GaiJin Izakaya — Restaurant in Winnipeg

Came here in August 2020 with a group of 5. Reservations were very easy to make over the phone.

We came for the izakaya, but wanted to try the ramen, so we all split a tan tan ramen to start. It was delicious. The crispy pork and ground pork were wonderful, as was the rich broth and noodles. Can see that a bowl of ramen will make a perfect lunch in the future.

Next, we worked our way through most of the izakaya dishes. Standouts for us were the spicy fried gyoza, the tare takoyaki, the smoky beef, and the spicy agedashi tofu. The spicy fried gyoza were very nice and crispy and came on a bed of spicy vegetables. The takoyaki had a crisp exterior were melt in your mouth on the inside, and the melted cheese on them was a lot of fun and gave them a feel of arancini. We were told the smoky beef was a new dish and it served on a piece of cream cheese on bed of torched tempura rice. Really great flavour and very unique. And the agedashi tofu was wonderfully tender and tasty.

The other dishes were excellent as well, just not as standout as those. The tuna tataki was sooo tender and could easily be eaten without the use of teeth. The sushi pizza was quite filling (good value) but mostly tasted like the sauce plus salmon. The eggplant tempura was good, but even better was the mushroom and tomato salsa underneath it. The shrimp tempura was great, pretty standard, as was the tuna goma ae. The K-town chicken karaage (which is fried chicken pieces) was great, but could have used some more sauce we thought. The shrimp gyoza with pork were rustic and tasty. We thought collectively that there were no dishes that we would not get again, they were all very tasty and different from each other.

Service was fiendly, fast, and helpful. Our server was able to recommend dishes and advise when we might want to double up on some orders (shrimp tempura and tuna goma ae) because of the larger table. Decor was fairly mid-level but comfortable.

Overall, a very fun experience and we tried so many dishes we hadn't had before or could never make at home. Value for money was probably 7/10 we thought. Would say this would be a perfect spot for a group of friends/family or a couple to share a bunch of small plates, or a place to go if you are craving a delicious bowl of ramen. The dishes came out a bit fast for our liking, especially considering (but maybe because) it wasn't a very busy night, but maybe this is just the way izakaya is (it was when we had at a downtown location as well). We found that we were trying to get dishes down before the next came, but that was a mistake, we should have just let the dishes pile up a bit more on the table and not worry about finishing quickly. Next time I would dig into the sake, we did not have the chance to do so today, which would make it a more traditional...

Authentic taste with unique touches. Ika fry lightly dusted fried but not greasy. Perfect appy/side portion. Ramen: huge serving, interesting contrast of textures. Chewy crunch of the bamboo shoots (over the bland but also crunchy mushrooms: to me can be left out) then the soft boiled eggs, and the meaty tasty pork belly. Broth can be left with deeper long slow boiled depth of flavour as the traditional bone broth or miso based which I was trying to find. Maybe the miso ramen has? Tantan pork was new to me- surprisingly super tender and marinated in some 5 spice and Lea Perrins kind of melded taste. The highlight of the meal: and always the measure of a good sushi place to me is the Sashimi. This is spot on. Melt in your mouth fatty grade tuna (Toro I think are the more lean cuts- which my plate didn't have), not sure if the other lean white fish was bream(?) and the surf clam straightforward lean and, the pretty standard pink salmon: thick cut was its saving grace. I wonder if wild caught Coho Salmon can be considered for sushi grade- healthier and wild caught. And the sweet giant scallops- always the best to have in a sashimi plate to highlight it's smooth delicate texture in raw state with a squeeze of lemon or a dab of wasabi paste and a very light dip on soy. Not even oysters can parallel this maybe the BC spotted shrimp (raw) as to the fresh sea taste. Ironic as it may sound great seafood meant to be eaten raw will have that delicate sweet taste to them- not the strong odour people associate with the term 'fishy' like the fish guts must've accounted for. The soysauce as most authentic Japanese restaurants must strive for- should be traditional brewed Japanese soysauce- just a request. Traditional sake etc: Alcohol is served here, but indulge...

TL;DR - 1st visit was promising, 2nd visit was just poor. Do I recommend it? Not really, but try it out anyway.

Well, I'll start by saying that my 1st visit (opening day) was promising, except they had no yakitori (grill wasn't working?). Had the hakata ramen (pictured) which was good but nothing mind blowing considering that I enjoy the ramen at Yujiro's. Broth had no depth of flavor.

2nd visit... Just a straight let down. Still no yakitori (sold out by 8 pm?). There was 6 of us and it was a good crowd but not super busy. Friends ordered ramen, another friend ordered sashimi and I had the tuna/salmon dish (pictured) plus gyu tan (beef tongue). I got my tuna/salmon dish and everyone got their ramen, but my friends 5 piece sashimi dish came out a while after everyone and was super tiny. Then my gyu tan didn't come, so I asked the server who said "oh yeah it's coming" but clearly she went to the kitchen and they seriously started making it right there (it's an open kitchen, you see everything).

The other thing that bugged me was how one of the owners was just sitting down & chatting in the booth behind us... I mean, taking a break is great, but your kitchen wasn't putting out food very quickly, and your server didn't even apologize about the food not being cooked when it was supposed to. Ended up taking it to go. It was ok, but not what I was expecting... And not for $15 lol

Overall...I don't know, go if you wanna try it, people seem to rave about it, but nothing special (not the best ramen in the city either). I'll most likely avoid it unless they can get their yakitori inventory...