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Real People. Real Reviews.®
Categories: Japanese, Tapas Bars [Edit]
1698 Robson StMon-Sun 5:30 pm - 12 am
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The best Guu in the chain of Guu restaurants. The Guu chain never fails to impress.
The Guu's serve Japanese "bar" food. These are small tapas which are meant to be had with alcohol and friends. No sushi (except at the Aberdeen Guu)
Their dishes are well done and well presented. I remember one time where the beef tataki was presented in the semblance of a rose.
The restaurant is casual, packed and very loud which is one of my favourite characteristics of the chain. I like that they are overly small and cramped. The waiters and chefs all shout out "irrashaimase" as you walk in which means welcome in Japanese.
As they say "Guu is guud"
Guu continues to be guu'd after all these years.
I'm a big fan of izakayas known for small dishes meant for sharing. The more people you bring, the more different dishes you can sample. On this trip, I brought my mom and my sister and they both enjoyed it very much.
In my previous review, I mentioned the kaki mayoyaki and I believe it deserves my kudos again. It's the baked oysters served as a pair with that tasty sauce. It's very different compared to your typical kaki motoyaki. So don't get them mixed up and assume Guu's baked oysters are just oysters in mayo like the AYCE joints.
Staple options for me at Guu With Garlic are the daikon salad, salmon carpaccio, tako yaki, agedashi tofu, kimchi udon, and ebi mayo.
It's also a good idea to save a little bit of room for the green tea ice cream. Not because it's green tea ice cream, but for the little crisped rice-type sprinkles they put on top. It's hard to imagine that something so small and insignificant can make it that much more enjoyable to consume.
Folks in Vancouver are extremely lucky to have so many great options to fill their foodie bellies with. Guu with Garlic is one of those places. Enjoy!
Listed in: Things To See. People To Do.
I'm always on the fence about going here. On one hand, the food is phenomenal. The other, the waits… Read more »
Really fabulous place. WONDERFUL atmosphere. Super menu. Almost everything I tried was fantastic. The steamed mussels were 'meh', but steamed mussels always seem to leave something to be desired. LOVED the servers here- so much pizazz. I'm still getting over the one token-white-guy server who was able to call out all your orders in perfect Japanese.
Plates are meant to be shared, and average about $5 each. You should expect to order at least 2-3 per person... Or more. hah.
One star deducted because even though our bill was $25 a person (for food & a drink), I still left hungy and had a grab a slice of pizza on the way home.
Guu with Garlic is GUUUUUOOOODDD!!! so wish guu with garlic is not in BC and is in SF... i'm still thinking of their yummy food that i had in February
Guu is THE place to try when in Vancouver!! It's SUCH A GOOD Izakaya... i dont even know if they have one bad dish on the mention.... I wish i could have had EVERYTHING! but i'm glad i got to try a handful of their dishes and all were nom nom nom good.
I had the amaebi, tuna tataki, octopus salad, mussels (OMG so fat and mind blowing good), and kimchi udon....
I dont think i ever used mind blowing good in any izakaya other than those found in Japan... but... I miss u GUU!!
and you know who I have to thank for finding this place... YELP! THANK U FELLOW YELPERS!!
Listed in: Mind Blowing Good Food
Awesome Guu beer!
The employees are having a blast and the food is delicious. Tapas Japanese style?
Beer. Salmon sashimi, kimchi udon.
Very cultural food. I liked it. Sit outside and enjoy the scenery. The people here are amazing.
We showed up, put our name and number on the waiting list and went for a walk to kill some time. We came back and waited an inordinately long time in Vancouver's miserable drizzle before noticing that people who came after us were being seated before us. So I stepped up and made sure we were next. We got a great seat at the bar where we could watch the fun in the kitchen.
I ordered a plum wine to get me started and a sake mojito for the Lady and got down to business. The black cod was tender and flavoured with the usual miso. The prawns were fresh and cooked perfectly. I knew I wanted more so I ordered a bottle of sake and some more food. Pork cheek was one of my favourites along with the beef tongue. Both were so deliciously meaty and I was starting to get full. I really didn't need anything else and the Lady had already quit. But when has that ever stopped me? Next up was salmon carpaccio to cleanse my palate followed by some yakitori to fill me up completely. I poured some sake for the chefs who couldn't believe the amount of food a skinny white boy was putting back. We drained the bottle and called it a night.
