A Night Out @ Guu Izakaya

So this is the restaurant that's making waves with the Japanese food lovers in Toronto.  I had the good fortune of eating here on my bday celebration and thought I'd share the evening review with everyone.

(Photo by Renée Suen)

The Menu 

So here it is, the menu.

At first glance it's overwhelming and looks like there's no organization...but as my friend cleverly figured out, there are headings for everything along the edge of the pages - ex. Appetizers, Salads, etc...

I didn't like this as it took away from the authenticity but I guess they have to cater to the needs of the Canadian market. Izakaya has no specific sequence of courses you should abide by...it's order what you want, when you want. Adding the western style categorization, however, is a necessary evil.

As you can see the menu looks like little coupons that have been pasted together with the perforated/dotted lines that border each dish description. Some descriptions are very slim and not easy to picture (no visuals unless you look around the room to see if anyone is actually eating what you are considering).  I hope these pictures, courtesy of my friend, helps everyone get a sense of the colours and detectability of each dish.

View from the back bar 

What's missing here is the friendly bartender who was very nice and helpful in serving us. His name was "JIN" and he looked like a kid.  Don't really ask him about the sake, he doesn't know his sake. He was going to heat up high quality sake for me b/c I wanted something hot...crazy...you heat the cheap stuff not the refined brands!!!

My friend and I drank it at room temp. It was delicious!

1st Item: Beef Carpacio (Off Special Menu)

When you get there, they will give you the print menu and then a white 8.5 x 11 sheet (photocopy) called the Special Menu.

Both my friend and I liked this dish! Two thumbs up!
Make sure you guys get this one.

*One minor critique:  The beef carpacio was kinda cold in the middle. Almost to the point of tasting like it was just barely, slightly, frozen. Yes, I know, there is a technique that requires you to actually refrigerate the beef carpacio BEFORE cutting the individual pieces, but ours wasn't just cold.  There was definitely a slight, slight bit of freeze that needed to be thawed a little more at room temperature.  Regardless, I still enjoyed it!!!

2nd Item: Vancouver Shrimp Sashimi (Special Menu)

I don't care who you are, you MUST order this.
I don't even like seafood but I really enjoyed this one.
The shrimp was raw, but it had no smell and tasted creamy, sweet and rich. I sucked the hell out of the head b/c that's where all the flavour is!

 

 

 

3rd Item: Miso Soup

Simple but a necessary order to gauge the authenticity of the joint - kinda like how a good Korean restaurant can be gauged by the quality of its kimchi.

I liked it and so did my friend. It had a nice 'earthy' flavour that had depth. Sip and know this is not the powdered mix that Jtown uses when you order the Father's meal with chicken.

Ok, I'm making it up...I don't know what they used to make this, but this is a higher standard in miso soup cookery, I say! ;-) I recommend it.

Sake!

You see the two bottles in the background?
We ordered the largest Japanese decanter of the bottle standing to the left. It was nice. Really sweet without being overwhelming; nice delicate balance.

 

 

 

4th Item: Takoyaki! Mon Favorie!

Anyone who's been to Japan will tell you these things are all over the place.  I devoured these in Tokyo and loved every bite.  So I had to try them here.  Just to compare.

I was not disappointed.  They were good.  I think my partner in crime that night REALLY liked these.

These were comparable with the Takoyaki at Kenzo Ramen up by my place (before the original owners sold the place).

 5th Item: Mackerel on hot plate

Do not order.
A Korean anju joint does this better.

There are OTHER mackerel dishes off the Guu menu that probably will taste better than this.

It was not bad, just nothing special. And certainly not worth spending the money since you could get this anywhere.

 

6th Item: Okonomiyaki

I had to try it. I loved it in Japan so i had to try it.

It was better in Japan. Maybe because we got to cook it ourselves and the place I went to specialized in okonomiyaki...but considering this is NOT Japan, we still enjoyed this one.

If you are an okonomiyaki fan, consider it. If not, skip it - it's no loss on your part.

If you had to choose btwn the takoyaki vs. okonomiyaki, go with the takoyaki - it's better than this.

7th Item: Baked Oysters in a Garlic Wasabi Butter Sauce

My friend loved these.
I am not an oyster fan but I liked them b/c they didn't smell or taste like oyster. It was very 'meaty', rich and heavy.

For those of you who have gone to higher level Vietnamese restaurants (eg. Saigon Star), and tried the baked garlic Oysters there, it's the same concept and very very similar flavour.

8th Item: Tuna slightly pan seared (Special Menu)  

I tried this and thought: I can't decide if I like this or dislike it. This went on for 5 minutes or so...finally, I decided it was a bad order.  It wasn't sashimi and it wasn't sushi...the fish was cut too chuncky and something about the sauce wasn't very refined...it was missing something.

I do not recommend this.

9th Item:  Chicken Karage

Again, I wanted to try a staple item to see what their chefs were like...chicken karage is as staple as you can get.

It was nothing exceptional. Basically, fried chicken. But unimpressive fried chicken.

The Korean "yang yum" chicken I had in Seoul murdered this thing to pieces. If Guu Izakaya's karage is BJ Penn, then the yang yum chicken is Fedor Emilianenko.  Bigger, bolder and better all around.

Not bad, but not good. I'll leave it up to you to decide if you want to try this or not. I just think the money can be better spent on something else.

9th Item: Another view

I liked the dishes they used...ultra modern, sleek, simple and very clean. Leave it to the Japanese to take presentation seriously.

 

 

10th Item: Grilled Squid!

Ok, by this time, we are stuffed and really forcing everything down...so I'm sure this would have tasted better had we had it as a 5th round order...but I really can't even remember the taste of this thing b/c I was sickly full by now!!!

 

 

 

11th Item: Cow Tongue

This thing was very very tender and very very succulent.
It was fatty without being sickening. The flavour was nice: meaty, lightly fatty, charcoal smoke. Eaten with the sliced scallions it was really nice. I wish I had this one earlier.
I know most people are grossed out by the thought of eating cow tongue but man, was this good. My friend thought it'd be gross but I saw her eat more than just one!

12th Item: Dessert

Very small.
Very good at the moment; but easily forgotten.

Bamboo - Guu Izakaya Cocktail

The presentation of this drink impressed me. I first saw it on a review site and wanted to try it out for myself. We liked it. You can hardly taste the alcohol. Mostly lychee juice really.

I'd order this one again.


Review Summary
If you adore authenticity and enjoy trying new things, this is the restaurant for you.  A Toronto Izakaya has never been executed with this level of authenticity before.  My trip to Japan was a very special time in my life and this place brought back some great memories.  An inside source has confirmed that the staff are almost all Japanese (English is their 2nd language), the decor mixes modern and traditional to create an ambiance that is very "Tokyo", and the food is pretty close to what I ate in Japan - with the exception of a few dishes.

Considering it is located in Toronto, I will be bold and state that, at the moment, this is the best rendition of Japanese Izakaya there.  Yea, I said it.  It had to be said and you heard it here. 

However, and there is always a "however", you must ask yourself:  Is this experience really worth waiting in line for 2+ hours?  My answer is:  no restaurant is worth waiting two hours to get in.  If you and I think alike, do what I did and get there at 4:30pm and wait in line for 30-45 minutes vs. 2 hours.

Good luck.