Guu with Garlic

Still one of the best izakayas in Vancouver—after all these years! We’ve been coming to Guu with Garlic for almost three decades, and somehow, it’s still as good as ever. The food is consistently excellent—never too greasy or overly sauced. Just right, every time.​ Their vegetable starters, such as okra, eggplants and green beans, are tasty and refreshing. All their grilled dishes are perfect companions for cold beer. The place is small and almost too cozy—think elbows brushing with strangers cozy—and it’s almost always packed during dinner. But that’s part of the fun. The energy is high, the staff are always welcoming, and the vibe is authentically loud in the best izakaya way. Come for the food, stay for the experience—and then come back again next month like we always do.

One of the best Japanese places in Van! One of the few spots that serves yellowtail carpaccio too. Have been a regular customer over several months now. Amazing vibes, professional chefs and lovely servers!❤️

Been to other branches but never this one! Arrived right at opening and got seated easily. Daily specials are handwritten on the menu board (available after 5:30 PM only!). ✔️ Cheese Tofu Recommended by our server. Tried it in Gastown too—deep-fried tofu topped with melted cheese and honey, served on toasted, crunchy baguette slices. Sweet, savory, and full of soy aroma! ✔️ Yuzu Chicken Tender Tempura So good! Better than regular karaage because the tempura batter is incredibly light and crisp. The chicken itself is mildly seasoned, paired with refreshing yuzu ponzu dipping sauce. ✔️ Garlic Soy Sauce Marinated Eggplant Lightly seasoned, chilled eggplant—oily but not greasy, packed with flavor. ✔️ Yaki-Udon Highly recommended by my friend. Looks plain but tastes amazing! Savory umami and creamy richness coat the chewy udon noodles. ✔️ Assorted Oden His usual order. Authentic Japanese oden, but I’d recommend ordering individual items instead. Get extra daikon radish—it soaks up the broth perfectly. Reasonable prices, fresh ingredients, and authentic flavors. The entire staff (including chefs) are Japanese 🇯🇵—felt like stumbling upon a hidden izakaya in a back alley during a trip to Japan! 📍 Guu with Garlic

Visit: May 2025 I loved the atmosphere here, with the decor and the black chalk boards. The food was alright, it didn't taste like anything special. I had the tuna salmon don, which was basically like a poke bowl (but more warm). It came with natto, which can be asked for on the side. I found out, I don't think I'm the biggest fan of natto.. My friends got the beef curry and unagi meshi, which were both pretty decent

Cozy spot that gets busy during dinner, so big groups might have trouble finding seats. Once you're seated, the service is friendly and quick. We enjoyed everything we ordered, especially the miso cod special—it was delicious.

The food was okay, but not particularly memorable. I ordered the Spicy Poki Don, which was much spicier than I expected. Aside from the heat, I felt like it lacked richness in flavor. The tuna sashimi was very fresh, but the overall dish leaned too heavily on the sour and spicy sauce, which made it hard to enjoy. My partner had the Taco Rice, which we both preferred. It wasn’t anything special (tasted like a standard taco), but the presentation in a sizzling hot stone bowl was a nice touch. One downside to our experience was the seating. We were placed at the counter near the entrance on a cold, windy day, and a draft kept coming in, making it chilly inside.

Food here is delicious! Perfect place to come with a group of friends and share some dishes We tried the scallop mayo pizza, mackerel sashimi, taco rice, beef tongue, okonomoyaki, and kimchi udon. Would recommend the taco rice, as well as the scallop pizza was rich and filling. Okonomoyaki was on-point 👌👌

Service was great. We were hungry and liked the food, just one thing that it felt like everything (except the fried chicken) was saltier, even the miso soup was saltier than what we used to