Another successful meal in Vancouver!
The best Izakaya in Vancouver. NOTE: any ethnic restaurant that is filled with the corresponding ethnicity means that it rocks. Great, great atmosphere here and the food keeps pace. Okonomyaki is the best in Vancouver. Don't order sake and pretend you like it, instead get some Umeshu on the rocks. It lines up on the weekends, so be prepared to stand and people watch the Robson traffic.
It was our last night in Vancouver and we just had to experience Guu one more time. We opted for Guu With Garlic in the West End because we wanted to watch the sunset over English Bay after dinner. Walking down Robson I was on the lookout for this restaurant and before I spotted it, I heard it from across the street: IRRASHAIMASE!! I
We got a seat on the patio, which was perfect for people watching on Robson. The service here was more attentive than at the Guu on Thurlow. They also had a similar menu with more emphasis on garlic (hence the name).
I had an original cocktail which was a melon liqueur, sake and a scoop of ice cream. Yes, it was a cocktail float and it was awesome. My partner ordered a litre of Sapporo and the glass was bigger than his head!!
I just had to have the Kobacha Korroke one more time. My absolute favourite Guu dish. The tuna tataki was perfection. Seared tuna with garlic chips, slivers of onion and daikon and a ponzu dipping sauce. It melts in your mouth and the garlic chips add a little crunch. Please note that before my trip to Vancouver, I have never eaten raw (or semi raw) fish. So the fact that Guu has gotten me eating tataki, is a sign that they know their food.
Loud, hectic, very popular - make reservations!
I've been here twice and everything I ate was delicious. Definitely a MUST!
Four stars. What a unique and fun experience. The kitchen is open and the chefs have tons of personality. It is dinner theater of sorts. The place is also bustling with a good crowd enjoying even better food. This place does serve sushi, but it is more like an Izakaya. Drinks flow and there is a range of small dishes to make the drinks go down easier. We had a wide range of fantastic dishes. The best were probably the spiced chicken wings and the oden and the sautéed scallop. This is total comfort food executed perfectly. The oden broth was mild and sweet and there were generous pieces of fish cake, tofu and daikon. The spiced chicken wings had a wonderful soy glaze on the outside with the wings themselves quite juicy (as chicken wings go). The scallop was perfectly cooked with a little sear on the outside but a plump and tender rawness in the middle. It was served with bonito flakes and some fried scallions for crunch and flavor. It was probably my favorite of the night--a well conceived and executed dish.
We did have some sashimi, but there are better places to get sushi. The fish was fresh but not very interesting. Stick with the hot small plates. The roasted pork cheek was also memorable. It could have been a bit more seasoned, but you really cannot go too wrong with roasted port. The dessert was a smooth and rich almond tofu. It was a perfect cap to the end of the meal--not too sweet, light enough yet very satisfying. The waits can be long and the sashimi selection needs some work, so it is not 5 stars, but for food quality, service and atmosphere--it is a solid 4 star place.
I went to the Guu on Thurlow last year and really was NOT impressed. The fried chicken pieces dish and the Kimche fried rice were OK at best, and the service was slow. With that and the cramped, loud atmosphere--I decided I wouldn't be back.
Thankfully, friends brought me to the Robson location last night. The layout, service, and food were great. We had the tebasaki chicken wings which were sweet and spicy and succulent. We had the calamari which was rated "best calamari ever" by consensus at our table! We had tuna tataki(?) which was lightly seared on the outside and was very good. The salmon carpaccio was fantastic! Kimche Udon was good but didn't stand out as stellar like most things.
If you're hungry and thirsty--which I usually am, this place could get expensive. But we weren't starving, so the four of us were able to split 2 pitchers of Sake Mojitos, and get enough food to satisfy for $30 each.
I would definitely recommend "Guu with Garlic" on Robson!
Overview: tiny, authentic Japanese tapas restaurant in the West End, with a small, heated street-level outdoor patio.
