Kitanoya GUU with Otokomae, paraphrased as GUU with good looks, is the gastown location of the legendary izakaya GUU chain. Open seven days a week until midnight, GUU is a popular place for twenty-something diners, Japanese and otherwise, to consume delicious izakaya plates, draft beer, fun cocktails, and cheap sake. Guu has been through various changes over the past years but has remained constant as an affordable and fun place to eat out. In my mind, the quality has come down, though not far, and the wait staff can be inconsistent, but they are almost always ESL and extremely friendly. (And they will yell greetings and niceties at you until your ears hurt.)

I still love to eat at Guu even though the mexican harumaki is gone from the menu, and so is the “fresh sheet.” But the remaining dishes are satisfying staples such as the delicious popeye salad, spinage with bacon and crunch, ($5.80) yadi udon, ($7.50) and Enoki Scallop with bacon. ($5.90) Carpachios and Tatakis abound, and there is duck that you BBQ at your table. There are also Korean hot bowls, grilled meats, and many other fun dishes. Salmon with seven friends is well regarded by the hardcore, but avoided by me, the seven friends are wierd ones and raw egg broken on raw salmon just scares me. Overall GUU is a lively and fun place to eat and drink a lot, and the bill never seems to add up, no matter how much sake is ordered. Although I have found myself going to Hapa Izakaya more often in the past year, Guu will always be my first love.

yaki udon

enoki scallop with bacon

tai snapper carpaccio

www.guu-izakaya.com

#105-375 Water Street,
Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5C6
TEL: 604-685-8682
E-mail : yasumi @ guu-izakaya.com
[Mon-Sun] 17:00-0:00