29th Avenue Cafe – Hamburg Steak For The Win.

Meta Knight brought me here after also hearing many recommendations of this place. Plus, it is rated 94% on Urbanspoon.

This hole-in-a-wall restaurant looks seemingly like your average neighbourhood cafe. Coffee, scones, pastries, and pies is what I would have expected from this place if I didn’t do any research prior. But nope, this restaurant serves up authentic Japanese cuisine.

Their menu is reminiscent of Moncton Cafe in Steveston (another mom and pop Japanese restaurant with a simple concept) and is not overly complicated. Their entrees range from $8 to $19.50 which we found kind of odd.

I normally am not one to get an appetizer because I feel like entrees are enough to fill me up. However, I saw the other table get it, so the gluttonous side of me decided to go for it as well. Its called Shrimp Fry with Cocktail Sauce ($6.50). Fresh off the fryer, these plump crunchy prawns were a great way to start our meal.

Meta Knight ordered the Hamburg Steak ($9.50) which came with one patty, fried potato slices, oil drenched peas, and mushy carrots. He wasn’t a fan of the mushy vegetables but the hamburg steak was a winner. It was moist, flavorful, and much larger than anticipated.

I chose the Chicken Cutlet ($11) which came with a side of potato salad and a wedge of lettuce smothered in thousand island dressing. This is a perfect representation of an unpretentious home cooked meal. The chicken was a little on the dry side but it could have been compensated with some really great tonkatsu sauce (if they had any).

Overall, 29th Avenue Cafe is a great little place for katsu curry hamburg, or other deep fried items. However, Yuu Japanese Tapas still takes the cake for my favourite restaurant for katsu curry. If you want to prove me wrong and suggest a restaurant that you know HAS the best katsu curry, please let me know! We’ll duel it out. 🙂

Service Rating: 3/5
Food Rating: 3.5/5
Price: $$

Overall Rating: 3.5/5


Happy Eating!