Guu with Otokomae

We came here as part of a food tour that goes through several places around the city. This place is very cool. We tried a dish that was fresh and yummy. We’ll definitely come back soon to try the food

Overall, nice experience. It's not highend, so don't go if you are looking for a highend izakaya. I love the food here and the price is reasonable. Their daily special is what gets me to come back time over time. I highly recommend this place if you are in the mood for some down to earth, asian izakaya dishes (not sushi. Although they do have some sashimi on their daily special menu).
Happy hour ends at 5PM unfortunately.

It is the first dine-in place during our first short trip to Vancouver. The food was not the same as expected (probably we have a higher expectation). At the same time, the place is a little pricy.

We went to Otokomae for Dinner. Its a vibey place up the stairs but it was very cold (it was a cold day outside but heating was not adequately compensated). My partner ordered a bibimbap and I ordered just plain rice with Ikamaru grilled squid and pork cheeks with kanzuri ponzu. My partner was disappointed with the bibimbap (forget which one we ordered) but it was more of rice with meat on the side and not all the other ingredients you find in a bibimbap. I enjoyed my squid and pork cheeks. However, food came in bits and pieces as they were done, so it was difficult to generate a cohesive meal. Also, portion was a bit small for pork cheeks. The service was a bit stretched and disappointing but I did notice some effort from one of the servers. Maybe better to go for happy hour then a full meal.

Consistently good - love coming here for Japanese tapas. I've been to this location at least 6-7 times now. Easy to book and usually room for walk-ins too! I almost always get the mushroom cheese stone bowl!

Not long ago, I had dinner with my husband and friends at this store. The food tasted great and I think the timing of the food delivery was great.

However, no matter how many times we sent eye contact to our server, they never came, and when we got numb and called out to them, they never noticed us at all.
That would have been fine, but the servers were chatting loudly and polishing cutlery with their colleagues near our seats, and I think that is why they did not notice us when we called them, and I thought they were people who did not see what was going on around them.
I was not very happy because of this, so I tipped 10% on the bill, but the server said to me, "We live on tips, please pay more. It's a way of life. If you work at restaurant too, you must be understand. "
It was impossible, and it was a scary moment for me to think that they didn't understand or realize the worst service they were doing.
I hope that they will correct their training and I have decided that I will never go to this restaurant again.

️Salmon with 7 friends️
This was recommended by a friend, and I love it! Raw sockeye, 7 kinds of Japanese side dishes, natto, fried garlic slices, pickled radish, pickled plums, etc, mixed with seaweed and wrapped in seaweed, the taste and texture are very complex. If you can't accept natto, you may want to avoid it.

️Cheese Tofu️
SOOO delicious, with a little more honey and caramel sauce on top of the cheesy tofu I used to have, so it was sweet overall. It's dense but not greasy

️Sashimi Salad️
One of my friends' favorite dishes. There are scallops and yellowtail in the sashimi. The large pieces are also very fresh. Surprisingly, there are shredded radish underneath, but I don't think the sauce is refreshing enough, it's not Japanese vinaigrette, it's mayo

️Tenderloin Beef Bibimbap️
Probably the most average dish in the whole place. Too little sauce, so some are bland. At the beginning, the rice is sticky if the eggs are not coagulated, and the dry and fragrant rice is more delicious when there is rice in the back.

Excellent pitchers of Sapporo. Amazing fried, beef and their wasabi seems to be the real deal?
Great experience overall

Looking for a Japanese restaurant? You should try this out… Guu with Otokomae is an Izakaya restaurant (Japanese tapas) with traditional cooking with a modern touch in a wonderful bar. Also, if you are looking to taste some sake, this is the right place!

I had the spicy agedashi tofu, maguro tataki, negitoro garlic, ebi mayo, chicken kara-age, Guuu'd yaki udon, kimchi udon, and sashmi salad. The dishes that stood out were the spicy agedashi tofu, ebi mayo, and chicken kara-age. The rest were bland and disappointing. The dishes here were nothing special or amazing. The service was slow.

Have tried to eat 3 different times - dine in, and take out and they have always lacked service and timeliness.

My most recent interaction, I ordered through door dash - Their kitchen staff was unprepared and requested an additional 30mins once we arrived to pick up (even though the order was made beforehand) - We later found out that they had not even started on our order even after they told us to wait after the completed time. They provided no customer service or appreciation for our time and said to just cancel the order at that point. The manager reluctantly refunded me for the order we had made.

Do not order from here if you value your time.

Fun spot in Gastown! Casual and hip, great spin on Asian cuisine. Did run out of a few menu items during our late visit, but overall still able to order some good food! Fun location if you're able to get a seat near the windows overlooking the street!

I had the Guu's yaki udon. You could smell the umami as soon as the dish was brought out. Tasted fantastic and service was incredibly fast.

