With less than 40 days until my trip to Japan, I have been having Japanese food cravings so I decided to go to Yozakura, the only Japanese restaurant in Drayton Valley. Yozakura is also one of the newest restaurants in town being only a year old.
I have been wanting to devour tempura and pork katsu so when I got to the restaurant, I knew what I had to order. I still looked at the menu when I sat down and their pork or shrimp gyoza did tempt me but I decided to stick to my plan and ordered shrimp tempura and pork katsu.
Food: The shrimp tempura was cooked to perfection. The coating was light, soft yet crispy, and super tasty. The shrimp was tender. A single order of shrimp tempura (six pieces) costs CAD$9.95. I usually don’t finish my food but this was so good I ate all of it with nothing left for take out!
Their pork katsu is also to die for. They serve you with two slices of huge pork katsu which also comes with rice and salad on the side. They have one of the best pork katsu I ever had in my life. Yozakura‘s pork katsu costs CAD$12.95.
I do not eat sushi nor sashimi so I am sorry I can’t say if they serve good sushi or sashimi.
Service: My friend, Sayuri, served me. All of the staff of Yozakura is friendly and I am not saying that because my friend works there. Everyone that works there actually makes their guests feel welcomed.
Ambience: The restaurant’s facade is not much but it looks pretty decent inside. They have fake cherry blossom and other Japanese ornaments as decor which makes you feel like you are transported from small town Drayton Valley to Japan.
Would I recommend you to check out Yozakura? Absolutely! I would even say that Yozakura is the best restaurant in Drayton Valley. A lot of people would say White Bull Cafe is the best restaurant in Drayton Valley but for me it is Yozakura. That is just a personal choice and to be fair, we cannot really compare an American diner-type restaurant (White Bull Cafe) from a Japanese restaurant (Yozakura). I do like White Bull Cafe a lot, too! In fact, it is my second favourite restaurant in town.
Location: 5120 52 Avenue Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada T7A 1R6
Contact info: (780) 542-4641
Hours: M-Sat: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
