Guu with Garlic has become one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Vancouver. It's an energetic izakaya with a fun atmosphere without feeling over the top. One of the best parts is the ever-changing menu of daily specials alongside the regular menu, so there's always something new to try while still coming back to your favorites. This visit we ordered the shrimp garlic fried rice, Agedashi Nasu, Grilled Squid with Garlic Mayo, and an assortment of sashimi. The shrimp garlic fried rice is an absolute must every time. It's packed with flavor, perfectly seasoned, and somehow manages to be comforting without feeling too heavy. It is a large dish and can easily be shared by 3-4, depending on what else you order. We also love the Agedashi Nasu here with melt-in-your-mouth eggplant wrapped in a light, delicate coating that soaks up the savory broth. Service is always quick and organized, even when the restaurant is busy. Dishes arrive as they're ready, making it easy to share everything around the table, which is exactly how an izakaya experience should feel. If it's your first visit, don't skip the shrimp garlic fried rice, and make sure to check out the daily specials before ordering. They often feature seasonal dishes that aren't available on the regular menu and are well worth trying. read more

Guu with Garlic - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Great ambiance for a night out with friends for drinks and small bites. I like ordering a few things for the table to share so we can try more of the items. It really depends on how many people you come with though because the dishes are on the smaller side so you might need to make 2 orders of a dish for sharing. Okonomiyaki, gyoza, sukiyaki and udon are usually my go-tos for sharing. read more

Maybe it's an American thing to linger and enjoy a dining experience. To stay longer than needed to soak up the ambiance and give a good moment some extra time for memories. But in other parts of the world the meal is what's important and so is a quick turn around. Guu with Garlic reminded me a lot of the Izakaya restaurants I found under the train lines of Tokyo in many ways, including the amount of time it felt right to stay. The food came out quick, the servers took orders quicker, and the alcohol came out chilled and as nice contrast to the hot food. Looking around and you see the hand written menu on blackboard surfaces on the walls and this feeling of authenticity. The heat of the flames from the kitchen can be felt and seen if you sit at the bar. And the flavors just hit all the right notes. Starting with appetizers, a section izakayas shine at, the first dish we got was their scallop and mayo pizza. With a crispy crunch on the bottom and crust, this reminds you of the flavors of a baked volcano roll or scallop roll you can find in almost any North American sushi restaurant. Just like that dish, it's important to eat it while it's still hot so it doesn't get gross and 느끼 에. Then came the yellowtail tuna "tempura" pieces. Thick pieces of yellowtail tuna flash fried for just the right crisp on the outside with slight pink of the fish inside. It is meaty without being oily or fatty. Great bite. The beef tongue after was interesting. From the color of the sauce it accompanies it you would think it would be heavy in flavor but it is actually light and citrusy. A good cut into the richer tones of the beef tongue. The yaki udon was one of the best I ever had. It was smokey without being overpowering. The beef was thin and tender and balanced well with the mushrooms it also came with. The udon noodles stayed bouncy and chewy which I didn't expect from being grilled. Very tasty and highly recommend this dish. For our final bite we shared a hot stone bowl of their pork and cabbage rice. With the hot stone bowl constantly cooking even after this dish arrived it was imperative to stir the ingredients together constantly for the first two minutes. It allowed for the runny egg to meld with the rice and the crispy texture of some ingredients was a nice bonus. All in all, I loved eating here and if my appetite was bigger I would've tried more on their menu. A solid place to eat with a great atmosphere, if you're looking for delicious food that won't take too much of your time but still lingers in your memories you have to check out Guu with Garlic. read more

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One of my favorite restaurants of all time. I've been to Japan and this restaurant feels like it would fit right in. It feels cozy, the service is always very friendly, and the food never misses. I've actually gone to this location with my family for almost 20 years now, which is insane. I would recommend getting the Yaki Udon (it's unbelievably good), the oden, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, sashimi salad, and whatever their specials are. Honestly, I don't think you can go that wrong. Their sake is also pretty delicious, I'd recommend the sparkling red sake for something unique. Please go if you haven't already! I hope they last forever. read more