We placed an order for 5 at 12: 30 and we waited over 45 minutes to get our food.

The restaurant should do better and not allow customers to wait this long. The restaurant is only 20% full and the kitchen couldn’t even get us food out in a timely manner. There are many other better options around the area to get lunch that serve you in a reasonable amount of time.

Waited about 40 minutes for food when the restaurant was at about 25% capacity. Not sure if the kitchen was having issues but since this was a workday lunch the extra time really hurt

Food and service was fantastic! Cheesy tofu is the best dish I've ever ordered in my life.also sashimi was mind blowing:)

This was some of the best food I have had. So beautiful and creative. Healthy and vibrant. The beer was so yummy as well. Thank you so much for squeezing us in! We loved it.

The people were really nice, the food was not good. No idea how this got 4.3.nothing we had was really any good except the fried chicken, which you can't really mess up. So many better places to eat.

We were here last night, poor service customer service. We waited long for the orders to arrive and they brought it one by one which is not ideal for the group of five.
My friend found a sharp piece of metal and didn't even give her something for replacement. Lastly, they forgot to add one food to our order.we'll never come back here.

Love this place, always a must to stop here for a bite to eat when im in Vancouver! The beef Tataki is awesome

Came to this place to celebrate a birthday party of a friend, the food is bland and portion is small. Waited more than an hour for the wagyu beef and when we ask the waiter no explanation was given. There was also a stapler in the udon. Very disappointed!

I think they purposely let you wait for a bit before serving you, because food taste so much better when you are hungry. Their Sakai steamed mussels is recommended. Mussels tasted fresh and juicy, no fishyness. Together with a spoonfull of soup, yum. Don't be affraid to try their mackerel, mine was grilled and it didn't not taste fishy at all. 5star if they hire another helper in the kitchen.

Lovely place, nice atmosphere. They open the windows so you can see Gastown nicely while you dine if you're by the window seat. Inside is darker vibes, and the bar has very cool purple lighting backdrop. I absolutely loved the mood. Prices are also very appropriate and food quality was also good. They did forget one of our dishes, but the staff is very nice and friendly, and once we told them about it, they made it quickly. Will definitely be re-visiting!

Must come here if you like Japanese (or just like trying new things). Very unique, never seen alot of the menu items before. And everything was deliscious and reasonably priced.
Didnt have any but they have a large selection of sake by the glass and bottle.

Dining at Guu is always satisfying. I'd say I like the menu at Garlic and Originals more, but the dishes were still tasty regardless!

Food is always predictable and delicious, however the service was surprisingly disappointing. The server got 1 of our dishes wrong and we were given another tables food twice. Due to the pandemic, we asked for more serving utensils and the server reacted annoyed when I asked for an additional pair of chopsticks and spoon. I used to love coming here for the food and service and now, I will think twice before suggesting this location.

I've loved this place for many years and was really excited to take myself there tonight. I made a reservation online that said I would have 2 hours as a single person and when I arrived I was told I had 1.5 hour. I felt very rushed and the servers kept checking to see if I was finished yet. This was supposed to be a special night out for myself and it didn't feel very nice. When I asked for something they kept asking if I was finished ordering I had only sat down for a half hour or so and although they were very friendly I actually could have been finished sooner if they had taken my order more quickly. It wasn't a cheap meal for one person and I didn't tip poorly as I understand what the service industry is experiencing but I really felt like I was rushed and pressured to eat quickly until I was ill and my $70 meal (for one person) was really not enjoyable. The food wasn't as good as I remember but I will still try again, maybe when I have more people and I am allowed to stay longer. I'd recommend changing the online reservation to let single people know they only have 1.5 hour instead of 2.

Great food, drinks and atmosphere. Recommend trying this place out if you are wanting to go out for drinks and have some Japanese pub food.

Ordered an item and waited for 45 minutes but never came. Minimal service to the patio tables. Please dont sit at the outdoor table if you want proper service.

Food was good but the service was very slow. I do not recommend this place. Try the one in Davie.

Simple meals executed perfectly. Had Miso mackerel bento, sardine fried rice, and yaki udon. All are really simple recipes I could do at home, but cooked at a skill level Ill never achieve as an amateur. One star deducted because portions are too small for my appetite.

This is my boyfriend and I's favorite place to go out! We come here all the time because the drinks are great, the food is fairly priced and delicious! We typically order 5-7 dishes to share as they are all small plates. Some of our favorites are the karaage, beef tataki (must try), agedashi tofu, pork chashu rice stone bowl, deep fried baby corn. Their specials always change, I recommend trying from that menu as well. The lychee cocktail is always my go to.

Great drinks and service but would really benefit from having a few more vegetarian and vegan options. A plate of vegetables just doesn't cut it anymore! The agedashi tofu is delicious, but if they want keep up with the shifting direction of the service industry in Vancouver, they'll need more veg items on the menu soon.