Out of everything we ate during our one week trip in Canada, this restaurant was my highlight! I had actually put this restaurant as a backup for dinner because I didn't know how late we would get back to downtown from Grouse Mountain. We got to the restaurant around 9:30pm on a Friday. I was a little worried that the restaurant was gonna be full, but there were plenty of seats when we arrived. It really picked up over the night though. Our waiter was so friendly and welcoming. We ended up ordering a LOT. We ordered takowasabi, ika-maru, takoyaki, una-meshi, and spicy poki don. The una-meshi was the standout for us. It really warmed us up on a cold night, and the dish was just comforting. Out of everything we ordered, I would highly recommend this. The ika-maru is also a good dish to share if you like squid. The takowasabi was nice to try, but I probably wouldn't order it again unless I got sashimi to pair it with. The takoyaki wasn't crispy to my liking, but it was hot off the stove, fresh, and very flavorful. The spicy poki don was pretty bland in our opinion, so I don't recommend getting this. We also got dessert: banana tempura with green tea ice cream. A great way to end the meal. The hot fried banana tempura with cold, creamy ice cream went together perfectly. The atmosphere of the restaurant is actually what makes this place such a fun place to go to. You have the front of the house workers shouting orders to the chefs in the back in Japanese. You hear a lot of happy people drinking and enjoying good food. It seems like a very chill spot to hang out late at night. It's a no frills kind of restaurant with good, comforting food and good vibes. Definitely go here when you're in Vancouver!

This is a traditional Japanese Izakaya with an extensive menu of both cooked and raw items. I had the 5 Kinds of Sashimi, which consisted of 15 generous slices. Fish quality was very good. Be sure to check out all the chalkboards around the room, as there are a lot of items that are not on the menu, They have a nice selection of sake and beer, including my favorite Sapporo Black. Service was friendly.

Wow! Make reservations before coming. Be prepared to sit down. And please take your shoes off! 6 out of 7 of our items arrived. We finished out food and our table was cleaned. However our Hamburg steak never arrived. After 3 different people checked twice. The manager came over and said the kitchen is backed up. Asked if we'd like to cancel that order. I said sure. However, tables that arrived after us got there food and one of them was a Hamburg steak. Not sure why our food was forgotten...

Nice spot for Japanese izakaya downtown. Got a spot right away and our food came out quickly. We got the takoyaki, kimchi yakiudon, gyoza and ebi mayo to share. Everything tasted great!

I've been to their sister restaurant Guu Otokomae back in 2018 and was excited to try another restaurant in the Guu group. My boyfriend and I ordered: - Oden (delicate flavor, not overpowering - almost could be described as bland) - Salmon tataki (SO fresh, SO tender - melted in my mouth) - Potato mochi - fried to a crisp with cheese inside - Una meshi - reminded me of a bibimbap! The staff was super nice, especially our server Mizuki - felt like we were in Japan with the way she served us.

I made a reservation for lunch for 5 people a few says before we intended on going. When we went in, there wasn't anyone there yet except for our group. We ordered the okonomiyaki, karaage, pork loin cutlet don, the miso cod special, and kimchi fried rice. Everything was delicious and the serving size was generous so we were all able to try everything and got full from everything we ordered! There were only about 6 tables there so it's a good idea to make a reservation because you just never know how packed they are. The service is good. They were patient with us since we took a bit longer to order. They also checked in on us a few times to make sure we're liking the food and didn't need anything else. I'm quite honestly not readily excited to go back here anytime soon but I wouldn't mind going back maybe in a year or so!

Honestly, I really just wanted an ice cold beer after running 4+ miles on the sea wall towards English bay But then decided to get a small bite too. The tacowasabi was okay it wasn't anything amazing.. i kind of wish the portion was a little bigger considering the price. Tuna tataki felt like it was lacking seasoning but tasted super fresh nonetheless. The beef tongue is honestly what really stood out to me. It felt like I was eating a piece of steak because the dam meat was so tender.. the sauce and fried onions were such a nice touch sweet, buttery, crispy and sour. I'd definitely give this place another shot if I'm around English Bay.

Stopped by as this was one of few restaurants on Robson open late after we finished exploring the city all day. While I can appreciate the smaller, daily sourced menu, maybe we just didn't order the right items since we did not get sushi or the daily specials. Compared to what is available back in states at home, this restaurant was good, though not great. While I would give it another chance if in the area to try some of the more limited daily specials, I'm not sure if that would drastically change my review based on the all various food options available at home. This may be good for Vancouver, though not on par with other foodie cities. Service was quick and efficient and food was delivered in a timely manner. Crowd was lovely for being 11pm and gave off a nice energy.