Guu with Garlic - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Spectacular service. They seated us outside so we could get started but we preferred inside and then they moved us inside with all our food and drink etc when a table was ready, without a complaint! Quickly and accurately fulfilled our orders. Ambience is casual and cozy. Food: The sake steamed mussels were the best I've ever had, garlicky with crispy garlic bread. Hot Stone pot unagi had crispy rice, delicious fresh unagi, just the right seasoning. Chicken Kara age was not great for us, too salty for our taste. Salmon sashimi not our favorite cut (had the gray part) but maybe good for some. Would definitely come back though! Agedashi tofu was delicious, too. And coffee fans liked the coffee jelly dessert. read more

Stopped by with a foodie group here. I had never had tapas style dining before so this was a first for me. I had a good time overall for food. It's a smaller restaurant in a sense. It wasn't cramped or anything but the restaurant can fill up quick. It can get quite loud as a result. I think my main issue is that going with a group it's hard to feel full. You can order a lot but the focus has to be on trying the different foods and savoring it. I think my favourites were both the beef and pork tongue, and the mochi and shrimp gratin. I had a good time here. I'd be open to returning as ultimately the food was quite tasty. read more

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A coworker and I went to this place (thanks to Yelp reviews). Really good and fresh fish. Super friendly staff read more

Delicious authentic Japanese cuisine! This was our first stop on our Vancouver trip and we started off strong. Everything was tasty! Our favorites were the udon noodles with beef and the eel hot stone. The crispy rice on the bottom was incredible! Service was friendly and super fast and the decor made us feel like we were in Japan. Highly recommend! Food: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Ambiance: 5/5 Marcels foodie score: 5/5 read more

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Really good food! The Wagyu melts on your mouth! Okonomiyaki was so tasty and had enough crunch on the outside and nice and doughy on the inside. Sukiyaki broth was thick and had good flavor with very tender beef. I think overall it was a great place! Only thing I wasn't a fan of was the kimchi udon read more

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Would actually give this a 2.5 star if possible. Cute Japanese-styled restaurant with a fairly sized food and drinks menu but the food we tried was mid to average at best. I think the tastiest thing was the garlic eggplant cold dish... the scallop pizza had good flavour but was really small and honestly tasted like something I could cook up in my toaster oven at home. The ebi mayo is really disappointing. It was soggy and barely had any flavour. I think it's a good spot for having a drink or two with some appies on the side with your friends but don't come here for the food -- come here for the vibes. read more

Guu with Garlic - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Good service and warm welcome and all girl Japanese cute waitresses. Food is average for my taste and pallet. I enjoyed Shrimp with mochi and cheese gratin the most out of the 5 dishes we tried. Ambiance was classic Japan Sapporo and other beer posters. Overall food is ok and ambiance average. read more

Amazing food!!! The place is not big so anticipate wait during peak hours. Authentic izakaya vibe with fresh rolling todays special menu everyday My favorite dishes were the fried pork and almond tofu. Really affordable prices too. Thank you Guu for an amazing dinner experience read more

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This is a traditional Japanese Izakaya with an extensive menu of both cooked and raw items. I had the 5 Kinds of Sashimi, which consisted of 15 generous slices. Fish quality was very good. Be sure to check out all the chalkboards around the room, as there are a lot of items that are not on the menu, They have a nice selection of sake and beer, including my favorite Sapporo Black. Service was friendly. read more

Guu with Garlic - 5 Kinds of Sashimi - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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I've been to their sister restaurant Guu Otokomae back in 2018 and was excited to try another restaurant in the Guu group. My boyfriend and I ordered: - Oden (delicate flavor, not overpowering - almost could be described as bland) - Salmon tataki (SO fresh, SO tender - melted in my mouth) - Potato mochi - fried to a crisp with cheese inside - Una meshi - reminded me of a bibimbap! The staff was super nice, especially our server Mizuki - felt like we were in Japan with the way she served us. read more

