Oka-San Kitchen Cafe

We came here for late afternoon snacks. They were like a late lunch for us. We ordered a poke bowl (lots of veggies, some tuna and salmon sashimi, avocados and etc.) and a momma’s plate (oyakodon, tuna tataki and spinach gomae). The poke bowl was excellent! It was very healthy as well! The presentation of each dish of food was very creative.
The server or probably the owner who served us was very friendly and took care of our orders. We could also see that she treated all the customers well. The interior design of the restaurant was quite interesting. The menu, specials or even some interesting drawings were written or drawn by coloured chalks. Very neat!
I would love to try other dishes of food if I am in this neighbourhood.

Went here on a Wednesday for lunch and wasn’t busy at all. My friend and I wanted to try their poke bowl but they seem to have taken it off of the mama’s combo menu! We both ended up getting the oyakodon (egg and chicken with rice) as the main and spicy salmon sashimi as the raw side; my friend got chicken karaage as her other side and I got the veggie croquette as mines. Combos come with miso soup, a salad, and fruit. Overall it was really yummy and affordable. I would definitely come back again and hopefully be able to try their poke bowl!

This restaurant, food and the staff were amazing! We celebrated my mom’s birthday here cause we were looking for Hawaiian style restaurant. The environment and the decoration of the place was more modern Hawaiian, but it was clean and cozy. The food was absolutely delicious! Fresh fish and mix of hearty and healthy ingredients, especially in the Mom’s poke bowl. ($ 14). Each of the large entrées like the poke bowl and the Loco Moco ($ 14) were great portions and good enough to share. But be prepared to wait for your food cause there is only one or cooks. The cook and server suggested that we order enough to share and order all at once instead of adding later on in our meal cause it might come later.
To make our experience even better was when we asked the restaurant if we can keep the birthday cake in their fridge and bring it out after our meal, they surprised all of us by turning all the lights down and all the staff (only 3 of them) came out and sang happy birthday to my mom. I’ve had restaurants bring out a cake before but something about them turning all the lights down in the restaurant for us made us feel special and at home. We really felt like family as we would in Hawaii :)

Their appetizer Hawaiian poke is tasty. Their mama combos are customized to your liking. Lots of variations to choose from. Spam musubi is definitely a must try. Been here twice now on a Saturday and they open at 1pm instead of 12noon.

We arrive closed to 7pm on a Wednesday night and they were full. There was a ‘bar’ with some stools for those who are waiting. Don’t be mistake them for being seats. They won’t serve you any food there. We were quoted a 20 minute wait. Didn’t really check the time so I can’t say if it was really 20 minutes, but it was long.
We came here specifically to try their Hawaiian dishes, namely:
–Spam Musubi with tomago (5/​5-​$ 5.95 for 2): This surpassed my expectations. I didn’t think spam & egg on top of some sushi rice could be so tasty. I initially thought, 3 bucks for a slice of spam and rice, that’s crazy but what the heck– paying for novelty, right? Well, they proved me wrong.
–Loco Moco (3.5÷5− $ 13.95): Loco Moco is basically rice topped with a burger patty and fried egg. Simple but the flavours were good. Comes with some macaroni salad and wedge potatoes. What surprised me was how much carbs was on this plate. No wonder I’m full!
–Hawaiian Poke Bowl (4.5÷5 — $ 13.95): Nice plating. This bowl had bits of everything refreshing. The poke consists of salmon, tuna and ahi tuna. There was also some crab, macaroni salad, wakame salad, grape tomatoes, avocados, chopped lettuce and of course the rice. This was a very delicious and filling meal.
Despite the tasty food, the service was not all too great and the wait for the table plus the wait for the food was too long. Can’t tell how many people are working in the kitchen but there’s only one lady at the front. Funny incident happened when I asked for a knife to cut my egg, I saw the lady going to a table (which already left) to take their used knife, went in the kitchen and gave it to me. Nothing wrong with that but do they only have one knife in the entire restaurant?
Anyhow, we were stuffed and didn’t get to try the Baked Hawaiian Mochi cake, which I will come back for.

The restaurant is a tiny shop located on Fraser St if it wasn’t for a recommendation I probably would’ve never found this place. We came one night, unluckily they were sold out of the poke!!! I had to kindly leave because that was what I came for… so the following day we came back (I really do love food, the shit I do for good food haha) and there was poke! Score!
Well… we ended up ordering almost half the menu, everything in the restaurant was delicious! The poke was fresh and had the flavour I was seeking for, I spoke to the owner, she told me they originated from Hawaii, no doubt because it was pretty was authentic! Out of all the pokes in Van I tried so far, this actually made it on my list… though I do enjoy the creamier style poke. Even the Musubi was really good. The dumplings are oh-​my-​god-​amazing I don’t even like dumplings that much, these had such a great texture and spiciness to it!
Speaking of what I am not fond of, I don’t even like Asian desserts, yet here I demolished both of it. Overall, a great place to check out. it is in the middle of nowhere (to me anything out of dt is in the middle of nowhere hahaha) still a must!
Check my blog for my reviews and photos. Link on bio.