Food: Interesting and excellent. Small plates, emphasis on seafood. Best Salmon Carpaccio I have ever tasted. Crispy calamari deep fried to sheer perfection. Dessert fans, the avocado cheesecake is not to be missed!
Price: shockingly inexpensive. Dinner for two of us consisted of 4 shared plates (more than enough for not-big-eaters) plus dessert and a drink each. Total with tax & tip? Around $40.
Ambiance: Noisy, cheerful, crowded and fun.
Summary: The perfect place to take out-of-towners. Great for small groups or parties.
I actually went to two of the Guu spots this time up to Vancouver. We had a large group, about 10, so I was fairly surprised they were able to get us in quickly (30 minutes maybe?)
We were seated up at some of the low tables (chabudai maybe?), so shoes off please. The wait staff were excellent, and the shout and call back of orders added to the boisterous atmosphere.
The food was terrific, from the luscious kakuni to the slightly spicy takoyaki. The kimchee udon was ridiculously tasty, as was the beef tongue.
I heartily recommend hitting this place up when in town, even if you have to wait.
After hearing nothing but good things about Vancouver's Guu restaurants (and hearing nothing but scary things about the new Toronto location), I finally tried out the "with Garlic" version on Robson's west end.
Sure enough, we had to put our names on a waiting list, and we had to, well, wait. But one quick shopping trip to the store across the street, one missed phone call, and one more wait in the front entrance later, we got a spot at the "bar" in front of the kitchen.
Guu is an authentic Japanese izakaya, which roughly translates as "boisterous bar-style eatery where people shout things in Japanese." The alpha member of the shouting tribe was the hostess, whose shrill voice seemed custom-designed to pierce the cacaphony of the kitchen and the din of the restaurant.
Whether or not the atmosphere is for you, the food almost certainly will be - unless you have a severe allergy to awesomeness. (That, or seafood). The deep-fried potato balls, were, apart from actually being pronounceable, actually quite delicious, as was the salmon sashimi garnished with the house specialty (garlic, duh).
Also fun were the fusion-y, western-themed drinks, such as plum wine and Coke mojitos, that served as a refreshing foil to the culture-shocking fare (at least, to this land-lubbing Albertan).
Intimate, attentive French-style cuisine it ain't - but Guu is it for a rowdy after-work amuse-bouche or aperitif. Just be prepared to stand in line!
Awesome awesome awesome! I wanted to eat there two nights in a row but I ended up trying another place but this place is fantastic!
Here's my receipt:
http://www.yelp.ca/biz...
We had a party of 11 people. We were up here for a weekend trip and our night started here, which turned out to be a great idea. The overall layout and setup of the restaurant was great. We had reservations at 730pm and was promptly seated.
We ordered a pitcher of Sapporo and a pitcher of Sake Mojito at first, and somehow in the end, ended up with 3 of each. At 15$ for a pitcher, they were a great price. The Sake Mojito tasted like Sprite. It was so delicious. Midway through the dinner everyone in our party was in a great mood and was super vocal. We cheered at every plate, and marveled at how great and unique each dish was.
The service was great. Everything we asked for was given to us quickly. As a group of 11 we got extremely loud, and the waitresses even joined in on our hootin and hollerins.
I don't remember every dish we ordered but some of the highlights were the Chicken Cartilage, Salmon Carpaccio, and the Shrimps. The shrimps were absolutely amazing. After we ate the shrimps, the waitresses collected the heads and fried them. The fried shrimp heads were delicious.
At the end of the dinner, we were all buzzed and tipsy and ready to start the night. We weren't extremely full, but we got a taste of all the great items that this place provided. It was $25 each. For the amount we drank, the good food we ate, and the atmosphere, this place was very worth it. I can't wait to visit this place again.
This is my favourite resto on Robson.
Food - try the croquette, the salmon carpaccio, the plum udon; there are very few "complete misses" on the menu. The food is heavily seasoned but it all works and it's consistent. Wash it down with chilled plum wine.
Service - polite although trademark loud (orders are shouted at the chef in Japanese as it's a unique open kitchen concept resto). Make a reservation 1-2 days in advance as most people don't realize it's the only Guu which sometimes takes reservations.