Guu with Garlic - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I came here for dinner on a Saturday early evening. It was busy but I still did not have to wait. Guu is a stalwart in the Vancouver izakaya scene for ages and one of my go-to spots. I havent been in a while though. I had an itching since recently returning from a trip to Japan. The restaurant is comfortable enough, the usual loud, izakaya atmosphere you'd expect. Service was very quick except when I asked for the check - the server forgot. Food was just ok. Decent, nothing mind blowing. We ordered from their current specials menu: Kakuni braised pork with daikon - meat was tough, dry, tasteless. This was overpriced and disappointing. "bang bang chicken" - pretty good, a bit too salty. Basically a poached chicken breast, sliced and topped with spicy chili sauce/oil. Chicken was cooked nice. Eel rice bowl Una Meshi - served in a hot stone bowl. Good, could use a bit more eel but I like it. Marinated eggplant - tasted ok but very oily beef tongue - tough and sliced too thick, needed more seasoning. This was severely overpriced for 2 small slices and such poor quality. Yuzu Mojito - ok. Street metered parking available if you can find it. Overall I would say for those who have not had an izakaya experience before, which is essentially a Japanese bar where you go to drink and share small plates of food, then this is not bad and you'll probably enjoy it. Its a close enough approximation to izakaya in Japan. But for me, the food items need more quality control and their pricing on some items is unreasonable for what you get. I would much prefer they slim down their menu to less than half of what it is now, and focus more on quality. Their combined regular + specials menu is large even for Vancouver standards. Certainly the izakaya places I went to in Japan do not have menus this massive and the few items they do serve are consistently excellent. Service is generally quite good and friendly. read more

Out of everything we ate during our one week trip in Canada, this restaurant was my highlight! I had actually put this restaurant as a backup for dinner because I didn't know how late we would get back to downtown from Grouse Mountain. We got to the restaurant around 9:30pm on a Friday. I was a little worried that the restaurant was gonna be full, but there were plenty of seats when we arrived. It really picked up over the night though. Our waiter was so friendly and welcoming. We ended up ordering a LOT. We ordered takowasabi, ika-maru, takoyaki, una-meshi, and spicy poki don. The una-meshi was the standout for us. It really warmed us up on a cold night, and the dish was just comforting. Out of everything we ordered, I would highly recommend this. The ika-maru is also a good dish to share if you like squid. The takowasabi was nice to try, but I probably wouldn't order it again unless I got sashimi to pair it with. The takoyaki wasn't crispy to my liking, but it was hot off the stove, fresh, and very flavorful. The spicy poki don was pretty bland in our opinion, so I don't recommend getting this. We also got dessert: banana tempura with green tea ice cream. A great way to end the meal. The hot fried banana tempura with cold, creamy ice cream went together perfectly. The atmosphere of the restaurant is actually what makes this place such a fun place to go to. You have the front of the house workers shouting orders to the chefs in the back in Japanese. You hear a lot of happy people drinking and enjoying good food. It seems like a very chill spot to hang out late at night. It's a no frills kind of restaurant with good, comforting food and good vibes. Definitely go here when you're in Vancouver! read more

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I made a reservation for lunch for 5 people a few says before we intended on going. When we went in, there wasn't anyone there yet except for our group. We ordered the okonomiyaki, karaage, pork loin cutlet don, the miso cod special, and kimchi fried rice. Everything was delicious and the serving size was generous so we were all able to try everything and got full from everything we ordered! There were only about 6 tables there so it's a good idea to make a reservation because you just never know how packed they are. The service is good. They were patient with us since we took a bit longer to order. They also checked in on us a few times to make sure we're liking the food and didn't need anything else. I'm quite honestly not readily excited to go back here anytime soon but I wouldn't mind going back maybe in a year or so! read more

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Honestly, I really just wanted an ice cold beer after running 4+ miles on the sea wall towards English bay But then decided to get a small bite too. The tacowasabi was okay it wasn't anything amazing.. i kind of wish the portion was a little bigger considering the price. Tuna tataki felt like it was lacking seasoning but tasted super fresh nonetheless. The beef tongue is honestly what really stood out to me. It felt like I was eating a piece of steak because the dam meat was so tender.. the sauce and fried onions were such a nice touch sweet, buttery, crispy and sour. I'd definitely give this place another shot if I'm around English Bay. read more

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Delicious Japanese izakaya Very friendly servers and quick service. Great place for drinks and eats Feels like you're in Japan with the bustling and loud restaurant. read more