Concept: ⁵⁄₅
Food: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ³⁄₅
Execution: ⁰⁄₅
Patience is a virtue… Repeat this mantra while waiting for your food. If you get hangry easily. leave immediately! (you’ve been warned. by me and most likely by the server warning everybody else) 40 mins for Spam Masubi and another 40 mins for food.
A cute Japanese themed restaurant serving up Hawaiian favourites. such as Spam Masubi, Loco Moco, Poke etc. this place proves to be popular with similar comments of slow service and microwave beeps.
Everything we tried was good. The Poke being the best. Good food is greater than good service in my books. However… I am not patient and do get hangry quite often so no repeats for me.

Oka-​San is a quaint Japanese restaurant with Hawaiian influence, as it serves up classic dishes like the loco-​moco (hamburger patty with egg/​gravy) as well as tuna/​salmon poke. The name means ‘Mother’ in Japanese and a very friendly and motherly waitress/​cook greets you as you enter the restaurant.
The restaurant offers a very customizable set menu in addition to a la carte items, where it allows you to choose a main dish (mainly some kind of rice bowl) + a raw fish item with salad and another appetizer. I had the Gyu-​don (beef) with salmon poke and the Niku-​Jaga (stewed pork and potatoes). The meal tastes very home-​cooked which can be both its charm and its kryptonite, as I feel like I could make the same dishes at home. The salmon, although fresh tasting, felt like it was just defrosted, but overall the main negative for the review was its wait time. We waited for 45 minutes + for food to be made for two people, and it was not a busy Sunday afternoon.
Food: 3.5÷5
Ambience: ⁴⁄₅ (small, with wooden furniture and a homey feel)
Service: ¹⁄₅ (no restaurant should take that long to make food, unless it was from scratch, and this was not)
Overall: 2.5÷5 I may come back and try other offerings, like the loco-​moco, but will eat something small before hand…

Unfortunately my experience was not that great at Oka-​San Kitchen Café. My fiancée and I came in on Valentines Day for a late lunch. It took awhile for us to get acknowledged and the set up of the café was a bit different than what we are normally use to, so when the waitress finally approached us, I asked if we were to sit down first by ourselves or are we supposed to order up front first. She notified that we were to sit down first and led us to a small table in the corner. I noticed when I came in that the café was half empty, there were around 4 tables of 2 full and another 3 – 4 tables empty. It took the waitress awhile to come back with tea and to get us to order but it was when she informed us that the kitchen was very busy and that our orders my take awhile that got me thinking that I might be regretting my decision to try Oka-​San that day. We looked around when the waitress told us that the kitchen was very busy because half the café was empty and by the looks of it, only one table of two was waiting for their meals. We both ordered the mama combo where I had an oyakodon as my main and uni for my fiancée. His order came first after about a half hour wait, and we both noticed what a small portion of rice and unagi he got for a 16 dollar priced meal. My oyakodon was slightly bigger but it was bland and definitely overpriced for the portion and the quality they gave you.
While the menu concept seems interesting and well thought out, the execution was extremely poor. I don’t think I will be coming back Oka-​San Kitchen Café ever if I were in the neighbourhood again.

I finally got to eat here after my 2^nd try — They’re closed on Mondays!
My girlfriends and I arrived right at opening. We were seated by the window (a little drafty but the hot tea helped). The interior has chalkboard painted walls, wooden tables, and little details that give you the sense of its family loved business.
I decided on the Oyakodon with Hawaiian Poke and Veggie Croquette (I actually wanted the Niku Jaga but it was sold out last night apparently).
The Oyakodon had decent amounts of tender chicken with skin still on, the egg and onions were soft — all pleasantly marinated in a sweet and savoury taste. The rice was a little moist and clumped but it was fine mixed in with the toppings. The Salad was fresh and crisp and the mild ginger dressing and corn added a delicious taste. The Hawaiian Poke had a sweet sauce and the cubes of salmon and tuna sashimi were okay — not fishy which was good. The Veggie Croquette was fried nicely and the inside was a warm potato mash with peas and carrots, drizzled with tonkatsu sauce — it was good. I tried one of my friend’s Ebi Mayo — the batter wasn’t flakey and light, rather heavy and oily but the sweet tangy sauce was nice.
The service was super nice and refills of tea were timely. The tea had a strong green tea flavour and it came piping hot. They accept credit cards. Free 2 hour parking outside.
Overall, a pleasant place to eat some home-​cooked food with a variety of Japanese tastes.

