Vancouver, Canada (The Joy of Food) — The first thing that you should know about Guu with Garlic is that it is the kind of place where you can get anything you want, as long as what you want is garlic.
Guu with Garlic is an izakaya experience to be exact, where small plates, drinks, and lots of conversation are sure to converge. Inside, it is a homey, informal place and if it’s early there might be seating available, but as the night goes on, a line will form out the door, where there’s a stench that lets everyone know what they’re eating inside. During peak hours, a time limit of two hours on tables helps guarantee some turnover for the poor schmucks waiting outside.
The tuna tataki is a great thing to order, sashimi-style seared albacore tuna that comes with a side of ponzu sauce to add some zip and contrast. Slightly seared tuna and crispy garlic chips do just fine on their own, but the dip adds a decent kick that’s salty, bitter, sweet, and sour all at once.
The king salmon tataki is the superior dish, richer, more decadent, and more robust than the tuna version. This gets topped with a Kanzuri ponzu jelly that adds both contrasting taste and texture, brought together by a sesame dressing with the right balance of sweet and salty.
The eggplant marinated in garlic and soy sauce is excellent, featuring a stir-fry of chopped eggplant cubes, tender with a still-structured texture within the sauce and accompanying ingredients. Though the taste is mild to start, it features a kind of salty after bite that lingers. Dishes here are, all at once, simple and complex.
The yaki-udon is a dish that Paula Deen would love, a poetic plate of yellowy, thick pan-fried udon with beef, mushrooms, and green onion swimming in butter. Sometimes flavorless, udon in the hands of an expert can be delicate, yet rich, and the texture is firmly perfect. Guu’s preparation is solid and includes beef and mushrooms that are tender and full of flavor.
Fried garlic chips are layered on everything in astonishing quantity, thin-sliced little slivers of heaven that help add an extra nutty, crispy, garlicky crunch. Great for us, bad for everyone else in the metro Vancouver area. You can wash down your food with a pitcher of sake mojito that pairs with every course, light and fragrant and pretty much the only thing here that’s not thoroughly filled, topped, infused, or prepared with garlic.
Written by Joy
Thanks for reading. The Joy of Food blog celebrates eating well, traveling often, and living la dolce vita. San Diego, California is home base, but thoughts are from all over. Reviews and photos help to highlight wonderful (or not) food experiences from around the world.
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That’s great you know the best places to eat in Vancouver!
Vancouver is one of the great food cities of the world.
Eggplant was the highlight for me. I enjoy eggplant in just about all its forms. But marinated and baked to mush with something crunchy on top—especially if that something is garlic—is one of the best.
Their udon is one of the best I’ve had, too.
Eggplant and garlic definitely go well together, and here it was plush as a pillow and as soft as custard. The udon was also well-prepared.