Guu with Garlic - Karaage & Beef Tataki - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Nice spot for Japanese izakaya downtown. Got a spot right away and our food came out quickly. We got the takoyaki, kimchi yakiudon, gyoza and ebi mayo to share. Everything tasted great! read more

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Wow wow wow! Amazing service, atmosphere, and food! We loved every dish we got. Just be aware that their lunch and dinner menus differ. Miso black cod: wow this dish was SO GOOD. The fish was soft, with great texture and the flavor with rice and the sides on the plate were so YUMMMM. My favorite lunch dish, it was the special for the day Okonomiyaki: great texture, amazing flavor and I actually liked this a bit more than the takoyaki even though these are two different dishes Pork cutlet: pretty good flavor and delicious with the sauce, cabbage, and rice. Could also be a bit juicier though. Overall a good dish Salmon and tuna tataki: this was so delicious! Especially the ponzu sauce and crispy garlic added on top, yuuuum read more

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Wow! Make reservations before coming. Be prepared to sit down. And please take your shoes off! 6 out of 7 of our items arrived. We finished out food and our table was cleaned. However our Hamburg steak never arrived. After 3 different people checked twice. The manager came over and said the kitchen is backed up. Asked if we'd like to cancel that order. I said sure. However, tables that arrived after us got there food and one of them was a Hamburg steak. Not sure why our food was forgotten... read more

Guu with Garlic - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Had very high hopes for this location. Aesthetically, this location has a great izakaya vibe. The decorations, seating, and overall atmosphere was very traditional feeling. The food was not crazy expensive and overall was solid, but not amazing. - Yellowtail - large slices, very rich, tasty - enjoyed a lot - Porkloin Cutlet don - I wanted this to be more crispy, it was decent but felt soggy - Karaage - mix of chicken pieces which took me by suprise, there was a total of 5 pieces, it was overall decent and not what I expected but not bad - Black cod - tasty just a little too salty - cheesecake - ok, nothing crazy unique, small slice for the price The overall service was very polite when you were attended to, but not super attentive until you requested for something. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience but was expecting a little more. Food: 4/5 Service: 4/5 Ambiance: 5/5 read more

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Service is great and ambience is amazing but the food isn't on par with other izakaya places. I had higher expectations and the food was a hit and miss. Portions are a bit smaller and for example the the niku udon had almost no niku inside. read more

Stopped by as this was one of few restaurants on Robson open late after we finished exploring the city all day. While I can appreciate the smaller, daily sourced menu, maybe we just didn't order the right items since we did not get sushi or the daily specials. Compared to what is available back in states at home, this restaurant was good, though not great. While I would give it another chance if in the area to try some of the more limited daily specials, I'm not sure if that would drastically change my review based on the all various food options available at home. This may be good for Vancouver, though not on par with other foodie cities. Service was quick and efficient and food was delivered in a timely manner. Crowd was lovely for being 11pm and gave off a nice energy. read more

Nice little izakaya on Robson street. It's convenient when you want to go to multiple restaurants since there is lots of restaurants close by. Ordered chicken nanban, roast beef, oden and Grilled saba. Oden soup had delicate flavor not over powering. I drank the whole soup! they must know how to make soup the right way. It's perfection. Nanban had this pickled plum? dipping sauce different from what I'm used to. I like tartar sauce:( Very thin slices of roast beef with onions and ponzu sauce? Delicious!! Saba served with tomatoes, lemon and butter was not something I expected but was interesting I've never had before. Lots of menu I need to come again and try! read more

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Super fun izakaya styled restaurant with wide menu and fun specials to choose from. The service was attentive and friendly, atmosphere bustling but in a fun way, and food delicious. My friend and I shared the green bean goma ae, tuna tataki, okonomiyaki, and takoyaki. The perfect amount of food for a light dinner to pair with drinks. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting at the bar and watching the food get made. Would definitely return to try new things! read more

Every dish here was so good. Service was great and fast. Reasonable prices, decent size portion. This Guu location is my favorite because it's the most authentic Japanese looking one. This restaurant is very popular and there will usually be a wait. If you eat late, some of the popular dishes may be sold out. read more