Ambiance - this restaurant is LOUD. Not that it's a bad thing, but you should expect to have a raucous animated conversation with friends over tapas; don't come here for some quiet time.
Listed in: Izakaya oisheee!
REALLY good food that tasted very authentic. This place reminded me of the younger/trendier restaurants in Tokyo's Shibuya district--w/ the high-pitched waitstaff screaming your order across the room and all!
A japanese tapas bar is the best way to describe this restaurant and it's always packed, loud, and yummy, You'll leave full without spending a fortune on quality food. The fish is fresh and I love the garlic garnish on their dishes. A great place to go with friends (if you can get a seat).
Yes. Very yes.
After reading some good reviews on yelp we walked down here from our hotel. We put our name on the list and they took our phone number so we walked around to kill some time. Got in and this place is small and packed and loud! Great fun atmosphere.
The Kimchi hot pot kicks ass! The flavors aren't too masked like they sometimes can be, here they did this one just right.
We had some grilled eel, mushroom and mozzarella stuffed pastry that was redonkulously good.
I also opted for the chef's sashimi special which had three full shrimp, and two tuna varieties, (3 ea). Everything here was good.
We also had an Udon dish with some plum... I think it was the Ume-Shiso-Udon. This was also damn good. Very delicate and fresh flavors.
I started off by giving this place 4 stars but as I started going through all the dishes we had I realized that everything was really damn good so I had to knock it up to 5 :-)
Why oh why do you not exist in the bay area?! Absolutely wonderful food and loved the ambiance. The snapper carpaccio was so amazing that we ordered a 2nd plate. We had tears in our eyes when the bill came -- it was so inexpensive that we wanted to uproot and move to Vancouver. One can dream....
Guu With Garlic, please add a teleportation device to your restaurant so I and my cool little Guu With Garlic anniversary packable chopsticks can visit whenever we want!
I love this place. Yet another of 1,001 reasons to go back to Vancouver.
Unique, small, noisy, vibrant, and DELICIOUS. I've never had such a wonderful meal on what's basically a picnic bench before.
I won't even try to recount what our party of 7 had. Simply try a bunch of things off their at-first-chaotic menu, and you'll hit the jackpot on something.
The best part was the fact that the staff welcomed us with open arms, almost literally. Everyone seemed to love working there, a rarity in restaurants. And they loved my 2-year-old nephew, who got almost as much attention here as he did from his grandma during the rest of the vacation. They'd shout out a menu item, he'd shout gibberish, and everyone would laugh. He did such a good job that the sushi chef offered a job to him when he grows up.
The salmon carpaccio and grilled scallops are good too. Actually, they're divine.
After trying Guu Original on my trip to Vancouver my wife and I decided we had to try Guu Garlic. I have to say the food was awesome! However, the wait time not so much. When we got there the hostess originally said it would be like 1/2 hour wait. I think we ended up waiting 1 1/2 hours! Granted you can't always control when people will leave after being done with their meals. There were quite a few people who took a reallllyyy long time to leave after finishing their meals and paying their checks. A huge social faux pas in my book if you see a ginormous line of people waiting to eat.
So we tried the Salmon Carpaccio which was amazing. Yaki Udon - very tasty. Kakuni - very different from the Guu Original version, but pretty tasty. I can't remember what else we got (it was a few weeks ago), but everything we ordered was great.
This is a pretty small place in a pretty busy neighborhood so I suggest going really early in order to make sure you get fed in time. Even though we waited a long time it was worth it. Similar to Guu original but probably even more crowded, but just as loud and boisterous. Wish they had a place like this in SF or better yet the south bay.
I actually didn't know this was a Tapas bar when I decided to try it with a friend. We ordered a couple of items and got a strange look when we said "that's all" -- but after watching everyone else get their dishes, we figured it out and grabbed the waitress to order some additional dishes.
Everything came out separately (not just a result of our ordering, seemed like that with everyone) so you kind of eat a bit for a longer period of time rather than all at once. Food was very good. Very busy when we went there, definitely had a louder party atmosphere so be prepared to hang out.
