Overall, I wouldn’t say any of the food was too memorable, but everything was decent. I still prefer Guu if I want izakaya food. Hapa is more bar like and somewhat more formal. It’s still a great place for happy hour or to grab drinks.
Pros:
– Reasonable prices
– Ambiance is pretty nice
Cons:
– Service was just average
– Food isn’t too memorable
Price Range: $20-30
1: Terrible 2: Poor 3: Average 4: Good 5: Excellent
Food: 3
Service: 3
Ambiance: 4
Parking: 3
Overall: 3
Yuzu Gin Tonic
I’ve always wanted to try Suika’s sister restaurant, Kingyo, so when K and U told me to decide, off we went to Kingyo. I made reservations beforehand and was told that there was only a seating at 6:00pm and that we would need to leave by 7:30pm. This place is packed! Anyways, we started off with their cocktails, since U said they are really good. I went for the Yuzu Gin Tonic, which was essentially a gin and tonic with yuzu juice. It was topped with some yuzu zest and a slice of lime. Loved how it was refreshing and not overly sweet.
Fresh Melon White Wine Sangria
K went for the Fresh Melon White Sangria, which consisted of fresh melon juice, calpico, melon liqueor, white wine, soda, and lime. His was slightly more sweet, but really good! As for U, she got the Kingyo, which had rum, shiso, lime, 7up, soda, tonic, goji berries and yuzu juice. Again, the drink wasn’t overly sweet.
My Ebi Mayo
To start, we had the My Ebi Mayo, which I loved! The ebi were huge black tiger prawns and were tempura battered, then deep fried. The prawns were so juicy and fresh. Dipped in the spicy chili mayo sauce and topped with paprika powder, it gave the dish just a bit of heat.
Rock’n Kobe
Next up was the Rock’n Kobe, which came with a large stone to self-grill. The kobe beef was already marinated, but it also came with 2 kinds of Kingyo’s original sauces. One was a spicy sauce and the other was more like a garlic sauce.
There aren’t too many slices of kobe beef for $22, but the meat was definitely a nice cut. Very tender and the marinade was flavourful. Just make sure you don’t overcook it!
Deep Fried Chicken Breast Tender
The Deep Fried Chicken Breast Tenders were marinated in plum and shiso. It was served with lemon, wasabi, and a side of chopped jelly fish marinated in plum sauce. I thought they were pretty much like chicken strips, but nevertheless, they were good.
Invincible & Undefeated Tantan Noodle
The server recommended the Invincible & Undefeated Tantan Noodles. These noodles were similar to instant ramen, but they were cooked in a pork bone and shrimp broth. It was seasoned with sesame oil and miso, then topped with cashew nuts, ground pork, chili marinated Chinese chives and black sesame. A mouthful of flavour! I wish it had more of a kick to it though, since it wasn’t spicy at all compared to your typical tantan noodles.
Cheese Tofu
Lastly, we added a dish off their December special menu, which was the Cheese Tofu. Sounded weird, so we gave it a try. It came with a few slices of toasted bread, and 4 slices of “cheese tofu.” It looked like tofu, but it tasted like cream cheese! It was definitely odd, but not bad at the same time. Not sure what I was eating really.
Overall, we were extremely pleased with Kingyo. Even though we felt a bit rushed at the end, the service was still there. Definitely make reservations ahead of time if you want to eat during the busy dinner times. Otherwise, a great place for food and drinks. Definitely coming back!
Tuna Tataki
Makoto Ramenya is a relatively new Japanese izakaya restaurant that opened up in Coquitlam. It’s run by Koreans and is open til late. Since it is super close to J’s place, we end up going here whenever we’re lazy to go anywhere far. I thought the restaurant would have ramen, but apparently it’s only offered for lunch. So instead, we had to go for their izakaya food, which is honestly quite limited. We started off with the Tuna Tataki, which had only 4 pieces, but priced at around $9. Pricey! I mean, it wasn’t bad or anything, but I wouldn’t pay that much for so little tuna tataki again.
Fresh Seafood and Vegetables in Tonkotsu Soup
Next, we got the Fresh Seafood and Vegetables in Tonkotsu Soup. It came in a little hot pot with a flame lit below. The soup comes without noodles, so we had to add $3 for ramen, which seems pretty expensive since the pot was over $10 to begin with. I found that the soup was filled with bean sprouts more than anything. The seafood was probably just frozen seafood. As for the soup, we got the “little spicy” version, which was just plain weird. Something was just missing in the soup. It was really bland. The ramen just tasted like store bought ramen too. Nothing special, which means I’m probably not going to try their ramen for lunch.
