For my birthday dinner, J took me to Guu Garlic on Robson St. I’ve never been to this location and I heard that each Guu has a different menu, so I was pretty excited to see what was different. We sat at the bar and we could see the chef preparing our food. I still don’t understand how they can just yell the orders and remember what to make. Their communication and teamwork skills are definitely great here.

Kimchi Udon – marinated udon with cod roe, soy sauce, butter, kimchi & green onion

I always get the normal Yakiudon, so this time we tried the Kimchi Udon. It’s not exactly kimchi on the noodles, but the flavour is a kimchi flavour. I’m guessing they didn’t use traditionally prepared kimchi. The noodles were similar to the yakiudon one, and were cooked until chewy. I still prefer the original yakiudon over this one though.

Ishiyaki – Today’s hot stone bowl dish

We also decided to try the Ishiyaki, which is a hot stone bowl with whichever rice they were serving on the day. I don’t exactly remember what the waitress described the dish as, but it reminded me of Italian flavours. Here, she began to mix the rice before I got a picture.

This is what it looks like after it is mixed thoroughly. The rice is filled with meat, tomatoes, green onions, onions and some other ingredients. We definitely thought it didn’t taste like something you would eat at a Japanese restaurant. The flavours were very westernized and I personally thought it tasted like Italian rice.

Tuna Tataki – lightly seared tuna sashimi with green onion, garlic chips & ponzu sauce

Tuna Tataki is always included in my usual orders. This one was seared really well so that the inside was still raw. I’ve had it a couple of times where the tuna is over-seared.

Salmon Carpaccio – Sokeye salmon carpaccio

I’ve had the Salmon Carpaccio at the Richmond location before, and it is always one of my favourites. This was once again executed very well. I just love the sauce and dressing they use on it. Tons of flavour and the salmon is fresh.

Grilled Japanese “Kurobuta” Sausage

Lastly, we ordered the Grilled Japanese “Kurobuta” Sausage from the daily special menu. Kurobuta is the famous Japanese term for pork meat from a Berkshire pig. These pigs are black and are a rare breed, hence the dishes are usually more expensive than a dish made from the typical breeds. These pigs are originated from England, but they are also bred in Japan, and therefore called Kurobuta if they are bred in Japan. They are prized for their juiciness, tenderness, and flavour. It also has much more fat than normal pork meat. These sausages had a crisp outer layer and the inside was definitely much more juicy. They came along with two dips. One was a mustard seed sauce, which I really enjoyed. I thought the red dip was ketchup, but my sausage became really spicy! I later realized it was a spicy ketchup.

We didn’t end up getting dessert or finishing our meal since we had an emergency and had to leave halfway. The servers were very accommodating and cancelled our dessert order right away. I really wanted to try their dessert too… it had green tea ice cream in it. Oh well, next time!