected. Same result.
My friend had Omlette rice which he gave two thumbs up.
Loved the quaint cute atmosphere of the place. Nicely decorated. The layout seems a bit odd, but that’s probably due to the design of the open kitchen area.
It is a café and as such, I got that feeling. I also got the feeling that this was a real Japanese owned and run establishment. I’m glad that places like these are coming back. Long ago, Japanese people used to own and run Japanese restaurants. It makes sense.
This place makes sense to me.
I will come back for sure. The people here are nice and it’s a great little place to have some sushi, waffles and curry chicken on rice with a cup of coffee.
Definitely going on my list. I wish them well.

The gyu-​don was delicious. The taste reminds me of Osaka. Loveeee it!

Food: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Ambiance: ⁵⁄₅
Value: ⁴⁄₅
New café on the block. The café has food ranging from sushi meals, to rice dishes, to desserts. Compared to other places, the sushi’s nothing to write home about (especially with Ajisai a short distance away). The rest of the dishes, once again, aren’t something I’d crave, but would enjoy eating every time. What sets the place apart is the friendly staff, and the clean atmosphere of the place. Although small, the café does not feel cramped. Food value is pretty good here, a don+drink or dessert for around $ 15 after tax and tip. Seems like a good place for a casual date.

Aww yea!
I got some authentic Omelette Rice experience here today at Hikari Café.
Everything is served so well I actually ordered way more than I could finish because I’m too used to small servings around in Vancouver. I got stuffed!
The atmosphere is very chic, but doesn’t go too much on décor to make it look tacky.
Food was also fresh as f**k. Super delicious. I need to go back and try the other stuff too. Western fusion stuff always leave you coming back for more food.
Overall a very great experience, food was timely and had very good taste to it. Will come back again.
Ah, and they also have takeaway specials!

New Japnaese Café opened in December 2014.
I went in to check this café after reading Unilocal reviews.
Service: Exceptional! Amazing. The lady who was serving (who maybe is a family member of the owner?) was very kind and enthusiastis at the same time. I felt really comfortable and welcomed in the café. Water and tea were refilled very quickly and everything were done smoothly. Defnitely the one of the greatest service I recieved in Vancouver. Just the hospitality of service would be good enough to have me return to the place; but of course food was great too.
Food: I ordered omlette rice (aka omurice) and seafood udon. They were both delicious. I could see that the food were made with fresh ingredient.
Location: Pay parking is available but I wish there was a free parking lot. It is on Granville St and 41^st so traffic is busy.
Interior: Really clean and cozy. The decos are simple and tidy. However, there are only two tables so it may be hard to have food in the restaurant. However their menu are mostly for take out.
Overall: It is defnitely a hidden gem in Vancouver. I cant wait to go back and try their dessert and beverages. I have travelled Japan lots of times to different areas and this place reminds me of the places I went. In other word I feel like I was in Japanese restaurant in Japan.
In my opinion, this café is defnitely comparable to the top famous Japnaese style café/​restaurants in Vancouver like Café De‘lorange in Marpole and Hi Genkis in South Burnaby.

Small Japanese Café and when I mean small, I mean that there are only a few casual seats, therefore, not a place to linger long in. I bought some small waffles to go. The customer service was really nice. The lady at the till was super super sweet.

* Small new Japanese café with a big menu *
This new café (been open just about 2 weeks now) offers up a wide variety of Japanese and Western food in a bright comfortable atmosphere.
Donburi? Check.
Curry? Check.
Omerice? Check.
Sushi? Check.
Sashimi? Check.
Salads? Check.
Sandwiches? Check.
Coffee? Check.
Waffles? Check.
Wow. There is such a surprisingly large and varied menu for a café with only 4 tables!
I ordered the oyakodon ($ 8.50), which during lunchtime comes with a salad and miso soup as well. The oyakodon was a Kansai style with lots of broth. The chicken was very tender, and the broth was nicely developed. I would have liked to have a few green onions to round out the flavours, but overall it was a comforting dish on a cold day. The salad was simple and fresh, and the miso soup was strong and had lots of tofu pieces and seaweed.
The three staff were all very professional, and very welcoming. Although it looks like a café where you would order at the counter, if you are eating there they have table service. Also, there was a little bonus on the bill — 10% off for the opening special.
They have a VERY large menu for such a small place, so I imagine they will likely have to trim that down to stay on top of food costs, etc.
I do wish them well in this location, as I think the spot has promise as they find their footing. I will definitely be back to see how things progress!

First time here. We ordered the Omelette rice, curry rice and chirashi sushi. All were very good. My Omelette rice is juicy and egg is just right. Loved it!
Overall a very good experience, will definitely return again!