Guu with Garlic is an excellent little izakaya with menu items that are largely accessible to diverse audiences as well as folks craving authentic Japanese flavors and staples. Moreover, it is an extremely good value in a restaurant; four people can order food and grown-up drinks and leave full for around $125.
I went to this Guu on a recent Sunday night with three friends who aren't particularly adventurous eaters (although neither are they particularly shy), and none of us ordered anything we didn't like, except perhaps the fried ama ebi in Japanese mayo. (Fuck you, grammar teacher--deal with [at least] a QUADRUPLE negative! ["Except" is arguably negative.]) This latter sauce disdain has more to do with a national political movement in the U.S. that is secretly trying to disinvent mayonnaise that my friends and I are complicitly involved with (although strangely, aioli is still ok), than it does with the shrimp not being expertly fried and obviously fresh. The other reason for my three-star rating (as opposed to four) is that we did have some trouble with the service that evening--it was very difficult to get our water and other glasses refilled and some of the plethora of items we ordered had to be ordered twice.
Mayonnaise-bashing sect membership aside, Guu with Garlic is a tad too beholden to mayo, with Japanese versions of the condiment appearing on every third menu item or so. While the "with Garlic" part of their name would suggest exactly that, fried garlic chips seem to appear on a similar proportion of tapas. I absolutely love garlic, but it seems to undermine the flavor of so many dishes at Guu with Garlic that you can get tired of it if you don't order carefully. Plus, since everybody loves garlic (for the most part), you can get away with a lot as a restaurant (chef/owner/etc.) by ensuring its ubiquitousness in your menu items, making the fried garlic gimmick a little too obvious and safe.
In addition to the fried and extremely tender ama ebi with too much mayo, other dishes that we ordered that were wonderful included a ramen noodle with barbecued (char siu-like) pork and green onions, a duck breast and romaine salad, a rice bowl with unagi and egg, red tuna sashimi, salmon carpaccio, and udon noodles with pork in a thick gravy-like broth. Every single one of these items as well as a few other items I can't remember were excellent and perfectly cooked. While there was no monkfish liver salad on the menu (I highly suggest you pick one up, Guu), this was the second best izakaya I've ever been to on the West Coast of North America.
I would wholeheartedly recommend trying everything on the menu; if I lived in Vancouver and had the option to come back soon, I would try their beef tongue, 'tukemono', salmon belly, and any sablefish special tapas I could wrap my tongue around.
I really liked this place and I enjoyed my servers even though I was dehydrated from the tiny Vancouver adult libations I'd been drinking all night that never seemed to alter my consciousness but only appeared to earn taxes at check time and make me parched; slow service would not have been a big deal if I wasn't trying to have a progressive through a town in a country that understands the social costs of alcohol and acts accordingly through taxes and Lilliputian, expensive beverages. (Vancouver wants you to get high, not drunk.) Slow water refills, crushed pear vodkas with no vodka (however cheap) that couldn't be replenished as quickly as I liked, a 30-minute wait for our seat, and picnic table-style dining when the food comes out so belatedly and staggered can be difficult to deal with, no matter how killer the movie or show was that you just got out of (yes, what defines an izakaya is basically "Japanese late-nite [stoner] food and drink").
I know that if I came back again and again I'd give Guu with Garlic a consistent 4-stars for flavor and value but the first experience made me wish I had more juice with my toast, more padding for my ass on that picnic table bench, more patience for my server, a slightly better ratio of company quality per unit time spent (not Guu's fault), and more ice water to wash it all down with.
And the shouting that other Yelpers complain about? Get used to it. It's part of Guu's charm and not actually something that detracts from the atmosphere. If you're worried about what they're saying because you don't speak Japanese, you can just relax and rest assured that it's always lewd and unbelievably terrible snarky comments directed exclusively at you. Also, don't forget about the "feet room" in the front where you remove your shoes and sit on the floor. If you've ever wanted to know what sashimi tastes like when it doesn't smell like sashimi, that's the dining area for you!
I wasn't so gung-ho about this place. At first I heard lots and I mean lots of reviews about this place. My boyfriend brought me here for my birthday and both of us were quite disappointed. The food is creative, but it was way too salty for our liking. Perhaps we just don't eat as much salt, but overdose of sauce is not my liking.
