Gugu Room

The More-Is-More Pizzazz of Gugu Room | The New Yorker

"On the Lower East Side, I visited a Filipino-Japanese izakaya called Gugu Room that trades on nightlife exuberance and a mashup origin story—tales range from José Rizal’s 1888 romance to an Adrien Brody–sparked concept, but chef Mark Manaloto sums it up: “We wanted to bring Filipino night life… Good dinner and party afterward.” The chaotic, merry décor (a silvery disco ball, a bust of José Rizal, a frenzy of red lanterns and cherry-blossom–adorned cabins) matches an eclectic menu designed to be portable onto the dance floor. When I consulted a server he immediately steered me to the skewers: the tenga (pig ears) marinated in banana ketchup and grilled on binchotan charcoal, yielding a crisp exterior and a wink of cartilage crunch; the isaw (intestines), wrinkly whorls with a wild, primal umami; and the longanisa, a descendant of Spanish chorizo that is smoky and sweet with notes of smoked paprika and garlic, heightened by the heat of an open flame. Rich dishes unapologetically layer flavors: lengua gyutan (beef tongue) in a creamy mushroom gravy was smooth, balanced, and savory, and the short-rib udon with bone marrow featured a bulalo-style broth—punctuated by peppercorn, fish sauce, and white shoyu—that was voluptuous rather than cloying, the best bite being an unladylike gnaw of gristle followed by a spoonful of marrow-thickened soup with cubes of daikon. Some items felt like concessions to the fusion narrative—the chicken inasal was pallid and the agedashi tofu gummy and forgettable. There are no sweets, but an impressive, varied cocktail list (I sipped a Wasabi Mar-Gari-Ta: tequila, calamansi honey, lime, wasabi) primes the room for after-hours; skewers flew by to be waved into selfies as the music revved up, dishes run $6–$25. I left close to 11 p.m. after finishing my isaw, while the party had only just begun." - Jiayang Fan