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The original Guu! Tasty and fresh ingredients! Came here for a late lunch (we're talking about 2PM time) on a weekday, and the restaurant was empty here with only one other table dining in. Makes sense, since it was so late in the day already. There's also a guu in Toronto, but heard that this is where it originated from. And I must say, it's super tasty and have really fresh ingredients. There is a traditional seating area where you have to take off your shoes and sit on a lower table - super cool! Items we ordered: Sashimi salad 10/10 - Super fresh sashimi pieces. Very refreshing to the palette and was great for sharing. Also large in portion size. Tuna tataki 9/10 - Fresh sashimi pieces that were thick cut, which I loved! Salmon tataki 10/10 - Super fresh fatty salmon pieces. Again, loved the way they cut it into thick slices. Great vinaigrette that goes with it. Yakiudon 10/10 - Always the best item on the menu. Saucey, salty and super flavourful. Compared to the Toronto location, this one seems to have fresher ingredients and would highly recommend. Prices add up pretty quickly here but still super delicious and worth it! read more

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During a March 2023 trip to Vancouver, my friend and I stopped at Guu with Garlic not once, but twice, because it was so good! This little izakaya is AMAZING! The menu changes often, so I don't know whether anything we had is stays on the menu. Everything we had was amazing and we couldn't restrain ourselves from digging in before taking pictures of the dishes we ordered. Both times we went, the restaurant was *very* busy. The restaurant puts up a wooden divider on 4-top seats if 2 folks are looking for a table. There's lots of street parking within a few blocks. Definitely go to Guu with Garlic the next time you're in Vancouver! read more

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Everything was tasty! Will definitely come again. Outside seating not dog friendly though. First time coming and I got the sashimi sampler and fried beef. read more

Guu with Garlic - Sashimi sampler with fried beef. - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Guu is definitely one of the OGs for legit izakayas in Vancouver. I haven't gone there in a few years but the food is still just as fantastic. The vibe and environment is identical to what you'd find in Japan. We ordered from the lunch menu and was extremely pleased by the quality of our food. The assorted sashimi lunch combo is an amazing deal and bang for the buck. It comes with a decent number of pieces of sashimi, 3 tatakis, 3 side dishes, soup and rice. The sashimi was extremely fresh and delicious. The lunch set lived up to its beautiful presentation. The tataki set came with 3 sashimi and 3 tuna tatakis each. It also came with 3 side dishes, soup and rice. I love tatakis and i really enjoyed my lunch. We also ordered the daily cheesecake. It was decent sized and not too expensive. Definitely a nice way to wrap up our lunch. If you also love sashimi, I'd highly recommend Guu. In comparison, I think the sashimi lunch combo is better deal than the tataki set as it also came with 3 pieces of tataki. We can't wait to go back to try other items. read more

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3.5 A little torn in this rating since I feel like maybe we didn't get to experience all the stars in the show. Half the items we ordered were amazing - the marinated eggplant w/garlic chips (so yummyyy!) and the grilled cod cheek--another reviewer said it well that this might be the best version of this they've ever tried--I agree, that grilled flavor and buttery soft cheek meat deserves a chef's kiss. The other two items were a let down - the oden (very bland, I can make this better out of a frozen package at home), the yaki-udon (flavor was kinda meh and didn't stand out enough to make me want to reorder it). I still rounded up the extra half star bc the staff were quite considerate and polite, when we arrived there was a wait so someone took my name and number right away and gave us an approximate 20-25 min wait time. No prob, it was a Friday night and we took a stroll down Robson and got a text in 20 min that the table was ready. The waitress passed us the specials menu and referred us to the QR code for regular menu. She took our drink order shortly as well as food order. The place was bustling but I felt each of the waitstaff was doing their best to provide good service to all of the tables. Have to give props to the staff for trying to quell an extremely loud, inebriated party of 4 college students who were laughing/yelling at the top of their lungs. I understand this is an Izakaya which is relatively casual dining, but this was next level disruptive to all the other patrons. Thanks for taking care of that! read more