What a welcome addition to this end of Fraser Street! The service is warm and friendly and the space is cozy and inviting. My husband and I both opted for the «mom’s plate» combos which give you a large portion of food for between $ 11 – 15 depending on what you order. He tried the kakuni-​don (braised pork belly) while I tried the gyudon (beef on rice). For sides we had the tuna poke, tuna tataki, wakame seaweed, and ebi mayo.
Everything tasted homemade and delicious. I did hear a microwave beep occasionally but nothing tasted or felt old or leftover-​ish. Perhaps they use it for defrosting?
I look forward to returning and trying out other items on the menu!

I like the idea of this place and their concept is cool, except their food really just doesn’t stack up. The ambiance, prices and service are good and I really wanted to like their food.
So basically with their combo sets you get to choose a main, a side and then a raw item. I got to try the chicken teriyaki and the unagi don which are really simple dishes and really easy to get right (as well as get wrong). I think the sauce for both of them was really meh and the unagi tasted like it came out of a frozen packet. If you are going to do that please don’t make it seem like that and put it on the pan or grill to get it charred a bit. The raw dishes were allright, but the fish did not seem that fresh which was my only concern in that department. Also, the poke was a bit frozen, but I usually don’t care that much. Their tofu salad was really bland and really could have used some sauce.
Really cute place, it was pretty busy when I came in but the service and food was really fast. Might give them a try again in the future.

Everything exceeded my expectations the first time I tried Oka-​San. Although my take out order took slightly longer than anticipated, the dishes were tasty and very comforting. It wasn’t long till I came back for a real dine-​in experience, I conveniently reordered all the same dishes since I had such a great meal last time. Unfortunately, the second time round wasn’t as good…
Oka-​San offer appetizers, sashimi, sushi rolls, and a wide variety of mains including curries, terriyaki, noodles, and rice dishes. I was especially drawn to the Mom’s Plates; you get to select a main dish + 1 raw item + 1 side (or no raw item and 2 sides), and it also comes with a salad + miso soup. The concept is sweet, it reminds me of meals from home — you get to have a bit of everything you wish, making sure soup and greens are part of your diet too. It was another plus to have brown rice as an option.
We had 2 variations of Mom’s Plates. First order had Unagi Don + Spicy Salmon + Tamago Yaki, the other was Oyako Don + Hawaiian Poke + Nigu Jaga (stewed beef).
While we ordered both with brown rice, we were served white. Fortunately, this was an easy fix and didn’t seem to cause too much trouble but both white and brown rice seemed a little overcooked as they were both a little mushy. The Oyako Don was especially mushy because of added sauce on the soft rice but the egg + onion + chicken part was still good. The Unagi was also solid and was consistent both visits.
The Spicy Salmon tasted like fish tossed in the same marinates as kimchi, and the Hawaiian Poke was a combination of tuna and salmon marinated in a combination of soy + sesame. However, both of these raw sides were a little off when we dined in — since the sashimi was placed on a bed of hot rice, the lukewarm sashimi just didn’t taste quite right, it was quite fishy in a foul way.
The Tamago Yaki is a sweet, fluffy, egg omelette. The texture wasn’t as soft and moist the second time round but it was still decent. The Niku Jaga is like a stewed beef with carrots, onions, and potatoes. I didn’t try this myself but my friend thought the beef was a little tough.
For extras — we ordered Tofu + Avocado salad to share, which was essentially their green salad with soft tofu and avocado chunks. The dressing is refreshing but tofu was unseasoned, and there was minimal amount of avocado. Wanting to eat a little cleaner, I didn’t mind the tofu being unseasoned, but if you like your salads super flavourful, I wouldn’t recommend getting this dish. I would’ve also expected a little more avocado when it’s named Tofu + Avocado salad as it could’ve easily passed as a Tofu Salad.
Lastly, the Ebi Gyoza is made with minced prawn so the filling was soft and mushy, it was nothing special and I wouldn’t order it again.
I do understand the challenges and inconsistencies of new businesses so I will possibly give Oka-​san another go only if I’m wandering around the area. If you are going to choose raw items for your Mom’s plates, I’d recommend requesting for the sashimi to be served on a separate dish.

