Harajuku Izakaya Restaurant — Restaurant in Whistler Resort Municipality

We were looking for some small appies/tapas for dinner and decided to head on over to Harajuku Iazakaya which is located next to the Fuji Market behind the Whistler Conference Centre.

It’s always a bit odd when you walk into a Japanese restaurant and are greeted by a non-Japanese server saying “Irasshaimase!” in a foreign (non-Japanese) accent. I suppose with the amount of worker shortages they have up here (especially during the summer months), they can’t be very picky. In any case, our server was friendly enough so we can’t really complain.

We started off with a couple of Ramune carbonated sodas from Japan – melon and grape ($3 each). You can find these at most asian grocery stores in Vancouver and they have a very specific set of instructions for opening due to how the glass bottle is designed with a marble as the stopper. We also ordered the Edamame ($4) which is billed as being “lightly” salted soy beans but I found that they were overly aggressive with the salt they used here.

The Brussels Sprouts ($6) were deep-fried, crispy, and turned out pretty good with the garlic seasoning.

Next up was the Beef Tataki ($11) which was also a fairly solid dish with tender thinly sliced beef which had been seared and mixed with onions, green onions, crispy onion chips, and a ponzu dressing.

One of the misses here was the Pan-Fried Pork Gyoza ($7) which, as you can probably tell from the picture, lacked any discernible char on the skin… hence, instead of having a crispy skin, it was almost as if these gyoza were boiled.

Last on the table was the 3 Kinds of Assorted Sashimi ($26). Now, I know that Whistler is a bit further away from Vancouver so it probably costs more to get their seafood shipped in, but I thought that the price tag for this dish was a bit high given the type of sashimi that was included which was albacore tuna, sockeye salmon, and yellowtail. By the way that the sashimi appeared with the ragged cut marks, I wasn’t expecting the sashimi to be very good here but I was unexpectedly surprised that it turned out pretty well (perhaps they just need a sharper knife or better cutting skills).

Overall, food’s a bit hit-or-miss here but given the lack of restaurants in Whistler, it’s a good option if you’re looking for...

This used to be my favorite restaurant in Whistler, and I’ve tried most of them. Unfortunately, it has completely changed. What was once a fun izakaya-style dining experience has shifted to a plain, Japanese pub-style menu.

The food is still good, but the charm is gone. Many small dishes, which were perfect for trying a variety of flavors, have been replaced with slightly larger portions at double the price. This change takes away one of the best aspects of the restaurant: the ability to try several dishes in one sitting. Now, you’re limited to ordering one or two, and the variety just isn’t there anymore.

To make matters worse, our experience with the service was terrible. Our server appeared unprofessional—possibly even under the influence—forgetting orders, bringing dishes at wildly different times, reaching across only inches from my face while I was eating to grab empty glasses, and failing to handle simple requests like an extra glass. She also made an awkward conversation about tipping culture while we were calculating the tip, which was uncomfortable. On top of that, there was constant upselling, making the experience feel more like a sales pitch than a meal.

The restaurant also implements an odd policy of offering only 10 portions of certain dishes, seemingly to create artificial demand and hype. It’s an unnecessary and frustrating gimmick that detracts from the overall dining experience.

We gave them the benefit of the doubt and still ended up ordering a variety of dishes to taste the new menu, ending with bills in the $60-$100/person range. You can probably have dinner for less here, but we wanted to sample the menu.

While the food is still decent, it’s not enough to justify coming back. I used to visit this place every time I came to Whistler, often bringing friends and recommending it to others. Sadly, that won’t be the...

We went here for dinner tonight. It was really disappointing and left us all quite upset. The food was mediocre and the service was HORRENDOUS! We ordered, ate, and left within 1 hr. We didn't want to order anymore food or be subjected to that service. Our server, Sigrid, was very short with us and every interaction had an undertone of disdain from the moment we got there. Couple of examples:

1. She never did anything without making a snarky remark or action. She brought the wrong dish. Seemingly not believing us, she placed it on an empty table behind us and proceeded to check the order on her tablet to confirm it was indeed the wrong order. After this big show and realizing she was wrong, she didn't acknowledge the mistake whatsoever. I would expect a professional to take the dish to the kitchen and check the order there. She tried to shame us and it backfired.

2. When my husband went up to the bar to pay for the bill (we all had to get out of there), she had to point out that she was making an exception by allowing him to pay at the bar. Nevertheless, the bill did not include an auto gratuity but she told my husband that he HAD to pay 18% when she handed him the credit card machine. That's fine but you could add it to the bill and don't imply that we're going to short you.

It felt like she was racist and expected a bad tip from the start. A bad tip would have been warranted given the service. She was completely unprofessional and disrespectful the whole time. The menu leaves something to be desired. The tuna roll was ice cold and the rest of the food was lukewarm. I hope others have a...