I went to the Guu Garden last night and checked out this next venture by the Guu Izakaya people. I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures as I didn’t have my camera with me. Definitely another time where having a phone with internet and a decent camera would be a nice perk.
Guu Garden is located above the revamped Relish, where the old Okada Sushi Japanese restaurant used to be. The area still looks like a construction zone and you wouldn’t think that anything would be open yet, but it is and people already know about this little place. In the summer it’s definitely going to be a perfect spot to hang out on their patio. The inside, however, looks a bit like a cafeteria, with white plastic chairs and round tables; except for the cool seating on the left where you have to take your shoes off to sit at the tables. Love that.
The food is, of course, a bit different than their other restaurants and is focused on Oden. I think that’s a type of soup you can add stuff to, but we didn’t have that so I will have to explore another time. The Girls and I ate the miso ika karaage, red tuna sashimi, yakiudon, ebi mayo, and miso marinated black cod.
I am a big fan of ika karaage, if done right, and unfortunately most places don’t do it right. You get these dirt-tasting, overly chewy rings dripping with grease. Yuck. I can happily say that this Guu does it right. These aren’t what could be mistaken for onion rings; they are the tentacles of the squid, with a miso-flavoured light coating, deep-fried to crisp up on the outside and leave it perfectly soft on the inside. A squeeze of lemon on those babies and I’m in Japanese calamari heaven. And for $4.80, you can even order two. 
The red tuna sashimi was on their Specials menu and it was wonderful. This is exactly the type of tuna I had in Japan. It doesn’t even resemble the white/yellow mush you get from restaurants here when you order tuna. The texture is more of wild salmon sashimi and the flavour is delicate, not overpowering. The dish came with the tuna done two ways: 5 pieces of sashimi slabs and a small bowl of chopped tuna sitting in a vinegar/soy sauce. Delicious.
There were a few misses though. The yakiudon was completely un-flavourful. Maybe I’m just not a yakiudon fan; I’ve never really been fond of it anywhere I’ve ordered it. Our ebi mayo prawns were big and tasty, although a bit drowned out in the thick batter that covered them and pound of mayo they sat on top of. Needless to say there was a white mountain still sitting on our plate after we were done eating the prawns. Their miso marinated black cod was melt-in-your-mouth-but-not-on-your-fork perfectly cooked but wasn’t so memorable that I’d run out and order it again straight away.
All in all though, it’s definitely a place I’ll be back to often for drinks and appies. And for sure an ‘it’ spot on my list in the summer!
Sasha
Chatty Kathy