Oka-​San has a good menu concept, choose your main, raw side, and an appetizer, and it also comes with rice and soup. Sadly, the concept to reality did not materialize.
The space is brand new, with a large chalkboard menu, and the kitchen is a semi-​open kitchen, so there is the smell of cooking in the restaurant. We were served green tea immediately, which was nice. Right away, I realized that this place was Chinese owned. I opted to get the poke bowl, with potato croquette and a side of the spicy salmon. My friend got the unagi don, with prawn tempura, and poke as the side. Also, we got an order of the XO gyoza.
While waiting for the food, we heard the microwave beep. This was not a good sign. The plate is much larger than it looks in pictures. My poke was ok, there were bits of avocado added, with a heavy taste of sesame oil, and there was some chili paste added. The spicy salmon lacked flavor. Potato croquette was pre-​bought and deep fried. It was perhaps one of the better items of the plate. Then the rice– it was dry and clumpy, a clear sign that they had microwaved the rice. This was a big fail on their part. For a place that has primarily rice bowls on their menu, the least they could have done was used fresh rice. I also had the prawn tempura, which had really thick batter, and the ‘prawn’ inside was more like artificial prawn paste. The gyoza was decent, but beware it’s a bit on the spicy side.
Overall, I feel like for what we paid, $ 13.95 for my plate, $ 16.95 for the unagi, was a bit overpriced given the quality of the food.

Love the masago spaghetti. Strong contender for best in the city. They pan fry the pasta, so you get some delightfully crunchy bits. Lots of shrimp, mussels, squid and masago garnish. Served with a salad and miso soup.
More lukewarm about the kakuni don. Braised pork belly on rice, but the sauce wasn’t all that flavorful. Large portion. Chose the tuna poke (a bit frozen) and gomae sides.
The homemade mochi dessert was delicious! I haven’t had anything quite like it before. Translucent sheets of mochi in a brown sugar syrup, sprinkled with soybean powder and small chunks of apples and strawberries.
They’ve got an extensive menu, mostly comfort foods and sushi as well.
Modern, minimalist Japanese décor and friendly service. Great value for your dollar.

A lovely addition to the Fraser/​Kingsway neighborhood area.
Servers/​owners spoke English and Chinese. Service was very welcoming and friendly. On point with the tea and water refills.
We ordered one of the «Mom’s plates» which lets you choose a Main + Rawbar + Side (in our case Oyakodon + Hawaiian Poke + Ebi Mayo). We also ordered a Hamburg Teriyaki (basically beef hamburger steak), Veggie Croquette appy and side order of potato salad. Prices are reasonable for the amount of food, we ended up packing up most of the Oyakodon. Ingredients were really fresh, the croquette was piping hot and fresh out of the fryer. Most of the mains come with a side salad and miso soup, as well as the choice of brown or white rice (at no charge). They have a rotating daily special that will be sure to fill up any lunchtime cravings. Will definitely be back again soon.

Ate at this gem of an eatery for lunch today. I had the «Mom’s lunch special» with Ahi Poke Don, it was freshing to have real freakin’ tuna served in Vancouver. The dish tastes great, the real ingredients makes a huge difference.
My boy also enjoyed the Ebi-​mayo very much, the people there are genuinely very nice to us as well.
I’ll probably order some artisan tea next time.

A strong 3.75 as I can’t bear to give a 4 when it doesn’t exactly offer anything special or food that I can’t get at any other place in Richmond, at lesser prices too.
Granted, as per pics, I barely finished the meal so kudos for that and for the $ 12 or so, it’s a deal, I’d have no problem paying a few bucks more.
And this part of Fraser certainly needs an upgrade and OS fits that bill, though I doubt it’s really Japanese, if that matters. I eat out plenty so I do prefer a bit more authenticity.
clean, modern place to really hang.
Customer service pretty good, constant filling up the tea.
Washroom delightfully clean.

Absolute love. The staff here are sweet and so kind, refilling our tea often and being attentive and polite. The food is also amazing. The mom plates (only $ 12 – 17) come with a choice of don, a raw side and an appy size side dish. It also comes with miso soup and green salad and it is DELICIOUS.

I live in the Fraserhood and have been waiting for a Japanese restaurant to open nearby. Finally the day has come! I had the chance to try it today and was not disappointed. I couldn’t resist one of the «mom’s plates,» which is such a great deal. I paid $ 12 and chose the oyako don, spicy salmon sashimi, and gomae. It also came with miso soup (the best miso soup ever), salad, and a piece of cantaloupe. The portion size was enormous. I can’t wait to try all the items that are options for the plate — I’ll probably come to Oka-​San at least twice a week.
They also have delicious Japanese teas (I grabbed an Oolong to-​go and it was amazing), and the décor is super cute. It has a very zen yet modern vibe.