I might come back one of these days if I wanted a place with only cooked Japanese food.
Oh, and if you wanted to go to a quiet Japanese place for a meal - this is definitely not your restaurant. VERY loud!
Surprisingly we came at 6:30 on a Tuesday and didn't have to wait but we were told there was a 2 hour time limit for food. Normally we put our name on the list, walk around a bit before waiting since it's always busy but I guess having so many different Guus to choose from may have to do with the lack of having to wait or it was just a fluke since it was an off day.
We always order the ebi mayo, kakuni, miso cod, tako wasabi and whatever sashimi special they have that day. Simply the best Japanese tapas place in the city.
This is the very first place my cuzns brought me to from YVR... (my very first trip to Vancouver)... and i got to experience the best japanese tapas place "Guu with Garlic"... Guu is Super Guuuuuu'd !!!!
i'm from LA so i'm no newbie to authentic japanese places where they'll shout to greet you in and out, and sitting on the floor experience etc.... But to find everything i love about authentic japanese cuisine in japanese tapas, on a busy and happening Robson Street in the middle of downtown Vancouver on a Friday night.... and to TOP it ALL, Guu with "Garlic"??? If anyone only knew garlic is my favorite ingredient of all kind !!! i mean this place is perfect... it is so tailored to welcome me, upon my arrival in Vancouver, that experience couldn't be any better!
we had the ebi-mayo, tuna-tataki, beef tongue, grilled cod, garlic butter scallops, baked mussels and that special chicken wings!!! those chicken wings are a must-have!!!
They say this place is always packed. and they do not take reservations. I would definitely come back on my next visits to vancouver :))
I love this place and can not say it more. It is great food in a great fun casual atmosphere. Big hits for me are the Pork Cheeks, Ebi Mayo, and a Black Cod that can induce orgasm . If you are looking to try a Izakaya this should be your first stop, plain and simple like. I am blessed to literally live around the corner from Guu. And if you are lucky, on a Thurs, Fri, or Sat night late you may even get a floor show outside on the bench by a local drunk and passed out ESL student. It seems to happen a lot there. The staff is great the Chefs are gifted it is truly a Vancouver treasure for your tummy
I found Guu with Garlic oddly cozy and homey. Certainly not something I was expecting from a trendy Japanese restaurant. I was seated with my party at a plain wooden table on long benches. The service was really great! Every time another person in our group walked in another basket full of hot towels would instantly appear at the table.
But it's not just the yelling waitresses that draw people in. The food is pretty awesome, too. Red tuna sashimi was the fresh special of the day, very buttery and our first order even came with a little dish of chopped fatty bits as a side treat. I had to have the Okonomiyaki because I love it. It wasn't a let down, but I have had better. I also ended up with a delicious eel pastry and some plum wine to end the evening.
It was a thoroughly delightful way to celebrate a friend's birthday.
Guuuuuuuuuuu is Great! definitely a place to visit for some great izakaya action when you're in vancouver. i seriously don't know why izakaya's haven't caught on in toronto....tsk tsk.
food: really nicely done, portions aren't too small, just right. ebi mayo, mackerel tataki, and beef tongue are standouts for me. but most everything on the menu is pretty good....
atmopshere: LOUD LOUD LOUD. small small small. be prepared for a very tiny casual place, loud music and servers screaming orders back and forth the entire duration of your visit. doesn't sound appealing? well for some reason: IT WORKS. hahaha! i kno i kno....how is that comfortable? well it's not relaxing per se....so be warned....but if you're interested in being in an energetic, authentic japanese enviro with some fun enthusiatic people, it's a good spot to go. do NOT expect to carry on a meaningful conversation here. although...it might be a good place for break-ups what with all the screaming going on! :)
value: Great price point for what you're getting. some innovative dishes that are tasty and well portioned for the price.
service: since the place is so damn small, it's hard NOT to have a server screaming close by. just grab somebody whenever you want something!
IMO-the best Guu in town. :)
Ahhhh, I made the mistake of going for my virgin Guu experience at lunch, and AS SOON as I got there and looked at the menu I realized the folly of my ways...