Wow wow wow! Amazing service, atmosphere, and food! We loved every dish we got. Just be aware that their lunch and dinner menus differ. Miso black cod: wow this dish was SO GOOD. The fish was soft, with great texture and the flavor with rice and the sides on the plate were so YUMMMM. My favorite lunch dish, it was the special for the day Okonomiyaki: great texture, amazing flavor and I actually liked this a bit more than the takoyaki even though these are two different dishes Pork cutlet: pretty good flavor and delicious with the sauce, cabbage, and rice. Could also be a bit juicier though. Overall a good dish Salmon and tuna tataki: this was so delicious! Especially the ponzu sauce and crispy garlic added on top, yuuuum

Super fun izakaya styled restaurant with wide menu and fun specials to choose from. The service was attentive and friendly, atmosphere bustling but in a fun way, and food delicious. My friend and I shared the green bean goma ae, tuna tataki, okonomiyaki, and takoyaki. The perfect amount of food for a light dinner to pair with drinks. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting at the bar and watching the food get made. Would definitely return to try new things!

The food here was good! We ordered the sashimi salad, taco rice, and beef tongue. The sashimi salad and taco rice was very good! The beef tongue was very flavorful and it was amazing with the garlic, but the meat itself was a little tough. Would recommend though! They have such cool and unique dishes :) also open pretty late

All the Guu restaurants are good, but Guu With Garlic's walk-up location, cozy decor, and gregarious staff goes well with a rather good daily special menu. This may be the best of the Guu restaurants. Every time I stay in town I end up coming here to eat several times. If you haven't been to a Guu Izakaya, they combine a basic standard lunch/dinner menu with a special menu that changes every day, mostly a colorful variety of small plates (sashimi, noodles, tempura, grilled fish, etc... though be warned that some dishes like yakisoba are actually quite big!). At GWG the best approach I've found is to have 1-2 go-to menu items, maybe a standard side (I always like to get rice with whatever I order), and then also sample 1-2 of the daily special items. An ideal meal will probably cost you C$40-70 if you've got an appetite, but I've found it's pretty much worth it every time. They provide chopsticks but you may want to ask for a spoon or fork as it can be a struggle to eat many of their dishes with just the sticks. Their patented Saba Mackerel in particular can be very difficult to separate and eat with chopsticks. Because it's a small space, I'd be wary of bringing a group of more than 4 people, and even then if it's busy you may be waiting a bit to sit down. Coming in solo I've found I've gotten seated quickly almost every time, and couples seem to have the same experience. If you like sugary cocktails and don't want to drink but don't mind a touch of alcohol, their Virgin Cocktails with Ramune and lime cordial are actually pretty good. Pick whichever one seems more appealing (and have fun popping the Ramune bottle!).

Perfect place for great food and drinks! Service was spot on and quick. Ambiance is a great vibe. I will definitely be coming back!!!!

Had very high hopes for this location. Aesthetically, this location has a great izakaya vibe. The decorations, seating, and overall atmosphere was very traditional feeling. The food was not crazy expensive and overall was solid, but not amazing. - Yellowtail - large slices, very rich, tasty - enjoyed a lot - Porkloin Cutlet don - I wanted this to be more crispy, it was decent but felt soggy - Karaage - mix of chicken pieces which took me by suprise, there was a total of 5 pieces, it was overall decent and not what I expected but not bad - Black cod - tasty just a little too salty - cheesecake - ok, nothing crazy unique, small slice for the price The overall service was very polite when you were attended to, but not super attentive until you requested for something. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience but was expecting a little more. Food: 4/5 Service: 4/5 Ambiance: 5/5

Nice little izakaya on Robson street. It's convenient when you want to go to multiple restaurants since there is lots of restaurants close by. Ordered chicken nanban, roast beef, oden and Grilled saba. Oden soup had delicate flavor not over powering. I drank the whole soup! they must know how to make soup the right way. It's perfection. Nanban had this pickled plum? dipping sauce different from what I'm used to. I like tartar sauce:( Very thin slices of roast beef with onions and ponzu sauce? Delicious!! Saba served with tomatoes, lemon and butter was not something I expected but was interesting I've never had before. Lots of menu I need to come again and try!

After riding bikes around Stanley Park, we worked up an appetite. Guu with Garlic showed up on Yelp. 4.5 rating with over 1K reviews. Cute small dining establishment. Ambiance is typical of what one would find in a small sushi house (sushi bar area, dining area with tables to accommodate parties of 2 or larger groups). There is even a private small dining area for those wishing to have close to a Japanese style dining where you sit on the floor, however, here they have these tiny/short footed stools where you sit like a couple inches from the ground. Today, the had one woman handling the meal prep/cooking/plating and another woman working the dining area that brought out our meal and tending to our needs. Water kept flowing, so we didn't have to ask for more water. That's just something good to point out. We ordered the asst. Sashimi Salad and the lunch special which consisted of the blacked grilled miso cod that came with rice, salad, miso soup, and two smaller portion appetizers. COD was cooked in a way that it tasted like Sea Bass (my FAV fish!). Very satisfied with our meal.

