Hapa Izakaya
Website
WHERE
Restaurant websites are either really good or really bad. Most rely on a representation of the menu and some photos to capture the essence of the dining experience. The bad ones usually also have some kind of thumping soundtrack better suited to a dance club than somewhere trying to promote good food.
Hapa Izakaya’s existing website was somewhere in between, and in the face in increasing izakaya style dining in Vancouver, not to mention competition for diners in general, needed to do something. In fact, the site belied how unique and incredible the entire experience of dining there is, starting from the unadorned black entrance door.
IDEAS
Hapa Izakaya is a traditional izakaya, a sort of action-packed Japanese bistro/pub serving fancy martinis along with warm home style Japanese food – not the standard sushi fare.
Hapa Izakaya, literally meaning “leaf bistro” is the kind of place that you only know about if you’ve been fortunate enough to have been told by someone “in the know.” Guests there enjoy sharing the hot tapas-style dishes, cool salads and ice cold sake served in bamboo cups.
We quickly dismissed the traditional wood block, Japanese, hand-made paper style aesthetic, plus we knew from our own experiences at both locations that we had to capture the fusion of izakaya with the urban contemporary environment of Hapa. We also had to create a site that would be easy for the client to keep up to date and would rank well with search engines so no run of the mill Flash site for this restaurant!
WORK
The result is a site that remains current and accurately mirrors the experience of walking into Hapa Izakaya, from the dark background (remember that black front door) to the greeting by the chefs and delicious treats that await inside We highly recommend the negitoro, mackeral, ebi mayo, garlic squid and tofu-cheese. Yum. Oh, and when you’re there, buy the kitchen a beer—it’s fun to watch.
Launch website: www.hapaizakaya.com