Beef Yaki Udon
Lastly, we had the Beef Yaki Udon. Unfortunately, we were halfway done eating, when I realized I hadn’t gotten a picture. So the dish is actually double the portion pictured here. This was alright, but again, nothing too special. I mean it’s quite hard to mess up a beef yaki udon…
Overall, I wouldn’t say the food is any great at Makoto Ramenya. Everything is just average. However, the second time I came back, I had some drinks and it was really fun. The atmosphere at night is really chill here, so a good place to hang out and have drinks with friends. They have Japanese beers and Korean soju here. The servers and owners end up sitting around with customers too, so service is either a hit or miss, depending if you can get their attention.
Zakkushi Set – Umeshiso Yaki, Momo, Me Maki, P-toro & Oropon Beef
For M’s birthday, he wanted a cool, chill atmosphere with great snacks and lots of drinks. Off we went to one of his favourites – Zakkushi! There are two Zakkushis – one on Main St and one on Denman. We went to the one on Denman just because it’s usually more lively. They also used to have a third location, but it recently closed down. Since we made reservations, we were quickly seated. The restaurant is very small at this location, so we probably took up a quarter of the space. A lot of my friends shared a large variety of different skewers. Zakkushi is known for their yakitori and izakaya type of food. Yakitori are essentiall grilled chicken skewers. For myself, I chose the Zakkushi Set. Starting from the left was the Umeshiso Yaki, which was a chicken thigh with a sour plum sauce and Japanese basil. Next was the Momo, which was a chicken thigh with a nice barbecue sauce. In the middle, was the Me Maki, which were garlic stubs wrapped with pork. I actually didn’t even realize they were garlic stubs. They didn’t give me that garlic breath at all, and I thought it was just asparagus or some type of veggie. Next, was the P-Toro, which was a crunchy and juicy pork. It reminded me of porchetta. My friends and I agreed that it was more fat than meat though. Last but not least, on the very right was the Oropon Beef which came with grated daikon and Ponzu sauce. Oropon beef is essentially their ‘AAA’ beef, so it was very tender and the daikon and Ponzu sauce was very light and refreshing. Overall, a good deal for 5 skewers priced at $9.20.
Matcha Mochi Ice Cream
Other than food, we also had tons of Sapporo and their plum wine. The plum wine was really good! For dessert, MC and I shared the Matcha Mochi Ice Cream. This was the perfect way to end the night! The mochi balls were still slightly frozen and filled with matcha ice cream. It came with some whip cream, red bean paste and topped with matcha powder on the top. After ordering, everyone at our table ended up getting it too. Unfortunately, some weren’t able to get their orders as they were eventually sold out. Definitely a best seller!
Matcha Chiffon Parfait
We realized that another table was also celebrating a birthday, and the restaurant would turn off their lights and bring out a dessert for the birthday customer. They also sang the birthday song! We immediately sneaked over to the waitress and asked for a Matcha Chiffon Parfait for M as well. Again, they shut off the lights and sang the birthday song carrying the cake over. Pretty nice place to celebrate your birthday. The dessert came with a chunk of matcha chiffon cake, topped with whipped cream, mochi and red bean. Not bad.
Overall, we had a good night at Zakkushi on Denman. They gave us great service even though we were pretty loud and probably sat their for quite a while. The bill came to be quite expensive due to the drinks, but everyone enjoyed their night. It’s a great place to grab a small snack, but it is definitely expensive if you want to be fully filled up.
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!
I feel like I just recently went to Guu in Richmond, but come to think of it, it was actually a month ago. J and I wanted some Japanese food though, so off we went. It was a Thursday night and the place was pretty empty. The vibe and ambiance was totally missing, although they still screamed Japanese words at you when you enter and leave! Since there weren’t many customers, the service was especially tentative, and I feel like our tea cups were always full.
Salmon Skin Salad (on the house)
Within minutes of taking down our order, we were given a complimentary appetizer. It was a Salmon Skin Salad, and although I usually don’t like to eat salmon skin, this one was not bad. The lemon gave it some zesty flavours, and worked well with the rest of the salad.
Beef Tataki – thin sliced seared beef w/ ponzu sauce
I chose to get the Beef Tataki, since I love the way Guu flavours it. However, I was extremely disappointed with tonight’s! Beef tataki is supposed to be seared, but this one was overdone. It still looks red on the picture, but I should have taken a snapshot of the other side, because it was completely cooked and brown. J and I both agreed this was not up to their usual standards.
Tuna Tataki – seared tuna w/ ponzu sauce
The Tuna Tataki was also a disappointment. It seemed like the chefs weren’t making their tatakis correctly tonight!! They are usually really delicious, so I’m not sure what went wrong, especially since they had plenty of time to perfect it since there were barely any customers.