Very busy place and maybe not for everyone. The menu was on the walls near the ceiling. Small shareable plates. The grilled squid, mackerel, and fried chicken were delicious. The calamari was okay. This place was super busy the entire time there but they were exceptionally quick at plating the food. NOT much in drinks unless you are a saki fan. It's our first time and we would really need to do this a few times to become familiar with this dining style.

Surprisingly I was able to get last minute reservations for a Friday night. (The other locations were all booked until late). Davie is a super cute area, not sure why this location wasn't too busy. Wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Greeted quickly and our server was super friendly. Salmon Tataki 3/5 - bland to me Wagyu Tataki 3/5 - not the wagyu type of need I was thinking of...kinda tough Grilled Attaka Mackerel 3/5 - bland and lots of bones in it, so hard to eat Beef Tongue Steak Teppan 6/5 - the best dish of the night, super flavorful and the fries were icing on the cake! They were super crispy. I would try their other fries next time. Carbonara Udon - 5/5 - super creamy and exactly as it sounds Scallop Battera 5/5- super fresh and tasty

Pretty busy place on Robson so we went here for dinner before 6pm, which allowed us to get a table right away. We got the unagi in stone pot, grilled mackerel, and udon stir fry. Prices were kind of on the higher side for the smaller portions but food is good. Service is good when it's not too busy. Can get noisy as the restaurant fills up.

IT WAS GUUD TO SEE YOU Recently revisited @guu_izakaya and was reminded of why this place will forever have a special place in my heart. The ambience, the service, and best of all--the food. Has never failed to satisfy my craving for Japanese food. I was first introduce to Guu when an ex of mine brought me to @guu_with_garlic years ago. And ever since that day this Izakaya has held a special place in my heart. Their menu varies by location but you can be sure to find tons of Japanese izakaya classics like chicken karaage, sashimi, and a variety of appetizers. I always order the tonkatsu with egg over rice if I go during lunch time. And their Unagi egg over rice is also *chefs kisses* genuinely the perfect spot for a casual date night or quick lunch. Have you guys tried any of Guu's chain of restaurants yet? *this post was not sponsored or gifted but please feel free to feed me @guu_izakaya * 8.5/10 ‍10/10 $$ (aprox. $30-50/person) Guu Izakaya | 838 Thurlow St, Vancouver

During a March 2023 trip to Vancouver, my friend and I stopped at Guu with Garlic not once, but twice, because it was so good! This little izakaya is AMAZING! The menu changes often, so I don't know whether anything we had is stays on the menu. Everything we had was amazing and we couldn't restrain ourselves from digging in before taking pictures of the dishes we ordered. Both times we went, the restaurant was *very* busy. The restaurant puts up a wooden divider on 4-top seats if 2 folks are looking for a table. There's lots of street parking within a few blocks. Definitely go to Guu with Garlic the next time you're in Vancouver!

Every dish here was so good. Service was great and fast. Reasonable prices, decent size portion. This Guu location is my favorite because it's the most authentic Japanese looking one. This restaurant is very popular and there will usually be a wait. If you eat late, some of the popular dishes may be sold out.

It's a busy restaurant but they take reservations. One of our go to spots anytime we are in Vancouver. The daily specials are excellent and service is consistently attentive. It's a small spot, but not too loud for a family friendly place.

The original Guu! Tasty and fresh ingredients! Came here for a late lunch (we're talking about 2PM time) on a weekday, and the restaurant was empty here with only one other table dining in. Makes sense, since it was so late in the day already. There's also a guu in Toronto, but heard that this is where it originated from. And I must say, it's super tasty and have really fresh ingredients. There is a traditional seating area where you have to take off your shoes and sit on a lower table - super cool! Items we ordered: Sashimi salad 10/10 - Super fresh sashimi pieces. Very refreshing to the palette and was great for sharing. Also large in portion size. Tuna tataki 9/10 - Fresh sashimi pieces that were thick cut, which I loved! Salmon tataki 10/10 - Super fresh fatty salmon pieces. Again, loved the way they cut it into thick slices. Great vinaigrette that goes with it. Yakiudon 10/10 - Always the best item on the menu. Saucey, salty and super flavourful. Compared to the Toronto location, this one seems to have fresher ingredients and would highly recommend. Prices add up pretty quickly here but still super delicious and worth it!

