I am a fish out of water. It’s a cold afternoon at a desolate corner of Church and Gerard and people are lined up outside.
I peek in hopefully to the half empty restaurant and am relieved to find that my pal has already gotten a couple of seats.
You notice I don’t say that she has a table. The room only contains long tables and we sit on stools that most closely resemble tree stumps. We are informed that we have two hours for our meal.
This brand new restaurant is noisy and uncomfortable and, were it not for the food, the phenomenon that is Guu would puzzle me.
The cuisine is izakaya – that is, Japanese tapas, and nothing on the menu is priced higher than $9.80.
The menu is divided into categories: Appetizers; Salads; Cold Dishes; Deep Fried; Oden and Stewed; Grilled; Rice and Noodle; and Sweets.
There is enough that is familiar to keep us in our comfort zone and enough that is novel to keep us interested.
Daikon Salad brings icy batons of fresh daikon (white radish) and greens, that have been dressed with a spicy cod roe mayonnaise along with bits of raw scallop. Tasty but not as exotic as it sounds – who knew that raw scallops would just be mushy? $5.80.
Salmon Natto Yukke is the most exotic dish that we order: a platter arrives with chopped salmon sashimi with ‘seven friends’ (fermented beans, wonton chips, garlic chips, green onions and some mystery ingredients) as well as a raw egg.
The entirety is surrounded by nori rectangles. The server mixes all the ingredients into a jewel-toned mound and we fill the nori wrappers with spoonfuls and roll them up. A fabulous amalgam for $8.30.
Okonomiyaki is an old friend from some of the familiar fast food Japanese eateries in town. We agree this is the best rendition available. A Japanese pancake is thick and puffy and displays a strong green onion presence.
The whole thing has been lightly deep fried, cut into quarters and glazed with Tonkatsu sauce (sweetish) and mustard mayonnaise. At $6.50, this is a must-have.
The group to the left of us are served Hotate Butter – pan fried scallops with soy sauce and garlic butter. It beckons but they waive us off.
However, when their Kakimayo arrives, they give it a thumbs up and we go for it. (It is that kind of fun here and most welcome).
Two huge oysters are plated, each topped with spinach, garlic mayonnaise (they do love their mayo here) and cheese. This may sound suspiciously like Oysters Rockefeller but who cares when the bivalves are this meaty and the topping is so savoury? $6.80.
Karubi ends up being the only meat item we choose. Thin slices of grilled beef short ribs are flavoured only with salt and pepper and are gloriously smoky and chewy. A side dish of green onion sauce doesn’t really work so we skip it. $6.80
At the 90 minute mark, there is a last call for food, and they aren’t kidding. At the two hour mark, two other diners appear to take our seats before we have even stood up.
As we leave, there is a roar from the room heralding our departure. We try not to take it personally.
