Japanese Izakayas have really taken this city by storm but the storm is more/less limited to the downtown core and surrounding areas for the most part (Kits, Main). There are some in Richmond but Im not aware of any outside of those areas. Though not quite an Izakaya restaurant, Gohan in Burnaby definately gives some of us Burnaby folk some of that modern & creative Japanese eats. As below, they call themselves a “West Coast Japanese Restaurant” (“Gohan” itself means food and/or rice), they have their take on standard Japanese fair plus the classic items. One of my fav dishes is their “Japanese Pizza” (pictured top right) which has a deep fried patty of rice with seaweed on bottom, with stringed up crab on one and shrimp on the other, both with Japanese style mayo and slices of salmon on top…..

Gohan West Coast Japanese Restaurant
1815 Rosser Avenue, Burnaby, B.C. (off Lougheed hwy, one block west of Willingdon)
Tel. 604.205.5212

http://members.shaw.ca/gohan1815rosser/index.html

Their twist on ebi mayo is that its deep fried with the mayo inside a tangy soy sauce on the side. Their tuna tataki cuts are thick and round with dried garlic chips. There some other dishes too that I cant recall but other than Kura on Kingsway, its def a highlight for modern/twist Japanese fair in the Bby/burbs. Its located just off Lougheed/Willindgon by Brentwood mall and its a nice size, not too big, not too small, not too trendy, not too average sushi joint.