A friend recommended this place for the miso glazed black cod, and it did not disappoint. It is so buttery and delicious. Just watch out for bones. I made a reservation on Open Table, and we were seated right away. The service here is very quick and friendly. We ordered 8 dishes (I think) for 4 people, and we all left full. Everything is tapas so shared small plates. Everything we ate was tasty, but the miso glazed black cod was the highlight of the meal. I also really loved the uni and the kimchi udon. The only thing I didn't love and would technically have given 4.5 stars for was the negitoro over sushi rice. It didn't taste as fresh as other negitoro rolls or handrolls I've eaten in the past. But it didn't make me sick either. Ambiance is a little loud because it's a fairly small space, but my group could hear our conversations, so it was fine. Tables can be a tight squeeze depending on where you're seated, but it didn't ruin the meal for us. Would recommend to anyone visiting (like we are). Overall, I would give 4.5 stars. And make a res if you can.

Guu is definitely one of the OGs for legit izakayas in Vancouver. I haven't gone there in a few years but the food is still just as fantastic. The vibe and environment is identical to what you'd find in Japan. We ordered from the lunch menu and was extremely pleased by the quality of our food. The assorted sashimi lunch combo is an amazing deal and bang for the buck. It comes with a decent number of pieces of sashimi, 3 tatakis, 3 side dishes, soup and rice. The sashimi was extremely fresh and delicious. The lunch set lived up to its beautiful presentation. The tataki set came with 3 sashimi and 3 tuna tatakis each. It also came with 3 side dishes, soup and rice. I love tatakis and i really enjoyed my lunch. We also ordered the daily cheesecake. It was decent sized and not too expensive. Definitely a nice way to wrap up our lunch. If you also love sashimi, I'd highly recommend Guu. In comparison, I think the sashimi lunch combo is better deal than the tataki set as it also came with 3 pieces of tataki. We can't wait to go back to try other items.

A seriously fun and delicious izakaya destination in a town packed with great dining options. Our party of 4 on a short vacation to the city for the very purpose of interesting dining found this to be one of our favorite stops in our 4 days here. An almost endless array of small dishes, or tapas if you wish, that mostly pleased and surprised us. We found only one cold tofu dish to be the one that disappointed us, but by and large were delighted by our selections. A couple of weeks have passed since our dine there but it stayed memorable. What we remember ordering: tune tatake enoki mushroom with cold tofu (the only dish we thought not interesting), Atalantic salmon belly special (superb!), Kimchi cucumber (the surprise hit of the evening, spectacular!), takoyaki, deep fried shishito peppers (delightful!), Takoyaki, moshi & shrimp gratin (crazy, and good!),una-meshi, atsu-age, premium garlic beef tongue. There was also a bi-bim-bap type dish that was stunning, complete with burnt rice to die for. Service was impeccable, and at one point they had to clear dishes to make room for more of our order. In short, a destination worthy of being sought out for a grand evening of dining. Casual, all credit cards accepted, easy to find in an area that's worth a stroll after dining. Very highly recommended.

3.5 A little torn in this rating since I feel like maybe we didn't get to experience all the stars in the show. Half the items we ordered were amazing - the marinated eggplant w/garlic chips (so yummyyy!) and the grilled cod cheek--another reviewer said it well that this might be the best version of this they've ever tried--I agree, that grilled flavor and buttery soft cheek meat deserves a chef's kiss. The other two items were a let down - the oden (very bland, I can make this better out of a frozen package at home), the yaki-udon (flavor was kinda meh and didn't stand out enough to make me want to reorder it). I still rounded up the extra half star bc the staff were quite considerate and polite, when we arrived there was a wait so someone took my name and number right away and gave us an approximate 20-25 min wait time. No prob, it was a Friday night and we took a stroll down Robson and got a text in 20 min that the table was ready. The waitress passed us the specials menu and referred us to the QR code for regular menu. She took our drink order shortly as well as food order. The place was bustling but I felt each of the waitstaff was doing their best to provide good service to all of the tables. Have to give props to the staff for trying to quell an extremely loud, inebriated party of 4 college students who were laughing/yelling at the top of their lungs. I understand this is an Izakaya which is relatively casual dining, but this was next level disruptive to all the other patrons. Thanks for taking care of that!