However, since I had made plans to meet a girlfriend, Guu for lunch it was.
The menu at lunch is a tiny fraction of the dinner menu, primarily burgers (albeit Asian style burgers with rice flour buns and Kobe beef) and pizza (again Asian pizza... but who wants Asian pizza?) and a few rice bowls. Sigh, I had such high high high, gastronomic (yes, this is a pun) expectations and felt rather squishy and deflated.
BUT, I am going to go for dinner, so this is just the Guu for Lunch review.
Small place, 3 picnic tables (communal seating), bar seating (about 10 people and 2 tables that seat 4 in a pinch). Plus there is the outside but at lunchtime the sun is not on their side of the street which makes it a bit chilly unless appropriately dressed. Also, at lunch you don't stink because it's in no way shape or form packed (because people are smarter than me and don't come at lunch).
Food. It was OK. We ordered the ebi mayonnaise as a starter as EVERYONE raves about it and it was good, what's not to like about deep fried prawns and mayo... hello??!! Though if you have ever been to Nobu, their ebi mayo kicks any I have ever had anywhere.
My girlfriend ordered the spicy prawn pizza, made with rice flour and topped with, yes, prawns and cheese. It was missing something, good, but not amazing, needed some garlic, onion and maybe more cilantro. It came with a pumpkin soup in an itty bitty little bowl (4 spoonfuls) that was soooooooooooo sweet (I had forgotten how the Japanese love their sugar) I could have had it as an ice cream topping.
I had their rice bowl which on the menu sounded so much cooler than actuality. I got the stewed ground pork (alas also very sweet), which had a dollop of mushed potatoes, some bit of lettuce, Japanese pickle (sweet) and rice. Uninspiring and did I mention sweet?
I left feeling dissatisfied and kinda yuck, like I needed to go get some exercise (which I have planned in another couple of hours).
Cool points, when you order your fresh grapefruit juice, they bring you 2 halves of a grapefruit, a squeezer and a glass of ice. Unique, though a grapefruit squeezed yields about a gulp of liquid. Note to Guu, next time 4 grapefruit halves.
Ahhhhh, I really wanted this review to be good and it's so hum drum. Again, I am going to go for dinner. My advice, do not go for lunch unless you like sugar in your food and are OK with having nothing from the dinner menu. The only item from the dinner menu were the ebi prawns and maybe the fries with nori (translated into french fries sprinkled with seaweed bits)
Grumble, grumble, grumble... I gained 2lbs for this review, feel thankful.
I love Guu, I've been taking my out of town guests here for years. The food is always tasty (although I'm sad that they don't have the Creamy Seafood Korroge anymore) and I love that the drink menu has evolved over time.
The energy here is great, my guests have always had a great time here and the servers are always friendly (if a little slow with the cocktails). The open and boisterous kitchen, with orders being shouted to the kitchen and back to servers in acknowledgment, adds to the fun atmosphere and helps to make it a unique dining experience.
It offers everything that I want in a dining experience. Good prices (adds up fast though), good drinks, well balanced and delicious food items and character that is one of a kind.
Don't sit up top unless you are very limber, your butt and legs will fall asleep at the traditional low tables.
Our family of 4 adults and 2 kids (ages 3 and 6) really enjoyed our recent dinner at Guu on Robson. We sat in the upper level with the seats on the ground; it reminded me of the traditional sushi houses in Taiwan that I visited as a child. All the adults at the table love sushi/sashimi; and none of us were familiar with Japanese Izakaya style food (other than one unremarkable fried octopus ball dish DH and I tried recently at a Portland sushi restaurant). We all loved the meal; my 70+ year old father-in-law rarely raves about meals and he raved about this place during and after the meal. Everything we tried -- about a dozen items -- was outstanding except for (1) the fried chicken (as it, unlike the other dishes, just wasn't anything special) and (2) the ox-tail soup udon special (as there was something about the flavoring that neither DH nor I liked). My favorite of the night were the Tuna Takati and Salmon-Carpaccio; the yellowtail sashimi was also terrific. When we have a chance to return to Vancouver, Guu with Garlic is definitely on my list of "must visit" restaurants. I'd also like to try one other Guu location as I noticed that the menus vary among the different locations.
