Takenaka Onigiri Cafe (2026): Perfect Rice, Fresh Seafood and a Cozy East Van Room

Takenaka started as a food truck and a bento business, run by chef Shogo Takenaka, who used to cook at Kingyo and Raisu. Now it has its own onigiri café at 1370 East Georgia Street, inside the Coho Commissary building. It’s an industrial block, but there’s free street parking, and the space inside feels nothing like the outside.

We went for breakfast on a Sunday morning. If you only order one thing, I’d make it the Onigiri Obanzai Set.

The café entrance on East Georgia: wood slats and a carved Takenaka sign.

Inside the café

The room is cozy. There are globe pendant lights, white wooden chairs, wood tables and a long wall of windows, so it’s bright even on a grey day. Plants hang along the windows, and green forest-print canvases sit on shelves behind the navy blue counter.

Bright dining room at Takenaka with globe pendant lights, white wooden chairs and a long wall of windows — Globe lights, white chairs and lots of natural light.

You order and pay at the counter, take a table number, and they bring the food to you.

Takenaka's navy blue order counter with espresso machine, chalkboard lunch specials and forest-print canvases — Order and pay at the navy counter.

I didn’t expect much from the washroom, but the walls are covered in canvas prints of Banksy-style street art: stencil rats, graffiti, kids drawing on a wall, and a “life is short, chill the duck out” sign.

Three canvas prints in Takenaka's washroom showing a collage of Banksy-style stencil street art — Banksy-style street-art collage in the washroom.

The music in the café has the same street-art feel, which is a funny match for such calm, careful Japanese food.

Canvas print of two small boys scribbling chalk drawings on a city wall — Kids drawing on a wall, another print in the washroom.

Canvas print of graffiti dumpsters with stencil children and the words "life is short, chill the duck out" — “Life is short, chill the duck out.”

Onigiri Obanzai Set ($28)

This is Takenaka’s “authentic Japanese breakfast.” They make only 10 sets a day, so come early. The café opens at 8 am, and the set is usually the first thing to sell out.

Takenaka flyer for the Onigiri Obanzai breakfast set, $28, only 10 sets daily, free refills on onigiri and miso soup — The breakfast set: $28, only 10 a day, free onigiri and miso refills.

The set comes with two onigiri, a bowl of miso soup and a tray of small dishes. On our tray:

Seared wagyu beef with a little wasabi
Grilled salmon with lemon
Chicken karaage
Ebi mayo (shrimp in a creamy mayo sauce)
Herring roe (kazunoko)
Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette) topped with glazed eel, next to pink kamaboko fish cake
Seared mentaiko (spicy cod roe)
Ankimo (monkfish liver) with green onion and sauce
Umeboshi (pickled plum) with simmered kelp
Pickles: yellow takuan daikon and napa cabbage

Takenaka Onigiri Obanzai set with two onigiri, miso soup and a tray of eleven small Japanese dishes — Onigiri Obanzai Set ($28): two onigiri, miso soup and a tray of small dishes.

It’s a really pretty tray to look at, and every little dish tasted different.

Close view of obanzai small dishes: seared wagyu, grilled salmon, karaage, ebi mayo, tamagoyaki, umeboshi and pickles — Wagyu, salmon, karaage, ebi mayo, tamagoyaki and more.

Everything was fresh. The seafood was my favourite part, and that’s what Takenaka is known for anyway.

Tamagoyaki topped with glazed eel next to pink kamaboko, seared mentaiko and pickled daikon at Takenaka — Tamagoyaki with kamaboko, seared mentaiko and pickles.

The rice

The onigiri were plain, just salt, which is the best way to judge rice. Theirs was very well made. Not too sticky, not too hard. If you like Japanese short-grain rice, see my review of Tamaki Gold Koshihikari rice.

You get free refills on the onigiri and the miso soup, so nobody at our table left hungry.

Kids Combo ($15)

For children under 12, the Kids Combo comes in a little wooden boat with a paper umbrella. Ours had two onigiri (pickled daikon and honey plum), an ebi fry, karaage, tamagoyaki, salad, fruit, a Calpico drink and a snack. The boat makes it a fun one to order for kids.

Takenaka Kids Combo served in a wooden boat with two onigiri, ebi fry, karaage, fruit and a paper umbrella — The Kids Combo ($15) comes in a boat.

Seafood Bara Chirashi Bowl

We also had the Mille-Feuille Seafood Bara Chirashi Bowl. It’s served in a big glass mug, so you can see the layers: cubes of tuna and salmon, salmon roe, tamago and cucumber over sushi rice. It was fresh, and the sushi rice was just as good as the onigiri. For more sushi in East Van, see my review of Good Sushi on Fraser.

The rest of the menu

From the menus in the café:

Special Set ($25): weekdays 11 am – 2:30 pm, weekends 11 am – 3 pm. One onigiri, today’s dish, two small dishes, salad and miso soup (free refills). Upgrade the onigiri filling from +$2 (kelp, tuna mayo, honey plum) up to +$13 (ikura or fresh uni).
Sushi bowls (with miso soup): Mille-Feuille Deluxe Seafood Bowl $38, Mille-Feuille Seafood Bara Chirashi Bowl $28, Hokkai Mini-Don $28, Uni & Ikura Mini-Don $42, Ikura & Egg Yolk Mini-Don $42. Add 10 g uni for $8.
Sashimi: 3 kinds $28, 5 kinds $45.
Curry & rice: Wagyu Beef Hamburg $27, 3-piece Chicken Karaage $18, 3-piece Meat Ball $17, MEGA Curry for 3 people $55.
Sushi: Omakase Aburi Sushi (8 pieces) $23, DIY Uni Temaki $16.
Drinks: coffee by Nemesis / Nikai Coffee ($3 – $5), matcha, hojicha and Earl Grey “Takenaka” lattes $6, floats with Earnest Ice Cream $6 – $8.

Service

Service was excellent. The staff were friendly and happy to help. Everything is made to order, so other diners say it can take a while when it’s busy.

Price and value

Our Obanzai Set and Kids Combo came to $43 before tax and $45.15 with GST. It’s a bit pricey for breakfast, and premium items like uni cost a lot more. But the quality matches the price, and with free refills the $28 set is good value.

Payment: we paid by Visa. Tap and Apple Pay are accepted.

How to get in touch

Address: 1370 E Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V5L 2A8 (Coho Commissary building, near Clark Drive)
Hours: Monday to Friday 8 am – 2:30 pm, Saturday and Sunday 8 am – 8 pm. Closed on public holidays.
Phone: 604-802-9982
Website: takenakavancouver.com
Instagram: @takenaka_yvr
Price: breakfast set $28 (10 a day), lunch sets from $25, bowls $28 – $42
Payment: credit, tap and Apple Pay
Reservations: recommended (bookable on OpenTable), walk-ins welcome if there’s space
Parking: free street parking

604 Food Critics Assessment

I’d get up early again for this breakfast. For $28 you get two perfect onigiri, miso soup and a whole tray of small dishes, with free refills. What stayed with me most was the rice. The room is cozy and the staff were lovely too, and I still smile thinking about the washroom.

Just remember they only make 10 sets a day, so don’t come late.

Food: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Atmosphere: 5/5

If you’re in East Van, near Commercial Drive, it pairs well with a lunch at DownLow Chicken another day.