We made reservations, which is a good idea as I saw most tables were reserved when we walked in. We sat "upstairs" where we took off our shoes and sat on floor cushions. It was a bit more intimate there. Service was friendly but a bit lacking. My tea turned cold, and it wasn't refilled. We started with the cold tofu and tuna tataki. I enjoyed the tofu as it was topped with mushroom. The tuna was good too, but I wished it was a little less cold. Then we had the premium garlic beef tongue and grilled squid. I wished the squid came with tentacles. We ended with the bbq eel & rice in hot stone bowl and seafood nabe. The bbq eel was my favorite. While I enjoyed the broth in the nabe, I didn't really care for the rest of it. Every time I've gone to Vancouver, I go to a different Guu. This is the third location I've been to. All of them are solid restaurants!

I love this restaurant, they used to have 4-5 Guu restaurants with different themes, and each one was really delicious. Everything is excellent, my favorite one is grilled pork cheeks, that's my must have, not sure if they still have it, because they do change the menu once a while. Service is average and the ambiance is typical Japanese, small but well arranged. Hope to come back soon.

10/10 experience here at Guu w/ Garlic! This place truly feels like it came straight from Japan. The decor and seating were all very close together and it had a very lively atmosphere. We came around 8:30pm on a friday night and were seated immediately. We had a great view of the kitchen at the bar, which was very entertaining. Even though we were tucked in the corner of the bar, it was still easy to get the servers' attention and they checked on us regularly. What we ordered: Calpico Plum Wine with Soda ($7.5) Aloe Mojito ($7.5) Peach Oolong ($7.5) Garland & Stewed Enoki Mushroom w/ Grated Daikon ($7.8) King Oyster Mushroom Tempura w/ Matcha Salt ($10.8) Aburi Shime SABA Sashimi ($15.8) Deep Fried Breaded Oyster w/ Yuzu Pepper Tartar sauce ($14.8) My favorite was definitely the Calpico Plum Wine!! It was sweet and fizzy with minimal alcohol bite. My boyfriend's favorite dishes was the deep fried oysters and the Aburi sashimi! The fish was pickled and then flame seared with raw onions, garlic chips and some greens. DELICIOUSLY SALTY. The oysters were HUGE and not too fishy. The Yuzu Tartar sauce was also so unique. Honestly for the price of these uniquely asian cocktails and wide variety of plates you could come back here many times and still have something new to try. I HIGHLY recommend trying Guu with Garlic if you are in Vancouver!

During my first night in Vancouver, I met up with my friend to get some Izakaya. Many people have recommended this place, so I wanted to give it a try. We came here on a Tuesday at around 7PM. Luckily, there was no wait, so we were seated at the bar area. We sat against the wall, so the space was a bit tight, especially, when trying to get in and out of your seat with other customers sitting near you. Since we were both really hungry, we ordered 6 items to share: -Beef tataki (sashimi) (5/5) - Light and refreshing. -Chicken nanban (kaarage) (5/5) - Very well battered. -Kimchi-udon (5/5) - I like how the kimchi was finely minced, making it easy to spread around the noodles. One of my favorites. -Una-meshi (Unagi) (5/5) - The unagi was delicious! One of my favorites. -Tontoro (Pork cheek) (5/5) - This is cooked well. One of my favorites. -Saba (Mackerel) (5/5) - I wasn't expecting this to be a lot of fish. It took us a while to eat this. Super tasty. We were really full and had barely finished all of our food. Everything tasted amazing! The service here was good. Since we sat at the bar area, they were able to easily serve us our food and take away any finished dishes immediately. The restaurant is bit small inside. Large groups aren't recommended. It does get super busy here. I would recommend checking this place!

This place is like a Japanese tapas place. It's more for hanging out, drinking, and socializing. It's a great place, but slightly cramped. There's also an option to sit zashiki which we didn't partake in. We ordered a few things just to try some of what the restaurant had to offer. Overall everything was good, but nothing really stood out. Not a bad place to bring a group of friends.

Back again after so many years. In love with the black cod, which is so soft and buttery and flavorful throughout the flesh (other reviewers, you did not lead us astray!), and the BBQ eel, which is also sooo soft and flavorful over the hot bowl-crisp rice. The melt-in-your mouth tuna tataki... wow. Only thing I was less enthusiastic about was the mackerel, but I think that's just a me and mackerel thing. Everything comes with everything it needs to pop flavorwise, whether thats radish and seaweed in the eel dish or plentiful scallions in some other dishes. Quick and kind service. Maybe we got lucky towards the end of lunch on a Tuesday, but we were immediately seated and quickly served.

