Guu with Otokomae

We arrived on a Friday night and were told there would be a 30-45 minute wait for seats at the bar, put our name on the list, and were pleasantly surprised when the wait was less time. I knew there would be a lot of yelling and everything, but the atmosphere never descended into a madhouse - the clubby music stayed low enough not to be intrusive and I thought a conversation could be maintained, with occasional pauses for shouting in Japanese.

We found the food to be pretty similar to our few izakaya experiences in Japan - although we forgot one key fact, which is that in addition to be on the greasy side, the food is SALTY! I guess this makes sense as part of the drinking experience, but just something to keep in mind! We hadn't tried renkon chips before so we had those - we found them similar to potato chips but definitely prettier, since they retained the nice lotus root shape! We also both had miso soup which was great on a cold evening, and then the grilled beef short rib, chicken karaage, and yaki udon. My favorite was the udon - the beef was really nicely flavored and the noodles were plentiful. I had totally forgotten about the "dancing fish flakes" effect from when we were in Japan, which I find incredibly perturbing even though I know it's fine! The short ribs were a bit on the chewy and fatty side. I liked how the karaage came with lemon to cut the grease a bit, and the aioli was a good idea, although I felt like I could only add a tiny amount given how much fat was already there. But I also think a little went a long way with all these dishes, so we were quite pleased with the meal.

If you want your food to come out in a particular order you should try to let the staff know. We found the communication to be quite easy but our short ribs were the last to come out by quite a while - otherwise each dish came out at a steady pace. I didn't try any of the assortment of cocktails but was pleased that Granville pale ale was on tap.

Just went to this restaurant earlier today. We went with my family to try something new, and we were craving Japanese cuisine.
Food was good.
The sashimi salad was fairly large, with diced tuna, partially grilled salmon (my favourite), and scallops. Great portion and taste for $15.80!
The grilled salmon bento box tasted good. 2 pieces of grilled salmon were provided, garnishes, a veggie salad with dressing, rice, and a potato salad. Great portion for only $15.80.
The grilled mackerel bento box, like the others, was cheap and large ($14). Everything was the same between the two bento boxes except the fish served. I found the mackerel to be a little over salted... rice, salads, and garnishes were all decent.
Miso soups were served with the bento boxes, also a bit too salty for me. Still drinkable, with an abundance of tofu, seaweed, and green onion.
Service was good, immediately provided us with menus and water/tea right as we were seated. Food took about 15-20 minutes to come.
The atmosphere was nice with quiet music playing in the background. If you're someone that can't walk very well up/down stairs, you have to walk up two flights of stairs to reach the seating area.
Overall, good place for a meal on a cold rainy day! May come back again with friends to bring

Guu is the noise your stomach makes when you're hungry. This is where you take care of that in style. The Guu family of restaurants was the first izakaya in Vancouver. Since their start in 1993, they have grown to five locations in Vancouver and one in Toronto. Each is different from the others in atmosphere and culinary emphasis. Traditionally, izakayas were establishments where one could find good camaraderie, food , and drink. In North America, it's pretty much just food and drink. This Guu is probably the most innovative and experimental. They like to put their twist on the cocktails and the food.

White Sangria was absolutely delicious. The dominant flavor was lychee and you can't go wrong with that.

The Guuu'd Yaki Udon was probably the only menu item kept from the early days. It's still a winner.

Salmon and Seven Friends (I count eight) was wonderful. Some of the friends may be a bit off putting for some,but wrap them up in the nori and be amazed.

Their food is one of a kind for Japanese cuisine. Dessert 4.5 but the menu for the chef salad is awesome and the entrees are 11/10 the food is so good there that everytime I visit Vancouver I go the and only there 5 stars

Came here because we were craving Guu after having it last month. For food, we had the following:

Deep fried chopped octopus (daily special) - light batter, slightly oily as it coated my lips. The octopus was quite chewy and large in size, making it an experience when chewing lol. It could've benefited from a longer tenderizing process. This was served with salt and lemon, no sauce. We found this to be the only miss of the night.

Pan fried tuna belly (daily special) - quite soft, almost creamy, not overall salty from the sauce. Take note you are eating for texture here as tuna is not typically flavourful.

Flounder carpaccio (daily special) - vinegarette is not overpowering but adds flavour to the bite. Greens and onions are fresh and balance against the slightly creamy texture of the flounder

Pork cheek with ponzu sauce - pork cheek is yummy! Having the outer slices and working your way into the fattier pieces showcases different aspects of the pork. The wasabi hit me in the throat by my own doing but I enjoyed the kick regardless LOL

Pork belly kakuni - Our last dish of the night, which was (unexpectedly) a Japanese style Peking duck. Pork was hella soft, having been stewed in a syrupy broth. The tortilla could've came out slightly warmer but that's only a small nitpick. In terms of braising, this is as fine as braising can get. It was filling and we enjoyed every bite of it.

