Jenny L.
Yelp
Let's get one thing straight: I am a proud carnivore. Yes, vegetables have their place, and I do love veggies, but boy, do I love myself some meat and alcohol. Luckily, Gyu-Kaku has some amazing cuts of meat with a vast booze menu, so how could I not love this place?
My friend and I came here for a late lunch, and it was packed. We did make a reservation, but it still seemed fairly busy despite the social distancing guidelines for indoor dining. Still, there was plexiglass along the booths to divide diners as much as possible, as well as a touchless temp check machine, which I thought was nice. The servers were all masked as well, and everything looked clean and spotless when we arrived. Shoutout to Thy, our server, who was patient for us first time diners, and super speedy. She changed the grills without us even having to ask, and was very attentive, even comping us for a wrong order - she's amazing!
Now onto the food. We ordered gyoza, kimchi, white rice to go along with the meats, as well as a sangria and lychee sake. The gyoza was okay, nothing to write home about; although the ponzu sauce was pretty tasty. Kimchi and rice were standard - can't really mess those up. The drinks were refreshing and tasty, but nothing outstanding about them.
The meats are really where this place shines. We ordered the Kobe style kalbi short rib with sweet soy tare, the Harami skirt steak with miso, and pork belly with sweet soy tare. The Kobe style kalbi was expensive for how little you get, but the marbling is absolutely worth it. It seriously melts in your mouth and tastes so luxurious. Skirt steak was also good, full of flavor. Their marinades are really delicious and help the meat shine. The pork belly was just as yummy, but not really the star of the show. If I were to go again, I would probably focus more on the beef choices, as these seem to be where it shines. The portions are pretty small, so I would recommend ordering side dishes or rice to make it a meal.
They do have a small parking lot next to the restaurant, but it's pretty much always full. Luckily, there's plenty of street parking all around. The service was wonderful, and all around a great experience. I would definitely come back for my Japanese BBQ fix!