Sushi and Japadog are popular Japanese dishes in Vancouver, but have you ever eaten Japanese style spaghetti?
SPAGHeTEI, a newly opened Japanese restaurant on Robson Street, is the one and only Japanese restaurant in Vancouver that specializes in Japanese style spaghetti. A lot of you might wonder what “Japanese Style Spaghetti” is! Well, it is basically spaghetti pasta with Japanese flavours. Unlike Japadog, however, Japanese style spaghetti’s history goes back a long way. It belongs to a branch of Japanese western-influenced cooking style called Yoshoku, which originated in the mid-1850s in Japan. On a side note, you might also find Japanese style spaghetti in some Japanese restaurants that provide Yoshoku cuisine, alongside deep fried hamburger, omelet rice, and curry, etc.
Having just left church in downtown, I thought it was a good idea to pay SPAGHeTEI a visit. It was a cozy restaurant with off-white walls and soft black wood grain, simple yet elegant. There are about 16 kinds of Japanese style spaghetti on the menu, with three portion choices: small (200g), regular (300g) and large (400g).
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My friends and I weren’t exactly hungry, so we ordered different spaghetti in small sizes. It was a win-win situation as we received a dollar off while cutting off some nasty calories. All spaghettis were served with a piece of their home-made garlic bread. We loved the bright green color on it and it tasted good. It was warm, crunchy and garlicky.
Being considerate, three spaghetti orders arrived about the same time so we could all get started with our meals. Nonetheless they weren’t so attentive in refilling the hot teas. We had to ask several times before someone came in to get our tea refilled.
My order was Barayaki Spaghetti. It was the very traditional food of Aomari Japan, where SPAGHeTEI comes from. I got curious and hence the order. It came with pan fried beef and onions with Barayaki sauce. Apparently Barayaki was a type of sauce that tasted like teriyaki. It somehow reminded me of the HK-Style cafe version of spaghetti but less greasy and with a balance of flavour between sweet and salty. I absolutely fell in love with its perfectly al-dente spaghetti.
My friend ordered one of their signature dishes, Meat Sauce Spaghetti. This home-made meat sauce was thick, rich, tasty, and definitely fit the bill. It is one of two cheapest spaghettis on the menu; the other being the salad spaghetti. SPAGHeTEI was generous on the meat sauce as there were still leftovers after my friend finished all her spaghetti pasta. It turned out to be too salty without spaghetti, yet it was impressively good with it.
Another friend decided to go for Chicken Peperoncino Spaghetti. It was a light tasting spaghetti dish with a hint of garlic and salt. It was too peppery for me but I only took a bite. Good thing I haven’t accidentally gone for the portion where the waitress had the fresh black pepper sprinkled on! Anyway, my friend loved it very much. She thought her spaghetti was probably the most balanced diet on the menu as it contained both meat (chicken) and vegetables (bak choy).
SPAGHeTEI started up its first store back in Aomori, Japan since 1975. It has arrived in Vancouver about 7 months ago. Although these Japanese style spaghettis may not be as well-known as traditional Japanese foods, it is just as unique and definitely worth a try. Its pricing is reasonable considering it is located in one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Vancouver. For those who are looking for something special, this is a place to go!
SPAGHeTEI
1741 Robson Street
Vancouver BC
(604) 428-1014
Atmosphere：4
Food：4
Service：4
Value：4
Recommendation：4
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