Kitanoya Guu Garlic

I'm a huge fan of the Guu restaurants in general, and Guu Garlic is no exception. I've been here twice now, once for lunch and once for dinner, and both times I really enjoyed my food.

I do think it's a little bit pricey, but it's one of the most authentic Japanese restaurants I've been to in Vancouver. Starting from the loud greeting you get when you first enter, you feel like you've stepped into a Japanese izakaya.

My dinner here was a couple years ago so I don't quite remember what I ordered, but I recently came for lunch and loved the daily special I got. You really can't go wrong with miso marinated grilled black cod ($28). Each bite really melted in my mouth. The lunch special also includes miso soup, rice, pasta salad, and salad on the side.

Now that I've moved out of downtown, I probably won't be able to come here as frequently. You shall be missed Guu!!

This was my brother's preferred Guu but I had never been before. We finally had the chance today since it wasn't very busy and had no wait. We ordered several dishes and were so excited. The excitement didn't last very long.

- negitoro was like they put it through a blender and was like a paste. Our joke was that we should have cancelled our order because this didn't make us want to try what else was coming our way;

- scallop cheese pizza was not what I expected. I've had sushi pizzas before where they deep fry some rice and put on some fish etc, but this was like a store bought naan bread with scallops and cheese on it. It was extremely greasy and unappetizing. We ate two slices and tossed the rest;

- the beef tongue was ok but a little bit tough and didn't have much flavor;

- the pork cheeks were the best part of this meal;

- the deep fried cauliflower was just deep fried cauliflower and wasn't anything special with no seasoning beyond salt;

- the intestines were perfectly cooked but the pieces weren't uniform and some pieces were too big and hard to chew;

- the deep fried smelt wasn't what I imagined. It was small and had no egg in it and was overly fried so it was just extremely deep fried to a crisp smelt with a tartar sauce dip.

We left after like 30 minutes or so. All the food came out quickly but we didn't enjoy it at all. On the bright side, the service was excellent. We'll stick to Guu on Thurlow. Wish we went there instead!

Amazing service and good at the chef's counter.

We loved our unfiltered sake and the sashimi. Favorite dishes: mapo pork + eggplant, deep fried yellowtail skewers.

This business operation shows they don't respect their customers.

Horrible service.
The worst experience I have ever dealt with all the guu restaurants in Vancouver.
We phone them to order lunch in advance. Knowing it's COVID time, so we told them it's a take out order. We didn't order through Uber eat or doordash knowing that those third platform will take a cut from their profit.
After placing the order, we confirmed with the waitress the estimated time for us to arrive. Because when we phoned in for lunch order, it's already 1 pm. They told us 20 to 25 mins the food will be ready.
We took our time and drove to DT. Arrived at the restaurant at 1:40 pm. Waited for 5 mins at the door before anyone showed up to greet me. I explained I'm just here to pick up our phone orders. The waitress confirm the name and told me it's not ready. She was holding the order slip in her hand. Saying it will take another 25 mins. I was so surprised to hear that. So I asked her is there any food ready for our order? She replied ... no we are very busy today. And she ran away to greet other customers. Completely ignore me.
I have to wait for her attention and confirmed with her that she didn't even put in our orders.
I asked her why? She only replied " we are very busy today and we are not expected you will show up."
That was a slap in the face. No respect at all.
She didn't even said sorry to me. She just said excuse me and turned to the new three people group just walked in.
So I told her I'm not going to give you any business with the attitude like that. I can be understanding doesn't mean you can treat me like nothing.
My friend who was waiting in the car went in to talk to them and he still paid for the orders. By the time we get our food, it's 2:40 pm. One hour late.
Seriously you guys need better employees training and since you have the customer's phone number. At least you can call and explain the extra waiting time. There's no communication no apology.

Tonight after a long hike around Capilano bridge, we decided we want to have some Japanese for dinner. We went back to the West End of Vancouver again.

We decided on this place. It was pretty busy so all four of us sat at the bar. It was a great location as I get to see all the food that everyone ordered. We ordered twice.

We decided to order the following:
1. Spicy Poke Bowl: I thought this was delicious and so did my boys. I think it was the sweet and saltiness if the dish such as the seaweed salad and the shredded daikon carrot pickled.
2. Fried Chicken tender: It disappeared with seconds, I was able to get half a bite. They allowed me because I was paying for the bill. It was tender and crunchy with the right amount of salt.
3. Assorted Sashimi: The selection of dishes were really good, only thing we thought lack of flavor were the Horse Mackerel. Otherwise, it was really good.
4. Grilled Tako (squid): This went quickly as well, I think I have two bits before I could go for the third, my son asks me if he could have more. What can I say, resistance is futile when it comes to kids' puppy eyes.
5. Saba on hot plate (Mackerel): This was interesting flavors with the mackerel broil on hot plate. It didn't have a lot of bones. It had tomatoe salsa and grilled onions below the fish.
After all this, we were still hungry.....
6. Assorted Oden: This dish had a smooth clear broth with. The only thing I didn't like was the randomness the chef put the assorted ingredients. This soup was really good. Lack noodles.
7. Epi Mayo (Tempura Shrimp): my husband says he's never had shrimp this good before.
8. My hubby ordered two Asahi beers while I had a
Sake Mojoto. Mojito was good.

Overall, service was fast and friendly. Very attentive.

We were recommended to go to this Japanese Izakaya spot by multiple people, so we had to stop by on our visit to Vancouver.

Im always interested to see how restaurants might put a spin/interesting factor to classic dishes. Guu does this by concentrating on a "garlic theme" around some of there izakaya dishes.

Favorite dish: salmon carpaccio. This was a common hit amongst other fellow Yelpers and it was definitely worth ordering.

Surprising hit: the sweet potato croquette with boiled egg inside. Crunchy texture on the outside, with the density of sweet potato texture and the reward of a hardboiled egg inside (reward if you're a huge egg fanatic like me).

Some of the "guu original" plates we got were the beef tongue and pork cheek. The beef tongue wasn't as tender as i thought it would be, but it is grilled so just prepare for that. The pork cheek was delicious!

We had a couple appetizers and drinks here before restaurant hopping, and glad we did so. I gotta say, this was one of the best presentations for izakaya ive seen. Super fun vibrant environment, especially as the restaurant staff welcomed and thanked their customers synchronously. Highly recommended!

All the vegetarian dishes are great!
Staff are super friendly.
Love the sushi.
Vibe is perfect and light hearted.

Best location of all the guus.
This is sort of where the Guu franchise started.
True Izakaya style

This is my first time to eat very special Japanese food. My coworker told me this place have a very good food. I tried it is. I will go back again.

They have the absolute best yakiudon in Vancouver! The staff is always extremely welcoming and friendly, every visit has been a delight!