Steamed Mussels
Somehow, we ended up with Steamed Mussels too! We didn’t order them, but I took a picture of them before we told them to send them back. They looked delicious though, and we were tempted to eat them anyways…The mussels looked fatty!
Unagi Moshi – BBQ eel & poached egg on rice in hot stone bowl w/ teriyaki sauce (without egg)
J wanted to get something like a unagi don, so the waitress recommended us the Unagi Moshi. It’s colourful and comes in a stone bowl. It totally reminded me of a bimbimbap!
The waitress then helped us mix it all together. I’m not a big fan of eel, but I liked how the bits were all mixed into the rice, so you could still taste the eel, but the texture wasn’t as apparent. It was strong in ginger flavours, and the teriyaki sauce worked well with everything. At the bottom, the rice started to dry up, and you could get the crunchy rice texture just like in any stone bowls.
Yakiudon – pan fried udon w/ beef, mushroom, green onion, & soy sauce + butter
I also love Guu’s Yakiudon, so I had to get that! But I was disappointed with it! When it was served, it just didn’t look appetizing. The udon was a bit soggy, and just wasn’t up to par! I felt like everything that I always enjoy at Guu were such a disappointment tonight!! What was wrong with the chefs 😦
Beef Tongue – 3 styles (Daily Specials)
Finally, J wanted to try something interesting, so we got the Beef Tongue which was prepared in 3 different ways. I have to say I was hesistant to try it first, just because I get a little iffy when I try new organs, or weird body parts… Who doesn’t?! The first one on the right of the plate was cooked and chilled. We found that it was quite salty and reminded us of ham. The texture is definitely chewy though. The one in the middle confused us a little. It had a sunny-side-up egg on top and underneath was a meatball! It was a meatball with beef tongue in it. This is a good choice for starters who have not tried tongue before, since you wouldn’t even realize what’s in it. It’s literally like a meatball! The last one on the left was crispy on the outside, and wasn’t as salty as the first. It was flavourful and I liked it much more compared to the first.
Overall, I was quite disappointed with my visit at Guu this time. I remember a friend saying that the Guu in Richmond is always either a hit or miss. Their consistency is a problem, but this was the first time I experienced this. Weird how it was a weekday and the chefs had plenty of time to perfect their dishes since there were few customers, yet they did not.
Tuna Tataki – seared tuna w/ ponzu sauce
Guu is always such a fun place to go for some izakaya food. The ambiance is awesome with the servers and cooks greeting you as you enter and leave. First up, we got some Tuna Tataki which is always delicious at Guu! Fresh and tasty with the ponzu sauce. Their beef tataki is always one of my favourites.
Oden
We also got some oden, but I only tried the Chikuwa. Typical stuff but I was just really craving it.
Chikuwa Cheese – deep fried breaded fish cake & mozzarella cheese w/ tonkatsu sauce & mayo
More Chikuwa! But this one is Chikuwa Cheese, so it was basically Chikuwa which had cheese oozing out of it. The chikuwa was also lightly breaded and fried and then topped with a tonkatsu sauce and mayo. I found that this was just decent. It was a little on the hard side because it was fried.
Kabocha Korokke – pumpkin & boiled egg croquette
The Kabocha Korokke was delicious! It was a pumpkin croquette with a boiled egg in the center. It was also topped with what I believe were pumpkin chips.
Agedashi Mochi
We decided to be a little adventurous and try out some of the items on their special menu. We got the Agedashi Mochi, which was literally mochi that was fried! I love mochi, but usually as a dessert. This was more of a savoury dish. You really had to dip the mochi into the sauce or else it was pretty bland. It was also a lot more sticky than mochi in desserts. It was interesting!
Diced Beef Tenderloin Steak and Mushroom w/ Garlic Onion Sauce – Special*
The Diced Beef Tenderloin Steak and Mushroom w/ Garlic Onion Sauce was on their Today’s Special item. The beef tenderloin was extremely tender and the dish came sizzling hot. Full of flavour and would definitely recommend if you love meat.
Yakiudon (beef on side) – pan fried udon w/ beef, mushroom, green onion, soy sauce & butter
Lastly, we got the Yakiudon because Guu makes one of my favourite yakiudons! The picture doesn’t have the meat in it since we had it on the side. The meat was still extremely flavourful and tender. I love the fish flakes on the top, and it’s always fun to watch them move when the dish is served hot.
Overall, Guu always lives up to expectations. Great place to grab lunch or have a night out with friends. The service is always cheerful and the quality of food is great!
Every Day is a Food Day 