Gugu Room — Restaurant in New York

TLDR: food was expensive and mediocre , atmosphere was…not there at all, they closed 3 hours early without warning , drinks were good. Not worth it at all. Also not izakaya just a restaurant with good drinks.

We had a reservation for 9:15pm but when we got there there was no one in the restaurant except for a table outside. , yikes.

Congee kaarage had two tiny piece of chicken in it and 98% congee which tasted like straight up chicken bouillon I have in my kitchen. Bone marrow was yummy , but with the fatiness of the bone marrow I expected a carb like white rice To go with it but it was just fatty bone marrow and kind of dry, over cooked under seasoned pieces of beef.

My partner got the steak and egg fried rice, which was mostly white rice . It was okay.

The drinks were really good.

The server was nice the entire time , but we understood why no one was coming in. About 15-20 mins into our dinner the kitchen garbage was being cleaned up, which is perfectly fine except the girl who was taking it out left the garbage can ,full of garbage juice ,in the middle of the floor while she talked to the server . For like 10 minutes. My partner could smell it and I genuinely debated telling the girl to take out the garbage.

As soon as the food arrived we were told the kitchen was doing last call. Mind you it was 9:30 and the place closed at 1 am? They started to close up tables outside side basically right after this. I half expected them to start putting up chairs , cut the music and turn on the lights too.

I had a reservation, and there were many other avaliable after my own. The Google page says they close at 1 am, but I suppose with a lack of customers on a Saturday night I’d also be closing 3 hours early ; id just make sure to tell my costumers about it. I rather they would have canceled the reservation on me than spend $100+ on a bad experience .

Don’t waste your time and money here. I was very sad coming out of this and it’s one of the only times I left food of the plate. There’s better Phillipino and Japanese restaurants in New York , and for a 3rd of...

An interesting twist to elevate and evolve Filipino food. Some dishes were top notch, straight up deliciousness, while other dishes were lacking in quality. Let’s start with their drinks. They have a nice happy hour with $10 sangria and some cocktail options. I enjoyed the calamansi margarita. It was sweet, sour, spicy and strong. The ube cocktail, not a part of their happy hour, was like an ube milkshake - so tasty. Now the food. I was with a group of friends so we got to sample a few dishes. The skewer sampler was good. The sauce and the way the meats were cooked were perfect. The nori spam fries was a little disappointing and gimmicky. It was literally just spam cut in the shape of fries. There wasn’t any change in the taste of a regular spam. The nori truffle fries weren’t anything too special. It was tasty, but nothing new. The beef bone marrow salpicao was chef’s kiss delicious. The soft shell crab palabok was probably my favorite dish. The palabok was traditional but the fried soft shell crab added a salty, briney, crispy addition to a very traditional dish. I plan to order this every time I’m here with a group of people. The biggest disappointment for me was the bagnet kare kare which is a traditional kare kare sauce (fantastic) but with a crispy pork belly instead of a stewed oxtail. The pork to me was chewy and dry. It was either overcooked or stale because it also had a strange taste.

A couple of the dishes were real knockouts so I’m interested in tasting a few of the other dishes on the menu. I’d love to try the short rib kare kare, the sinigang, and the bulalo next time. The staff was very nice. The bartender makes killer drinks. The inside has a dark and sexy but casual vibe.

As a filipino, I love supporting filipino businesses. Also as a filipino, I’m a purist when it comes to filipino food, so I’m always a little reluctant trying filipino fusion or modern-takes to filipino cuisine, but this restaurant had plenty of dishes where I tasted both nostalgia and innovation, so I absolutely plan to come back to check out the...

Really great place in NY for food, drinks, and music! The dishes are so delicious—if you’re into japanese/filipino flavors, you’ll love dining here! Aside from meat, they offer a lot of seafood options too.

If you want a refreshing appetizer, go for the Kani Salad—the dressing makes it taste so good. It’s way better than the usual kani salads that you’d get at other restaurants.

Super recommend the rock shrimp tempura too! crispy and fresh and delicious!! love the aioli used here, it’s chefs kiss.

I had their Miso Cod as my main, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I’d recommend getting rice with it cos the sauce is reaally good. 10/10 would order it again!!

If you’re a cocktail person, then you’d love the drinks here! If you’re into sour drinks, get the Gugu Midori Sour! They use calamansi juice to give it that tart taste. If you want something refreshing and light, go for the Rizal Highball. If you’re into sweet, light cocktails, go for the Black Samurai—it has black sesame syrup in it!

I’d definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for a spot in NY with quick, fuss-free bites, and some cocktails to pair with it. Date night worthy? Yes. Going out as a big group? Yes you can, they have tables. Going alone? Yeah that’s perf, you can just sit by the bar and have a conversation with their super friendly bartenders! Or just wait for someone cute to sit next to you (lol). The servers/staff are super accommodating here!

Music’s good here as well! On weekends, this place turns into a cool spot for dancing/partying. It’s one of those intimate resto bars in the city where you can mingle...