Guu with Otokomae (Guu Gastown)

obviously not my fantastically manicured finger... but fancy vianne's

I've hit up this location, along with Guu Original based on the proximity of the location to my apartment in vancouver, (another izakaya I always used to go to is Alpha Global Sushi & Bar on 1099 Richards Street, looks like a big black box, unseeingly a great izakaya restaurant lays inside), also because Guu with Otokomae (Guu Gastown) is the preferred location when you are with a  bigger group of people because it can accommodate and take reservations.  We've also had, on occasions of group parties, a set menu, where you can pick a whole bunch of dishes for $25.00 per person.  As I mentioned on my quick rundown of all the Guu's I've been to, this one is probably the trendiest, and darkest. Oobviously Trendy > Lighted environment. 

Last time I stopped back home, I went out with my girlfriends to devour some delicious izakaya, and salmon and 14 of his friends. 

Grilled Short Ribs

You can compare to the pic and comment below, not worth rementioning. it is what it is.

Beef Tataki

Something changed and I can't put my finger on it, first the presentation used to be on a rectangular dish, with daikon on the bottom, this just seems… Lazy. But still tasty. I have such great expectations.  The waiter took our plate away when there was 1 more piece of beef tataki left, I was FUMING.  I was like, MAN someone is gonna hear about this, and as the closest waiter came our way, I started to complain when he put a fresh plate of beef tataki down.  The table of drunk dudes who didn’t know what they were ordering wasn't going to miss it, so I kept my mouth shut, and chewed on the free raw beef. Score!

Ebi Mayo

This is how it needs to be done Guu Church, look at the crispy textured batter and the spicy mayo where I can see the spice, not like that cream coloured sauce you sprayed all over the toronto version.

Grilled Black Cod / Gin Dara

Yeah, this was delicious, as always, when it's from the ocean. We can't decide what those sticks are, we think its uncooked soba or something.  The presentation is WAY better than the Toronto Guu

Hamachi Tuna

I love tuna, such a magical fish, you cook him and flake him and melt cheese all over him and he's delicious and cheap. You eat him raw and he's an expensive mother f*er. You eat his tummy, call it Toro, and he'll break the bank, what the hell.  Nothing beats the melt in your mouth texture of a nice piece of fresh fish tho. Mmm.

Oyster Gratin

More Gratin than Oyster but what do you want, this is kind of a filler and oysters + carbs + cheese sounds like an excellent aphrodisiac.

Salmon and 7 friends

We actually ordered this dish twice, hence the 14 friends.

I had something similar at Guu Original on Thurlow…(by myself… I can't remember if I took pictures, but I was in town for work and was set up in a hotel, got hungry, couldn’t wait to find someone to eat with, so I went to Guu by myself and ordered like 6-7 dishes. There were 2 dudes I was sitting next to, they ordered 3-4 dishes. They should have been embarrassed.)

This is how the Salmon and his friends look when they have a giant orgy together, oh yeah I was trying to say something, so last time I had something similar at Guu Original except it had some fermented beans in there, they did NOT mix it for me (as they did here, it's quite the spectical, as our waiter skillfully mixes it all, using the egg to bind everything together, pulling it straight into the air, turning it into one big delicious mess.  I guess you're suppose to use the nori (seawead) and wrap it.  The friends to nori ratio is pretty unbalanced so we had to order 2 orders of nori to finish the rest up, at an upcharge :( I suggest you bring your own seaweed.

Yaki Udon

Obviously we don’t stray far away from the tried tested and true dishes we all know and love.  Like I mentioned before, a satisfying "filler" type dish of beef, mushrooms, green onion in a soy-butter noodles.