Parq Vancouver’s D/6 Bar & Lounge launched their newest Tower Izakaya experience last month and I had to go check it out once I had the chance. The Tower Izakaya experience takes centre stage at D/6 Wednesdays through Sundays from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m.. The experience features starters, snacks, a selection of fresh seafood, sushi and sashimi, hot plates and sweets paired with a wide array of creative cocktails and zero-proof libations, pitchers of Japanese beer, rare and artisanal sakes and Japanese whiskey flights. The new direction is spearheaded by The Victor restaurant’s sushi chefs Jae Cho and Akira Yamada, who took their cues from the Izakayas Check out my thoughts on the D/6 Bar & Lounge Tower Izakaya Experience below!
D/6 Bar & Lounge Tower Izakaya Experience Drinks
No Izakaya experience is complete without a drink or two. We went with:
- Umeko ($18.00)
- Tower Lemon Sour ($19.00)
- Kiku ($22.00)
- Cuban Collins ($14.00)
The Umeko features Choya umeshu plum wine, lemon, soda. It is light and refreshing with a slight sourness of the pickled plum. This was my drink of choice and it’s such an easy and delicious spring cocktail. The Kiku features sake, chambord, pernod, raspberry, lychee. The bright magenta colour really stands out and the rasberry flavour was very strong. Finally, we tried the Cuban Collins which is a mocktail that features pineapple, marzipan, lime, non-alcoholic bubbles.
The Tower Lemon Sour is a signature cocktail that features lemon infused shochu, shiso, soda. The key point of the cocktail is definitely the ‘tower’ of lemon slices! This drink is also very light, refreshing and easy to drink.
In addition to these cocktails D/6 also has drink features including Japanese beer on draught and in pitchers, more local and international beer by the bottle, flights of Japanese whiskeys like Suntory and Nikka from the Barrel, and sake available in 3oz servings, bottles and flights.
D/6 Bar & Lounge Tower Izakaya Experience Food
The Tower Izakaya experience has Happy Hour running daily from 5-6:30 PM with a selection of cocktails, sake and izakaya bites to choose from. We arrived around 7 pm so we had the following off the regular menu:
- Jae’s Seafood Platter ($75.00)
- Hamachi Nobu Style ($14.00)
- Wagyu “Little Mac Sliders” ($18.00)
- Crispy Panko Ebi ($16.00)
- Wagyu Beef Mini Hot Dogs ($14.00)
- Mochi ($12.50 for 3 pieces)
The signature item of the Tower Izakaya Experience is definitely Jae’s Seafood Platter. It features East & West Coast oysters, jumbo prawns, scallop ceviche, bluefin tuna poke, gringo salmon aburi skewers and is served with togarashi nori & taro chips. The platter is plentiful and the standouts for me were definitely the bluefin tuna poke and the jumbo prawns. The prawns were meaty, fresh and delicious.
We couldn’t resist trying the Hamachi Nobu Style. This features delicate slices of hamachi topped with shaved serrano, cilantro, yuzu ponzu. The hamachi was fresh with a great texture and the serrano adds a nice spicy kick.
In addition to the raw seafood offerings, the D/6 Tower Izakaya Experience also has cooked items like the Wagyu “Little Mac Sliders” which is like an elevated Big Mac. It features sesame seed brioche bun, cheddar cheese, lettuce, pickles, wafu sauce. If you’re not a burger person then definitely try their take on hot dogs. The Wagyu Beef Mini Hot Dogs features crispy onion, teriyaki glaze, wasabi aioli. The hot dogs were juicy and the wasabi aioli adds a slight heat to balance out the richness.
The Crispy Panko Ebi features creamy spicy ponzu, unagi sauce, aonori. It was fairly standard, and I would pass on these next time and go for the fresh Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail instead.
To end on a sweet note we of course had to get the Mochi. You can get it as a single or a trio with three flavours – strawberry, matcha and mango. The mochi was so soft and squishy and not too sweet. The perfect way to end a great izakaya experience.
D/6 Bar & Lounge
Address: 39 Smithe St, Vancouver, BC V6B 0R3
Website: https://www.parqvancouver.com/food-drink/d6/