Guu with Garlic

Not a japanese food expert so take this review with a grain of salt.

Came here on a Friday evening. Place was somewhat crowded. We tried several items and all of them were good.

Great service! They patiently explained all the dishes and even gave some good recommendations. We sat at the end of the bar somewhat secluded and could see the entire kitchen from our seats. It was great watching folks work at breakneck pace yet make those meticulous actions. Staff all speak Japanese to each other in the stereotypical sing song way and while I don't know what exactly they were saying, seemed like positive messages every few minutes.

Food was fresh and delicious. Had a cold wasabi & octopus dip with sea weed wafers and the dip was very fresh and somewhat intense (which I loved as a palette cleanser)

Also had their fried chicken with dip, small Japanese hotpot, scallops pizza, and beef in sauce. The portions are small so you can try multiple dishes.

Overall, good

Quite simply the greatest Japanese food I have ever had in my life. Period. The food and service here is truly outstanding! Would give a million stars if I could!

I have been customer for this place since 2012.always its amazing, but tonight things are more nice and smooth. Although i had many experince till today, i feel like tonight i have to go home and write a review for this lovely night.i want to say thank you for MIZUKI for great service and amazing hospitality. She knows whats she is doing. She own this place like a owner. I have a culinary arts degree from Pacific institute of culinary arts n under the Exexecutive Chef Katsu, from Japan, with all those knowlege and experince, Mizuku is more tahn a server. Thank you for each members of Gu team tonight. You guys made my night, Keep up the good work:)

So, we came to GUU WITH GARLIC on a
Thursday night at around 9pm. The restaurant was busy but, luckily there wasn’t a line up to get in.

Before we talk about the food, let’s get one thing out of the way: the service was ridiculously erratic! The young lady who welcomed us and brought us to the table seemed to be the only one actually paying attention.

We asked for water first, which took about 20 minutes to get to the table. Then, we order drinks, which took about the same amount of time. Later, the same thing happened when we wanted to order appetizers so, we just decided to order everything we wanted, which, ended up all being served at the same time.

All other servers were just walking up and down without looking around at the tables. We were sitting in a corner so, it was hard for us to signal anybody.

Anyways, once the food started to arrive, it was delicious. So, to an extent, it was worth it! We ordered a bunch of dishes until our waitress (that young lady) actually told us that our order should be sufficient; which it was.

Portions weren’t particularly huge but, a few choices were more than enough for two adults. Everything was fresh and well presented so, we enjoyed our dinner after all.

The food quality and service has gone downhill. The worst was the assorted sashimi combo. The fish was chewy, slimy and overall not fresh. This has been a very disappointing experience.

The food and service were pretty good. I had the Chanko hotpot which it thought was really pricey for the ingredient that were served. I liked the food but didnt love it.

When we were dining in this restaurant ，my husband was getting stung by a bee. A very bad experience. Won’t go there anymore.

The ika-maru was exceptional and so was the takoyaki! The bowls were also delicious. Would recommend.

Very nice Izakaya with plenty of drink options.

The menu offers plenty of options, which is actually also supplemented by a "daily specials" menu.

The grilled fish took a bit of time, but IMO was worth it. The Pumpkin Egg was also excellent. Funny enough, the beef udon was my favourite!

You will see options like Japanese Curry, Katsu don and Oden alongside various plates of sashimi. Quite good.

They do sell out of things quite quick so I would recommend being there early in the night if possible!

Phenomenal comfort food! Great ambience! Always a great pick me up after a long day. Stopped by for some hearty Izakaya food. Did not disappoint. Great selection of appetizers and drinks. Don't forget to try their Scallop pizza. Very unique!

The food was absolutely incredible! Seriously, you need to visit. Everything we had was phenomenal and it will be an absolutely must for us to revisit the next time we're in Vancouver. We treated this as a family style meal, and three people shared about 6 or 7 dishes. Very reasonably priced and we were so full after the meal.

Bad experience. Come with very good mood left with very disappointed. Food is ok not that good. Not recommend

The service, food and drink were very good! The service staff were fast and courteous, everything tasted amazing, including the daily specials.

Very fairly priced Japanese food, it’s like Japanese pub food.
You can always order from lunch menu, their hanger steak is totally worth it. Their sea bass was very mild and rest of the service is way better than other Japanese restaurants where they take customers for granted

The closest you’ll get to a authentic izakaya in town, serving fresh seafood tapas and other delicious Japanese dishes! Has a unique atmosphere that’s perfect for weekends drinking and dining with friends!

Stir fried steak and veggies served on french fries? Kinda weird. Flavour was ok. Pricey for small portions.

Cheap and good. A very nice izakaya. Sometimes crowded, but the food worth the wait. Staff is nice. The Waffle is the best desert around

I asked if the chicken they had that was fresh and not frozen she said it would be fresh and I got cold pre cooked chicken that was still cold in the middle the service was almost non existing felt like I wasn't welcome. The place was empty she could have showed some interest.

Food or design might not be greatly presented, but my oh my the flavours are amazing. Hits every spot. If I had one feedback is: remove the lettuce as a serving base. Just serve without it and it will look much much better.

Super friendly service. They even accepted that I bring my small-medium dog on their patio. The food & drinks were great. Thank you for the nice experience!

Came for take out yesterday. The food is SO good. Ordered pork katsu and beef curry. Katsu perfectly fried and curry had great beefy chunks in it. Fast service. Lovely staff. Huge portions, good price.

I ordered the sliced beef rice lunch combo and the fatty sliced beef are soaked in oil. So oily！！For flavor, I can only taste salt. My friend ordered the pork loin combo and she only had one piece of them, then the rest went to the bin. I just dont understand why such a well rated restaurant made the food so bad? Kinda Sad

Guu with Garlic left me speechless! I enjoyed every single bite. Great food. Love this place and will continue to visit!