We had ordered the Pork Chashu Bibimbap, Wagyu Beef Tataki! And the Chicken Kara-Age. None of the dishes were super packed with flavour. The chicken lacked the crispiness and saltiness that I was expecting. Wagyu beef similar lack of intense flavours I was expecting and as well the pork chashu lacked flavour. Overall just an average japanese restaurant with food items that lacked flavour. The lunch menu did look better so maybe we would go back and try the lunch menu rather than the dinner menu.

We came out to this location because our favourite place downstairs was full and had a line up. With limited time, my colleague and I decide to try out this place. It had a vintage, heritage style decor and ambiance. We ordered a fried fish and breaded chicken dish. I was not really happy with the breaded chicken dish I ordered. It was very bland overall. I can distinctly remember not enjoying the meal but I hope it’s just because i chose the wrong dish.

Great food, great drinks, great service!

The shop is tucked into the second story of a building at the start of Gas Town. It is a bit easy to miss.

Upon entering the host quickly sat me down on the 3rd level balcony. Their menu has daily recommendations and once you order it’s basically shouted down into the kitchen and drink orders to the bar. First time it happened I was surprised. Since the restaurant plays loud music.

Food is taps style so our party of 4 tried a little bit of everything. From their recommended udon, to mackerel, fried shrimp, karage, sweet potato fries, to beef stir fried with rice, it was all delicious.

It wasn’t a drinking kind of night so we only got two cocktails. Both fruity and refreshing, so it complemented the food well.

Would go back again, maybe with some friends to really enjoy all the drinks and be more adventurous on the food choices.

We had the pork cheek, seared wagu tataki, takoyaki, chicken kaarage, grilled squid, pork and shrimp dumplings. All the plates were great. Service was quick and efficient. Great place!

One of my all time favorites. This place is delicious! Recommend the deep fried brie cheese, Tuna Tataki and the Lamb burger is amazing!

Fun, funky, Asian cuisine served tapas style. Super cheap happy hour drinks- i love going after work to unwind!

This is by far my favourite spot in Vancouver. Beautiful vibes, super amazing staff, and the food oh the food!

WHOAAAAA this place is amazing! Service was great, everything we ate was amazing and reasonably priced!

nice to see Guu is expanding!
Arigatooooooo

We had finished working late at the tattoo convention and they stayed open a lil later to accommodate all of us. This was a great experience, very friendly staff and incredible food. It’s all sharing Japanese style, so smaller portions but tastes amazing. We must’ve ordered just about everything on the menu.twice. Drink selection is great and they always have some kind of special going on. If you’re in the gastown area make sure to stop in here!

Friendly staff, fantastic Udon and good happy hour specials, would recommend to anyone in the Vancouver area

This spot is less busy than their sister restaurants and it has a different vibe which is a nice change sometimes.

My partner and I love coming here, especially during a cold day for hot sake. The food is awesome! We had a salt brined fish the server used a hammer to reveal and pork cheek. For dessert their creme brulee is my favoriteeeeee - my dinners here remind me of good memories:)

I love their happy hour. It’s $4 for Anahi glass and $5 for sangria. The combination of Asahi and karaage (5pc) is $10. Pitcher is $14.
I also their service. If you are Japanese, just talk to them in Japanese. They are very friendly and nice!

My boyfriend took me here for my birthday yesterday.and it was fantastic! We started with drinks.he had the sake mojito and I had the white sangria.wow! They really know how to mix drinks!
We ordered and shared the tsukemono and spicy agedashi tofu. The pickles were expertly done.nice, light and crunchy. The agedashi tofu was and tasty! Next came our panko crusted brie and the sashimi salad.salad was so tasty and refreshing.the brie was amazing! The ebi mayo.well.talk about huge juicy prawns! Yummm! We finished with the green tea ice cream with kinako kuro-mitsu.delish!
Thank you to our wonderful server and all the friendly staff at Guu Gastown! We will be back!

Love this place. The mega Kara-age was well worth the cost. The spicy agedashi tofu was my favorite. Quick and attentive service.

Well nothing stunning, average flavor, reasonable price, great service. In total, a normal restaurant.

Delicious. Sad to see the croquettes are gone, but tried a couple new octopus dishes. Grilled squid always a winner. Hot bowl dessert also gone - tried a creme brule alternative that was a bit too boozy. Always good atmosphere.

Fantastic place for groups! Everything is served in small portions and made to share. The food had so much flavor and there were so many different options.

They also have a great beer selection! I will recommend making a reservation as they get pretty busy but it's worth the wait.

Definitely recommend to always book in advance. Otherwise you might or might not get a bar seat. However we enjoyed the bar seat. Food is served everywhere. Waiters are nice and welcoming. The in-house beers are good. We ordered octopus, but it was hard to chew. The squid and pork belly were delicious.