Fun place that reminds me of a restaurant comparable in Atlanta called Ru San's: Great atmosphere and drinks with guud, inexpensive food.
I opted for the Aloe Mojito (yum, I love Aloe Juice). It was delicious and I was given an interesting bottle of some soda with it... After cluelessly tampering with the top of the bottle, my next-door-stranger (seated next to me) pleasantly came to my assistance and pressed the marble (on the top) with his thumb to open it. Guudness, that was hard.
The BF and I shared (in English language) Fried Mashed Potatoes stuffed with chicken- they were only OK. Our edamame was guud, but really, is it even feasible to go wrong with that?! We had the Tuna and Salmon Sashimi which was guuud (3 u's to represent more goodness). And we opted for the Udon noodles with Spicy Kimchi. They were guud.
Last thing we ordered was a special of Fried Brie Cheese with Blueberry sauce. I really did not think it was that guud (nor did Matt, as we only ate 1/4 of them).
But, the atmosphere is guuuuuuud and fun (did you get that?.. I used 7 u's to emphasize its goodness this time:) I would definitely go back if I lived in BC. Main complaint is that they need more vegetarian inspired plates.
My friend: "Vancouver offers top notch Japanese food that doesn't exist in Toronto. Let me take you to Guu.(IZAKAYA)"
This place is unique and the huge wait is a big sign. High quality Japanese tapas with a hip flair. The waitstaff are lively and make this place hop.
Delicious meat skewers, grilled miso black cod, beef tongue, the list goes on....everything is done well.
Can I open up one of these in Toronto and just watch the cash roll in? I need me some investors.
This place is a must-go-to simply because of the atmosphere. It's so much fun to be in this kind of an atmosphere where they yell everything you ordered. It makes you want to participate!!
We were 6 and we sampled probably 13 different items. Some of them were good. Some were not things i prefer. Here are some of the items that stood out-
Yay:
Ebi Mayo
Tuna Yukke
Calamari
Okonomiyaki
Bean Curd wrapped shrimp dumpling
Nay:
Oden
Pumpkin wrapped boiled egg
Kimchi Udon
We were first seated outside on the patio, but then we got moved inside to my contentment. I think this is definitely one place where if you can get an inside seat it's better because then you can experience the atmosphere. If you get a bar seat, you're even luckier because you can watch them cook and yell at the same time! It's so hectic it's fun!
Drink specials are pretty good--Peach Mojito for $16! It was pretty tasty too. I liked that they don't put as much ice in it so that everyoen gets a full glass. Awesome!
Listed in: Sip & Grub in Downtown…, A Picky Sushi Eater's Guide to…
Love this restaurant, but haven't been back in years simply b/c of the horrendous wait. It's horrible. And not their fault; supply and demand right?
They DO have a lovely but small outdoor patio, but the restaurant itself is TINY. Same goes for their Thurlow location. The one in gastown is bigger, but lacks in atmosphere for some reason.
Service is great, I love izakayas. Love their tataki. Last time I came, we had this fried crab ball thing? I even posted a picture! Can't believe I kept it after all those years.
Regardless, it's on my list to do next time I'm back in Vancouver. Word to the wise - call ahead for resos!
loud loud loud.
The staff here move around and scream non-stop! Not to mention the loud music in the background as well. It might be part of the dining experience but it was difficult to speak to the person sitting right across from you.
The sashimi dishes were delicious! The salmon, tuna and mackerel tataki were fresh and paired with yuzu, shiso and ginger, which was excellent. The sea urchin came with sheets of seaweed and it melted in my mouth!
The seared beef tongue, which I found to be rather tough in texture was not so good. The eel in puff pastry was not a good combination all together since the pastry was too heavy.
With so many dishes to choose from, there's bound to be hit and misses but overall, it's a great restaurant for izakayas!
P.S. I found this location farrrr better than the Guu in Aberdeen.
Neighborhood: Downtown
Neighborhood: Downtown
Neighborhood: West End
Neighborhood: West End
Neighborhood: West End
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