Restaurant Hop: Stop Number two GUU Otokomae

As Lyndon and I waited outside of Hawksworth to meet up with Ian(Mackell) we chatted a bit with the doorman, mostly about other restaurants in the city and food in general.  Eventually Ian showed up and we had a somewhat awkward, hey I have not seen you in two years and a lot of things have changed since we last spoke but it is really good to see you, moment, but it quickly passed, and things were fine. Throughout the night we slowly caught up with what had been going on in each others lives but more on that some other time.  We were off to Guu to meet with the rest of our party which consisted of Lyndon's two brothers, Jordan and Cori, as well as Jordan's girlfriend Allyse.  We were staying at Jordan's and Allyses's house at the time, and we were happy that they joined us for dinner.

GUU Otokomae

375 Water St, Gastown, Vancouver, Canada
guu-izakaya.com/gastown/
2 bottle sake + 2 bottle beer + 8 entree + 6 cocktail < $180CAD

The three of us arrived at Guu first and went up the stairs to see if there was a table that could accommodate us.  The restaurant was almost full but after about a fifteen minute wait the six of us were cramped into a small table meant for four. That was just fine with us though, when sharing plates as one does at Guu it is nice to cramp together for a nice intimate dinner.

Everyone browsed over the menu and selected a few dishes they wanted to try.  When our server came over, who spoke fairly good english, I took the lead and ordered us a couple bottles of hot sake, and a couple of big beers for the table.  We then placed the rest of our order one by one.

 We ordered the Guuud! Ale which is exclusively served at Guu's five location and is done by a BC micro-brewer called Russell Brewing Company.  

Guu Tataki - seared beef sashimi with ponzu sauce, garlic chips, green onion

This was one of my picks, it seemed like a safe choice, and we had ordered lots of seafood dishes already.  It was quite good and flavourful.

Maguro Tataki - seared tuna sashimi with ponzu sauce, garlic chips, green onion

This was my second pick, I love tuna sashimi, it is one of my favourites so it was a natural choice for me.  We even got Lyndon to eat it and he went as far as saying that it tasted good.

Halibut Karaage - deep fried halibut in a seaweed sauce

The deep fried halibut was very good too.  It was nice a crisp, and the fish tasted quite fresh, although there was not really any other flavour to it other then the fish itself.

Grilled Black Cod - Grilled cod with white wine saikyo and miso sauce

This was one of my picks and a must try if you ever go to Guu.  The fish was cooked perfectly and tasted fresh and flaky.  The sauce complemented the delicate flavour of the fish wonderfully.

Duck Breast - Red wine and soy sauce braised duck breast with otokomae red wine sauce, mango sauce, sauteed mushrooms

We had two orders of duck both Lyndon and Jordan picked them.  It was not the best duck breast I have ever had, but it was still tasty.  The mango sauce went quite well with it and balanced out the saltiness.

Nkuzyaga Croquette - deep fried panko-breaded mashed potatoes with crab, carrots, onion

This was one of Allyne's picks, as we had already had quite a few things with red meat which she does not eat.  It was quite good, pretty standard for a breaded seafood cake.  

Sea Urchin

The sea urchin was one of Mackell's picks.  He said he had always wanted to try them and that they were full of protein.  They were a bad call, pretty disgusting.  I don't mean to offend anyone if the happen to like the stuff, but everything from the look, smell, taste, and texture was not very appealing.  Good pick Mackell.

We decided against dessert and we would rather try some of the interesting cocktails on the menu.  We all tried something different, I had the Sake Mojito, which was delicious.  Everyone seemed to enjoy what they ordered.

Guu is a must try restaurant in Vancouver, no matter which of the five locations you can make it too.  The wonderful food, the high energy atmosphere, the authentic feel of it all, and to top it off how reasonably priced it is makes Guu impossible not to check out for yourself.

The next stop in our culinary hopping adventure was L'abattoir, which was just a short walk into the heart of Gastown, although with all the drinks consumed I think it took us a few extra minutes to get there.