For drinks, we had:

Long island iced tea - This was a solid take on the long island. Bubbly from the coke, the alcohol mixed well to create a light zesty sweetness. Similar to a fizzy VLT iced tea. Despite the lightness, it still packed a punch for me which I appreciated.

lalalychee - nothing to write home about unfortunately, if we had to summarize it, it would be "tall glass of soho"

We came in on a very wet and rainy late afternoon after walking around Gastown. This place is so cute and it's an izakaya. Their menu is surprisingly very small, and their special izakaya menu is also limited in my opinion. Lots of similar items... We got grilled miso cod, sashimi salad, beef tataki salad (which was a bit disappointing from the photos we saw), salmon belly, which was huge and yummy, but on the salty side, hamachi carpaccio (first time saw it came in a bowl with salad), pork sausage on grill, which was not what we expected. We also got a Japanese style gobo soup with beef gristle, cheese rice grilled bowl, deep fried squid, and chicken bang bang salad. Overall the good was satisfactory and the service was great. And it was a good shelter from the wet and cold weather.

Honestly, I'm pretty surprised how low the reviews on this restaurant is. I swung by for dinner on a Saturday and had an incredible experience at this izakaya. If you want a table, you probably want to make a reservation, but if you don't mind sitting at the bar and you have a small party, you can probably get away with it. Their menu has so many unique items and everything is super high quality.

Takowasa (4.25/5): Super fresh wasabi with tenderr pieces of octopus made for a delicious and unique appetizer.

Pork Cheek with Kanzuri Ponzu (4.25/5): This may be biased because pork cheek is my favorite cut of pork, but it's cooked just right with the fat crispy and the entire cut is just cooked so it doesn't feel chewy at all. Paired with fresh green onions, this is an amazing side.

Salmon with Seven Friends (4/5): This felt like the Japanese version of bibimbap without rice. Definitely worth trying if you haven't had it before, but I will say it is less salmon forward than the name may imply.

Guuu'd Burning Pudding (4/5): A great version of the classic creme brulee. I did enjoy the theatrics of them presenting it still flaming at your table. You can definitely still taste the alcohol a bit though even after you dig in.

This place is a fantastic lunch choice--ample seating, cheap prices, and unique options! Guu with Otokomae deserves more than 3 stars.

I shared the Salmon with Seven Friends dish and Mackerel Lunch. The former was SUCH a unique, fun, and flavorful dish. It came with a bunch of ingredients ranging from different textures & flavors, all cut into tiny bite sized pieces. Then I mixed everything together and ate it with seaweed. This is the first time I genuinely enjoyed natto!

I also tried the mackerel dish which was incredibly delicious thanks to the oily skin. The hack is to use the rice from that dish with the Salmon with Seven Friends mixture.

Everything was a great price and I would come here again!

Visiting Vancouver we thought it best to tackle this cuisine and it didn't disappoint. It's a tapas-style menu, mostly small shareable dishes so take advantage of that with your mate.

The only real criticism was the octopus was very over cooked other than that, the sashimi is what dreams are made of and the udon noodles were soft enough to sleep on.

Price/quality (4/4): Came here with a friend on a Thursday night. The food was good, though what really knocked it out of the park that night was the lobster tail. It's rare to find a lobster tail at that price level, and even rarer to find one as tasty.

Service (1/1): Service was friendly and effective.

Would I come here again: Yes

We had a GUU'd time eating GUU'd food and drinking GUU'd beer.

We have been eating at GUU With Otokomae in Gastown for many, many years and we always have a fantastic time. The low lighting, music blasting, friendly staff gives off a fun vibe. The food hasn't changed much. We ordered exactly what we have been ordering all these years and it still tasted delicious. My all time favourite dish here is the deep fried cheese.

On the table:

Panko Brie Cheese - deep-fried breaded brie cheese w/ mango & blueberry sauce 9.9

Takowasa - marinated octopus & wasabi-stem served w/ 6 pieces of roasted seaweed 4.9

Ikamaru Grilled Squid - grilled marinated squid 11

Negitoro Garlic - chopped tuna belly & avocado w/ garlic baguette, green onion wasabi sauce, seaweed sauce 8.9

Wagyu Beef Tataki - thinly sliced, seared WAGYU BEEF w/ original onion sauce, garlic chips, green onion 11.8

Today's Sashimi Salad - today's assorted sashimi on greens dressed w/ guuu'd dressing & wasabi mayo 11.8