Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ — Restaurant in Richmond

This rating is for the service I recently experienced because you know the food is always 5/5 at Gyu-Kaku.

To give a little background, my boyfriend and I were going to be a few minutes late for our 10 o'clock reservation so I pushed it back to 10:15. We got there at 10:06 and signed in, but it wasn't until almost 10:30 that we got to sit down. I didn't mind the wait up until 10:15, since I figured it's not technically our time anyway, but I was disappointed that we only found out the reason for our delay when we went up to ask about our table--apparently something went wrong with the table and they had to clean something up. If we hadn't gone up to ask, I honestly would have thought they were just ignoring us with the aloof attitudes of the girls at the front. In any case, a different girl leads us to our table and apologizes for the wait. Little did I know, that wait was just the beginning.

I raised my hand 3 different times (eventually putting it down when I got tired), and many people saw it (cleaners, hostesses, other servers), but apparently we just didn't have a dedicated server for our area or something because it took another 8-9 minutes after sitting down before someone came to take our order. This is my 5th time at this location so I know how Gyu-Kaku servers usually introduce themselves and ask if we need help with the menu and etc., but our dude just went straight to taking our order.

Our food arrives quickly but after asking how everything was once, no one comes to check on us to see if we need refills or have any more orders, so we had to ask another server who was kind enough to replace our grill, bring us drinks, and let us know it was last call.

Our dessert seemed like it was never going to arrive, so after many eye contact failures, I raised my hand for a minute and a girl comes to help us.

We were one of the last ones to leave just because we didn't receive timely service. A large group who arrived after we ordered and sat in the next row even left before us.

A different server brought us our bill. After expressing our disappointment with the service, he brought over the manager who listened to our story, so at least we were heard.

All I need to rate the service well at a restaurant is honestly just drink refills and timely responses. Dear Gyu-Kaku employees, if you see a hand raised up, even if it's not your responsibility/area, at least call someone over who can help (like most restaurants do). That night left me feeling like we were just another bill.

To top it off, that night we got a table with poor lighting. You could hardly tell if the meat was cooked properly because part of the grill was dark since our lamp had a dying light bulb (you can see the round shadow from the lamp in...

I have worked in the food industry for at least 10 years and that includes 3 years in Korea in a hotel so I hope my review will help people in the future who are thinking about coming here. This place had the same atmosphere and experience when comparing to other BBQ locations, but please safe your money and go to a different location and have a better experience. The service was really good, but its the food that was a big issue for myself. I went there for the first time today for a birthday party and I have never felt this disappointed with a resteraunt. I never write reviews, but this resteraunt really took the cake that I had to release my frustration here. Just a heads up our bill was over 500 for 3 combos that were meant for 3 people each combo. So it should feed 9 people and we had a few drinks. Myself having worked in resteraunts and being Korean volunteered to be the cooker for the BBQ and when the meat arrived I was in disbelief of how little the portioning was. Usually 1 portion is around 120g to 150g at most restaurants who do BBQ. I dont quite know how they do it in Kaku, but my group was of 9 split into 5 and 4, i was in the group of 5, after giving them a piece of meat the size of a thumb and so thin that it sticks to the grill, there was nothing left to eat for myself. Calamari, salad, all fing fillers too increase your price and cheat the customer. Corn cheese, literally nacho cheese and corn. Calamari, all processed shit from Gordon, Tesco ,or tnt distribution. The whole point is BBQ in your resteraunt and all you do is provide the experience with really bad portions and high prices. If you take that 500 to Skobi located in Langley, anybody would probably be impressed with the quality and notice the big difference between Kaku and other BBQ joints. Like I have mentioned before I usually do not write reviews about any restaurant I have visited, but this place, I have to put it out there. Never have I felt so dissatisfied with a resteraunt, never. Even after seeing a mouse running in a pizza joint, I did not write a review of how dirty it must be, but please safe your money and if you dont mind the drive, give skobi in Langley a try. Pricy but at least satisfying and happy at the end. Kaku feels like a trap for people who dont know what real Asian BBQ is like~ I can't emphasize this enough. Save your money and treat yourself to something worth while. At the end of the whole experience, I left after drinking a mug of beer, 2 pieces of thumb size meat, a spoon of corn cheese, a cup of miso, a shot of sake, and a smore for 80$........and...

Coming from a Brazilian born and raised person who loves BBQ and does it two to three times a week, I must say that I was impressed with the quality of the meats and the overall experience. I been there so far on September 10th, 11th, and 23rd, and were great. The staff was great! Special shout out to Aman, who was extremely caring and kind. For those with savoury palate, I suggest: (my favourites) Premium Sirloin, Kolbi Chuck Rib, and Toro, as you can eat these without the need of any other sauce, they are perfect. Toro goes well with plain rice, because it is fatty and juicy. Definitely give them a try, specially during Happy Hours. My wife loves the fillet mignon, which is pretty soft / tender, but you do need to use it some sauce with it, as it is thicker and its own seasoning isn't enough. She loves to eat the mignon with the melted cheese fundue. We also love their garlic fried rice! I have been into many Korean BBQ places before, but it was our first time in an actual Japanese BBQ place. Even though there are lots of similarities, I must say that the flavour of the marinades here are way better (in my opinion), as it is savoury and resembles a lot the way we (Brazilians) season meat for our BBQs. The Korean marinares are more like sweet or sour, not savoury/salty. Definitely recommend this place! Their weekday lunch menu is also amazing and super accessible. I work in downtown Vancouver and I have been going quite often to their location for lunch. Another thing that speaks out in this place is that they have a fan / vaccum around the grill that pulls the smoke, preventing it from going towards us or from getting stuck into your clothing. If you are getting any smoke going towards you, just speak with one of the staff members and they help you with that. Also, whoever came up with the idea of sitting the whole family together in a table for barbecuing, is definitely a genius! Usually, in anywhere else, only the person responsible for the grilling stays in the bbq while the others stay at another table or room. Sometimes the griller stays outside while everyone else is inside. But now, picture this, you are able to sit next to your beloved one, to grill along with them, to serve them in the way they like, and to talk and enjoy their presence all at the same time. This is just AWESOME! I want to install a bbq table like that in my home now! 😄

Thank you Gyu-Kaku for such a great experience!

-William...