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The food here was good! We ordered the sashimi salad, taco rice, and beef tongue. The sashimi salad and taco rice was very good! The beef tongue was very flavorful and it was amazing with the garlic, but the meat itself was a little tough. Would recommend though! They have such cool and unique dishes :) also open pretty late read more

We made reservations, which is a good idea as I saw most tables were reserved when we walked in. We sat "upstairs" where we took off our shoes and sat on floor cushions. It was a bit more intimate there. Service was friendly but a bit lacking. My tea turned cold, and it wasn't refilled. We started with the cold tofu and tuna tataki. I enjoyed the tofu as it was topped with mushroom. The tuna was good too, but I wished it was a little less cold. Then we had the premium garlic beef tongue and grilled squid. I wished the squid came with tentacles. We ended with the bbq eel & rice in hot stone bowl and seafood nabe. The bbq eel was my favorite. While I enjoyed the broth in the nabe, I didn't really care for the rest of it. Every time I've gone to Vancouver, I go to a different Guu. This is the third location I've been to. All of them are solid restaurants! read more

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A friend recommended this place for the miso glazed black cod, and it did not disappoint. It is so buttery and delicious. Just watch out for bones. I made a reservation on Open Table, and we were seated right away. The service here is very quick and friendly. We ordered 8 dishes (I think) for 4 people, and we all left full. Everything is tapas so shared small plates. Everything we ate was tasty, but the miso glazed black cod was the highlight of the meal. I also really loved the uni and the kimchi udon. The only thing I didn't love and would technically have given 4.5 stars for was the negitoro over sushi rice. It didn't taste as fresh as other negitoro rolls or handrolls I've eaten in the past. But it didn't make me sick either. Ambiance is a little loud because it's a fairly small space, but my group could hear our conversations, so it was fine. Tables can be a tight squeeze depending on where you're seated, but it didn't ruin the meal for us. Would recommend to anyone visiting (like we are). Overall, I would give 4.5 stars. And make a res if you can. read more

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10/10 experience here at Guu w/ Garlic! This place truly feels like it came straight from Japan. The decor and seating were all very close together and it had a very lively atmosphere. We came around 8:30pm on a friday night and were seated immediately. We had a great view of the kitchen at the bar, which was very entertaining. Even though we were tucked in the corner of the bar, it was still easy to get the servers' attention and they checked on us regularly. What we ordered: Calpico Plum Wine with Soda ($7.5) Aloe Mojito ($7.5) Peach Oolong ($7.5) Garland & Stewed Enoki Mushroom w/ Grated Daikon ($7.8) King Oyster Mushroom Tempura w/ Matcha Salt ($10.8) Aburi Shime SABA Sashimi ($15.8) Deep Fried Breaded Oyster w/ Yuzu Pepper Tartar sauce ($14.8) My favorite was definitely the Calpico Plum Wine!! It was sweet and fizzy with minimal alcohol bite. My boyfriend's favorite dishes was the deep fried oysters and the Aburi sashimi! The fish was pickled and then flame seared with raw onions, garlic chips and some greens. DELICIOUSLY SALTY. The oysters were HUGE and not too fishy. The Yuzu Tartar sauce was also so unique. Honestly for the price of these uniquely asian cocktails and wide variety of plates you could come back here many times and still have something new to try. I HIGHLY recommend trying Guu with Garlic if you are in Vancouver! read more

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The garlic noodles are THE BEST! I dream about them at night lol. Can't wait to go back

Very busy place and maybe not for everyone. The menu was on the walls near the ceiling. Small shareable plates. The grilled squid, mackerel, and fried chicken were delicious. The calamari was okay. This place was super busy the entire time there but they were exceptionally quick at plating the food. NOT much in drinks unless you are a saki fan. It's our first time and we would really need to do this a few times to become familiar with this dining style. read more

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The food is phenomenal here. A must see if you are from out of town. Yeah, maybe the service isn't the fastest. They make up for it with their decadent food. If you like Udon and beef? Order the Beef Maki Udon! SOOOOO good. The black cod on special was so yummy! If you know about black cod then you know how much care is needed to cook it. Black cod is easy to mess up when cooking. They perfected it. Ignore the 1-3 ratings. Look at all the 5 star ratings when deciding to go to this place. read more

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