Guu with Garlic — Restaurant in Vancouver

TLDR: They serve microwaved/reheated food. Nothing tastes fresh or freshly cooked. Service is lacklustre and forget your order.

We planned a day prior to visit this izakaya after walking past it the other day. We wish that we didn’t. We were the only patrons in the restaurant.

Tuna tataki did not taste fresh. The garlic slices looked like the dehydrated grocery store ones. Everything about the dish was stale. The okonomiyaki and beef steak were cold. The okonomiyaki tasted like poorly reheated pre-made cakes made using a cookie cutter mould. Just cabbage and batter. We won’t be wrong in presuming that they had reheated frozen ones from the grocery store but we don’t know for sure. Nonetheless, it was definitely not fresh because it had cold spots inside it. The beef steak was disgusting and cold too. The miso soup was served at the end of the meal but they did apologise for this delay. Miso soup wasn’t spectacular or anything special. It tasted like those freeze dried reconstituted soup with two slivers of tofu. The grilled mackerel was the only item that felt remotely fresh but it lacked any flavour or salt. Such a huge waste of money at this restaurant. Each item was a huge disappointment.

Then the chefs just went outside for a smoke or something and the rest of our order was forgotten. When they walked in, I called the waitress who was cleaning the windows right behind where we were seated. I think that’s quite an impolite thing to do with seated guests. She didn’t apologise for the forgotten order but had kindly accepted our request for it to be cancelled. We were actually more worried if we would get sick from their poorly reheated stale food.

We love Japanese food and go to Japan or to Japanese restaurants very often. I must say that this is the first time that we were disappointed in a Japanese food place when Japanese people are known for their work ethics, hospitality and dedication to their chosen art. Therefore, for the first time, we left without tipping to make a point. The guy at the till was polite and he did say in Japanese to others that we didn’t tip but he didn’t ask if there was any issue. Perhaps he wasn’t sure how to approach this. We are sorry for not tipping but the service and food was worse than a reheated 7-11 pie. This place is definitely not what an izakaya should be.

Please make fresh food instead of serving reheated food. If we wanted to eat microwaved or reheated food, we can do...

ごちそうさまでした😌

Today, I came back to Guu with Garlic again. This is my third time. This time, I had something personally good happen, so I wanted to celebrate with some drinks, which I had been refraining from until now, and came to enjoy myself.

Usually I order beer, but this time I wanted to get to know the world of sake, and I was hoping there might be someone knowledgeable about sake there. To put it simply, I think this was the best experience I’ve had so far.

Sho-san — he was a gentleman who listened carefully to what I wanted and guided me through the world of sake.

The dishes I ordered this time were 炙り〆鯖, 焼きうどん, なめ茸冷奴, 備長マグロのタタキ, and 厚揚げおでん. Every single one was truly delicious, and I couldn’t feel anything but happiness.

Sho-san recommended sake within the category I wanted, which was junmai. The first one I tried was 一白水成 (Ippakusuisei). He served it chilled, and also suggested the もっきり (mokkiri) style of pouring sake into a glass set inside a wooden box. That left a deep impression on me and was definitely a memorable experience.

The pairing of Ippakusuisei with the Tuna Tataki was outstanding.

Next, I ordered a sake called 神亀(Shinnkame). This one was a bit different from Ippakusuisei — drier — and he told me that compared to drinking it cold, you could better experience its flavor and mouthfeel with 熱燗 (hot sake), so he let me try it warm. Amazingly, he also kindly prepared a cold version of Shinkame on the side so I could do a tasting comparison. I was so grateful that I couldn’t keep up with how thankful I felt. Really, thank you so much.

I remember Shinkame warm went really well with the Tuna Tataki, which was also his recommendation.

Lastly, based on a server’s suggestion, I had a junmai sake labeled super dry — 谷川岳 (Tanigawadake)— served mokkiri style.

This one had an incredibly clean taste, which surprised me yet again. It also paired nicely with the Tuna Tataki.

The conversation with the wine-loving person in the kitchen was super interesting and fun, and it made me want to drink more. The conversation with the server was also really enjoyable, and in hindsight I feel like I ended up talking too much about myself. I must have thought “what a great place this is” countless times.

Sho-san, who guided me through the world of sake, the kitchen staff who made all the wonderful dishes, and the servers who always greet me with a smile — thank you all so...

Guu’ing around…

I have tried pretty all the locations multiple times throughout the years starting with the original Guu because of their pumpkin croquet. All the locations are a good little hang out placed with some friends over some food and drinks; each location has a little theme with a slightly different menu.

However sometimes the quality of the food are a hit and missed because they change their menu slightly throughout the different seasons of the year. Yes, that shouldn’t be an excuse for subpar food anywhere when you are paying for it.

This time around, here were the food I ordered at this location;

Garlic soy sauce marinated okra. Nothing worth mentioning about this dish other than why did I even ordered it? Assorted Oden. This is usually my warm up dish, unfortunately the only thing warm was the both. Once again, soup are most flavourful when hot not warm plus forgot to give me the mustard on the side which I like. Failed! 3 kinds of sashimi (sockeye salmon, albacore toro, hamachi). Very fresh and tasty. Beef tataki. The onion and sauce were too overwhelming, took away most of the beef flavour. Ebi mayo. Pretty generic dish overall. Kimchi udon. Could use a little more seasoning and butter to enhance the flavour, and perhaps a bit more fish roe? Sorry this used to be a specialty dish I make way before any restaurant even consider it on their menu. Miso marinated black cod. It was perfectly done, tasty and tender. Until the guy beside me turned around and sneezed toward it (Facepalm). No I didn’t ask him to eat it, I just can’t believe certain people just don’t have any sanitary manners. Shrimp and Mochi gratin. This is one of those dish, it’s good sometimes and at times I wanted to ask for a refund, this was one of those times I would like a refund.

Overall this time around, the service was pretty average and a couple of dishes could’ve been better. Nevertheless, the Guu locations are a neat and casual little places to hang out with a few friends. But some may find their little dishes can add up to be quite expensive sometimes. I would say a solid 3 stars...