Sashimi here is a must get! Every time my family and I come to Vancouver, we have to make a stop here. Haven't ordered anything I wouldn't try again. The highlight is the sweet scallop sashimi

Decided to try this place for dinner on a weekend trip to Vancouver and the food did not disappoint! We were a little worried about the wait and slow service from looking at other reviews, but the reviews on quality and taste of food still hooked us in. We did have to wait almost an hour for 2 people. The hostess first said it'll be about 30-45 minutes, so we walked around downtown to kill time. When around 35 minutes passed, we checked back in and the same hostess explained that it'll be about 30-45 minutes again. We were so shocked that we almost gave up, but we decided to wait it out a bit more at a nearby coffee shop where we ended up getting called back just 10 minutes after. Even though the wait time experience was undesirable, this place wins back all its stars in my book with their food. We got seated at the bar so we were able to look in the kitchen to see all the food being prepared. All the dishes came quick. Because this is a tapas-style restaurant, we got to order multiple things to try and all of them were delicious. Whether it was sashimi or a cooked/fried dish, the flavors were authentic and warmed us up from the cold outside. An unexpected plus was from ordering a ramune cocktail where we got to pop the soda bottle ourselves and pour it into the liquor to our liking. Overall, even though the wait and service was a bit chaotic and slow, I would still come again to try more of their dishes!

A super hot and cold restaurant. The cold? The service is really, really slow. Also, a side note that I saw another customer be stressed over, the waiters also don't really speak English, so make sure to be patient with them! The hot? Wow, the food is incredible and at a very affordable price. We started with fried mackerel for $12.88 (all prices in CAD). An incredible dish; crispy on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside, with 2 delicious sauces to choose from. I got the sashimi platter (~$20) with so much fish. All of it was extremely fresh and tasted delicious. My companions got the Yaki soba and the pork cutlet. The Yaki soba was light and refreshing and the meat was super tender! The pork cutlet was delicately fried and served beautifully. Would definitely recommend anything on the menu, depending what you're feeling.

So the reason I am giving 3 stars - a bit lower - is because of service. My wife and I sat down at their counter and nobody came to take our order until after 20 min. We didn't get our food until an hour after we sat down. That seems too long for lunch. The food itself was not bad. I ordered the salmon and tuna yukke, a rice dish. The poached egg was excellent but everything else was just OK. Maybe I should have stuck to the grilled stuff.

Fantastic service. Go earlier as many of the dishes we wanted to order were sold out by the time we got there. Seared salmon salad and beef tataki were good. Okonomiyaki was a disappointment compared to Osaka. Yellowfin tuna steak over priced for what you get.

Guu'ing around... I have tried pretty all the locations multiple times throughout the years starting with the original Guu because of their pumpkin croquet. All the locations are a good little hang out placed with some friends over some food and drinks; each location has a little theme with a slightly different menu. However sometimes the quality of the food are a hit and missed because they change their menu slightly throughout the different seasons of the year. Yes, that shouldn't be an excuse for subpar food anywhere when you are paying for it. This time around, here were the food I ordered at this location; 1. Garlic soy sauce marinated okra. Nothing worth mentioning about this dish other than why did I even ordered it? 2. Assorted Oden. This is usually my warm up dish, unfortunately the only thing warm was the both. Once again, soup are most flavourful when hot not warm plus forgot to give me the mustard on the side which I like. Failed! 3. 3 kinds of sashimi (sockeye salmon, albacore toro, hamachi). Very fresh and tasty. 4. Beef tataki. The onion and sauce were too overwhelming, took away most of the beef flavour. 5. Ebi mayo. Pretty generic dish overall. 6. Kimchi udon. Could use a little more seasoning and butter to enhance the flavour, and perhaps a bit more fish roe? Sorry this used to be a specialty dish I make way before any restaurant even consider it on their menu. 7. Miso marinated black cod. It was perfectly done, tasty and tender. Until the guy beside me turned around and sneezed toward it (Facepalm). No I didn't ask him to eat it, I just can't believe certain people just don't have any sanitary manners. 8. Shrimp and Mochi gratin. This is one of those dish, it's good sometimes and at times I wanted to ask for a refund, this was one of those times I would like a refund. Overall this time around, the service was pretty average and a couple of dishes could've been better. Nevertheless, the Guu locations are a neat and casual little places to hang out with a few friends. But some may find their little dishes can add up to be quite expensive sometimes. I would say a solid 3 stars overall is fair.

