Friday, July 5, 2013

Guu Richmond

RESTAURANT CLOSED

This is my first time at Guu Richmond and I have mentioned before that I am not the type to visit a tapas restaurant and am definitely not a Guu person. I have been to Guu in total only five times (more than one location) and it always starts with me kicking and screaming. However, after my experience at Suika, I decided to be a poser and come to Guu willingly for the first time.


ASSORTED ODEN, Chikuwa [fish surimi tube],  hapen [white pan fried fish cake], takenoko [bamboo], atsuage [deep fried tofu], daikon and gyusuji [stewed beef] ($6.60).
The broth tastes home cooked and neither salty nor bland, but could have tasted more rich. The rest of the ingredients are very generic with no complaints and the beef taste tender (not chewy one bit). The karashi also provided a bit of that nice extra flavour.

BEEF STEAK TEISYOKU, "Pan fried diced rare tenderloin steak and mushroom with garlic onion sauce" ($9.20).
The beef tastes very dry and not like a tenderloin whatsoever. The meat is chewy, dry, overcooked and not flavourful at all. For half the price and less than half the quality compared to Suika's, this dish should have been better. How can tenderloin taste chewy?

KABOCHA KAROKKE, PUMPKIN AND BOILED EGG CROQUETTE ($4.00).
The pumpkin mash conceals a boiled egg and is lightly battered as well as deep fried. The croquette is one of the more popular dishes at most Guu locations and I like how the "Guu" is written with the sauce.

MAGURO, "Steak ahi tuna sashimi steak marinated in garlic, soy sauce and sake" ($10.80).
I am a huge fan of tuna but the maguro tasted a bit off. The tuna tastes stringy, chewy and not fresh, making it one of the worst I have ever had.

CREATIVE GUNKANS, UNI MENTAIKO AND MAGURO NATTO ($3.00/EACH).
BF had the Uni Mentaiko, "uni, salmon roe, cucumber and mayo". As for myself, I ordered the Maguro Natto which includes tuna, takuan and green onion. The maguro natto tastes mushy because of the quail egg and a bit too creamy. These may not sound appealing because of the sort of overly mushiness, but the creative gunkans are unique and is something fun to try.

ASSORTED NIGIRI AND CALIFORNIA ROLL ($15.95).
The california roll appears to be pre made well in advance and the rice tastes hard. In addition, there is also a heavy amount of rice and barely any cucumber or avocado! As for the nigiri, the tuna has a nice touch because of the addition of the black pepper. Following, the ebi tastes like usually packaged ebi and the tamago tastes slightly sweet. We passed on the red one (I forgot what it is called) as well as the eel because it does not look appealing.

KARUBI, "BBQ garlic sauce marinated beef ribs" ($5.80).
The LA cut ribs taste chewy, tough and surprisingly too salty. Neither of us have ever had such salty beef ribs, including at all you can eat restaurants which are known for subpar food. Honestly, this is probably one of the saltiest dishes I ever had in my life and I am surprised it would be at Guu Richmond of all places (I always thought it would be at a fast food restaurant).

BIBIMBAP, "Mixed seafood and vegetable on rice in a hot stone bowl with spicy garlic teriyaki sauce" ($9.50).
The bibimbap tastes dry and bland, with no hint of spicy garlic teriyaki sauce or egg (both ingredients are there though). As for the remaining ingredients, the stone bowl consists of a few strands of watercress, corn niblets, a bit of shredded carrot and seafood. In regards to the seafood, the selection includes generic frozen packaged ingredients such as baby octopus from T&T. This is not a bad thing, I am just saying. The waitress was kind and mixed the stone bowl for us though, despite me wanting to take a photo before LOL.

POSITIVES
- Friendly and attentive service
- One of the better Guu locations for service

NEGATIVES
- Dishes are very average or mediocre

LITTLE THINGS
- Post on Guu Garden [here]
- Post on Guu Garlic [here]
- The steak and ribs are a lot better at Suika and actually tasty
- Every time our waiter wanted to pour tea, he realized it was supposed to be hot water and had to go out of his way to grab hot water! Definitely worth mentioning!
- Guu Richmond is a lot emptier than any Guu locations Downtown

Food: 2/5 (croquette 3.5/5)
Service: 3.5/5

Guu Richmond on Urbanspoon

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