It was Friday night and we must look for a place with patio. This small restaurant surprised us with special tastes. Heaven!

Best Japanese place hands down. Best food, best environment, best chefs, best service, best prices. Highly recommend!

Good location.
Perfect menu.
Everything is right.
I always come by myself to cheerrr

Great friendly service, food, and Covid-safe protocols. Thank you for a lovely New Year's Day dinner. The Grilled Mackerel and Garlic Soy Eggplant were especially yummy!

Delicious japanese food! Loved the seafood. My favourite was the garlic noodles as well as the pizza with muscles. Loved our time here?

Food is awesome, I don't like the sitting arrange for the upper floor. May be I'm not flexible enough. Can't find a comfortable position to place my leg, haha

This place is a real hidden gem. Nothing on their lunch menu has disappointed me everything is amazing.

Love this place! It’s super cute and reminds me of the izakayas I went to in Tokyo. Portions are small, but I like that so you can try a bunch of different dishes. Can get busy and not really anywhere to wait, so browse the area while you wait.

I don’t understand why this restaurant still survive on Robson. Food quality and service have deteriorated so badly from 4 years ago. Food is way too salty, lack of creativity (“boring” menu) and terrible services makes it a huge disappointment. I didn’t know that I need to remove my shoes on the upper level of the restaurant. I got scolded and yelled by a female server (older cranky lady with glasses) before I even sat down. My friend and I ordered 6 dishes and they all came at the same time so there was no space on the table. When I complained that all food came at the time, the server gave me a dirty look, ignored the situation and continued to squeeze all the plates onto the overflowed table. It was an stressful and uncomfortable experience. Definitely will NOT go back!

Good food, good location.
One thing I don't like sometimes is how loud it gets in the restaurant.
I guess you go there for that GUU experience sometimes, but at times I feel that it does get very disruptive during dinner and can't really have a good conversation without yelling across the table!
Other than that, the food is amazing and the service is also very good. I love going to this place for drinks and izakaya.

Went for the lunch for the first time since their dinner was amazing last time. Had a very careless and ignorant waitress that seemed like she just wanna get off work as soon as possible. Had a hamburger steak and chicken hot pot. Food was just average level. Wouldn't go back for lunch again for sure.

The ebi mayo, chicken karage was soggy and quite disappointing. The only thing I enjoyed was the beef tataki which was really good. I found the calimari chunks too big. I usually like the thinner ones.

Delicious tapas style food. This is a japanese pub, loud and full of excitement. They rotate lunch and dinner menus daily on top of their core menu, so you can get something new each time you come. Like others suggested portion sizes are small but they are designed so you can try lots of dishes and share with your friends. I suggest going next door to marutama or santuka for ramen first before finishing your day off with some beer. A heated patio is also available here but sitting at the bar table is the best.

We went there yesterday night and odered 6~7foods and large size Sake. When we almost ate everything, we were about to get our bill but one of the server brought another food. We did’t even know that all the foods weren’t arrived. We didn’t want to get the food then the server said “No cancel, take away this food”. We kept saying “We don’t want” then Chef came to us to say “No cancel cause we made it” What? If you guys let us know the food would be late. That’s understandable cause it would remind us that one of the foods was not coming yet. But you guys didn’t. Server have to keep checking customer table. Right? And if this happen again, you guys should say SORRY ahead.

I tasted almost all Japanese restaurant in downtown, and I believe they have the best Yakisoba in Vancouver. Also beef tongue, chicken karage are good

Love love love Guu. Been a long time customer. I've been coming to the Guu's for over a decade. Japanese tapas at its finest. Great atmosphere: lively, loud and traditional just like in Japan. Food is delicious

Great food, fast service, delicious chef's specials, fresh sashimi! The portions are small so if you want to share, order more than you would. This place is the best for quick bites and aperitifs but not for a long dinner night I guess. It's very busy in general so you might need to wait for a while.

Premium izakaya in the city. Lunchtime specials are fabulous. Dinner is lively and delicious. Everything is fantastic here. True Japanese style izakaya.

Tontoro (pork cheek) melts in your mouth. And stays in your taste memory! Sashimi fresh, especially creamy hotate (scallop). Mackerel on hot grilled plate, with garlic, great quality and value. Home made cheese cake. Plus, creative cocktails and sake.

Good lunch and service as usual. Rather affordable fine lunch selections. From steaks to traditional Japanese teishoku. They also have French fries, but was not impressive as Vancouver standards nowadays. Tasted like forzen ones but a little more delicious than the fast food chain. Miso soup was simple and good, but a little salty to me. Overall, Guu Garlic's standards are still here, but ceases to amaze.

They have great daily specials. Have been going here for years, the food does get a bit repetitive but it is a very solid choice for food and drinks after midnight. Extremely friendly staff and ample street parking.

Went to this restaurant three times, have to say that their food is very tasty, however, the staffs were probably too busy to reach! We wrote our names on the waiting list and waited for more than 30 minutes (we were the FIRST on the list and no one was waiting outside), one of the staff kept letting people in without looking at the waiting list! I was so mad and was about to ask why we were not called for a table, she finally realized 'Oh, we have a waiting list' and called us. We sat in, ordered our food, finished everything except the grilled eggplant still hadn't arrived. Asked the staffs twice when the last dish would come, they told us to be patient. 10 minutes later, one of the staffs told us that the eggplant was sold out.

Fun spot with great assortment of reasonably priced food. The amounts were more generous than we expected. Try the sashimi salad and the mackerel. The deep-fried Brussels sprouts and the cheese-filled potato "mochi" were excellent, too.