Final Meal Before Duty-Free: Gyubee Japanese Grill

For our last meal before crossing the border, we returned to our beloved Gyubee Japanese Grill - this time trying their Merivale location instead of our usual downtown spot. Here's the detailed comparison between the two branches: 📍 Gyubee Merivale vs. Downtown 👍 Merivale Advantages 🅿️ Free & Easy Parking - No more circling downtown streets! Their spacious lot makes arrival stress-free. 📏 More Spacious - Tables feel less cramped, great for groups (we counted 8 more tables than downtown). 🍖 Black Pepper Short Ribs - Exclusive to their lunch menu, these have a wonderful peppery crust. 👎 Merivale Disadvantages ⏰ No Happy Hour - Downtown offers 10% off 11:30am-4pm daily. 🍦 Basic Dessert - Just vanilla soft serve (downtown has premium matcha/black sesame hard scoop). 🍽️ Menu Deep Dive Both locations share the same all-day menu featuring: Premium AAA beef tongue Marbled chuck flap Garlic shrimp Spicy miso soup But their lunch specials differ: Location Lunch Exclusive Cut Price Merivale Black Pepper Short Rib $14.99 Downtown Secret Kalbi Short Rib $16.99 Pro Tip: The kalbi downtown has better marbling, but Merivale's pepper crust adds nice texture. 💸 Value Assessment After 5+ visits, I've calculated: Light Eaters (like me): ~$15 value Heavy Eaters (like my partner): Easily $30+ worth The sweet spot? 2pm-4pm at downtown for happy hour pricing! 🥩 What We Ordered Beef Tongue (always get seconds!) Miso-Marinated Chuck Flap (our MVP) Garlic Shrimp (perfect doneness) Kimchi Stew (spice level just right) The meat quality remains consistently excellent across locations - no shortcuts on their AAA Canadian beef. 🌟 Final Verdict For Convenience: Merivale wins with parking and space. For Experience: Downtown's happy hour and premium desserts edge ahead. Next time? We're doing downtown for dessert then Merivale for dinner - the ultimate Gyubee tour! #Gyubee #JapaneseBBQ #OttawaEats #AllYouCanEat #MeatLover #FoodieReview #OttawaFoodie #KanataEats #DutyFreeFeast