Spectacular food and reasonably priced. Very fast service and good atmosphere. I would recommend tofu salad.

Forgot to review this review as soon as I visited! Delicious little spot in Vancouver! The chicken we got was very moist and had good flavor. The seared ahi tuna was delicious, very refreshing. Came here for a quick bite and since their plates are on the smaller site it was nice to have options of trying different things on their menu. They had a variety of things on their menu. You are seated and given hot tea. The server was very helpful with questions about the menu. Space itself is a little small but we were sat instantly. Good spot to come visit while in Vancouver if in need of something light on the stomach.

This is my second visit at Guu with Garlic. I was super sad that they don't have black cod on the menu. I ordered their kimchi udon, salmon tataki, and grilled mackerel. The salmon tataki was delicious and fresh. I like the tenderness and fattiness taste of the salmon. The kimchi udon was good but wish they added more kimchi to the dish. I really like the grilled mackerel that had light seasoning that you can still taste the flavor of the ingredient.

We came here on a Friday night for dinner after our drive from Seattle. Luckily we were able to get seated right away, but I noticed there was a wait after us. We sat in the room where you have to take off your shoes and sit on the floor. For my boyfriend, he was not able to sit cross-legged; I personally was comfortable. Plate sizes are small, but it's the best opportunity to try a lot of different items. Get the UNA-MESHI (which is the eel and rice in a hot stone bowl)!

Craving sushi we stopped at Guu with Garlic and the place and food did not disappoint. We sampled appetizers- edamame, mussels, and cauliflower, and sashimi. The mussels in broth was the BEST, flavorful and large meaty mussels. The sashimi was fresh and beautifully served with radish. The service was friendly and prompt. We had a great experience at Guu!

Another great night spent indulging in delicious food! The shiitake mushroom tempura was so crispy and juicy while the fish carpaccio was light and refreshing. The Japanese pancake has always been delicious and deep fried breaded pork tender skewers were interesting (still deciding if I liked it or not).

I haven't eaten here in so long but I can recall highly from my previous experience. (I think it may have been about 10 years ago, give or take!) But I remember everything being SO Guu'd! The wait staff were wonderful! They were all very attentive and friendly from beginning to end. Once we sat, just looking around and seeing the specials written overhead entices you to want to order. We ended up getting the Black Cod Carpaccio. The texture was a bit chewy and the aioli was overpowering the fish. The Beef tongue could've been more tender, it still had a slight bite to it. The Scallop Pizza was plain, like cheese bread with a small amount of scallops on top. Okonomiyaki was one of my favorites! If you've never had it, imagine a flat, pancake version of takoyaki. I think coming here after my taste buds have matured, it didn't quite do it for me. I do appreciate the customer service.

Great place for a quick bite and shared plates. It offers traditional seating on the floor or at a table. Make sure to take a look around the restaurant as the menu items are written around. Got suggestions from our host and stuck to these dishes: -Tuna Tataki & Atlantic Salmon Tataki: Super delicious and fresh. I liked how tenderness of the fish with the fattiness. Nice way to sample both fish. This is where the "garlic" part comes from. I really enjoyed the pieces of fried garlic on the platter. -Yaki udon: Really good flavors with good wokhei. I wished there was a little more on the plate, but satisfying. -Karaage w/garlic mayo: The chicken was juicy and enjoyed the garlic mayo dip. The squeeze of lemon was helpful in providing some acid. Overall a really good experience and would recommend!

Beef sukiyaki hot pot is the cure for this cold weather The OG izakaya of Vancouver and this place never disappoints. They have friendly staff, delicious food and a cozy atmosphere. Large groups are not recommended unless you're able to snag a reservation on their upper level floor seats. We sat at the bar and had a fun time watching them cook. The stand out dish today was definitely the beef sukiyaki. It came with udon noodles and a poached egg for dipping. On the table: Beef Sukiyaki 20.00 beef, veggies, mushrooms, tofu with sweet soy sauce, poached egg as a dipping sauce "From Salt Spring Island" 12.80 Sake and garlic butter steamed mussels Beef-Tataki 9.50 thin sliced beef sashimi w/ plum sauce Deep fried chicken wings with sweet soy sauce 10.80