Rogers Cup 2010

Photo: Andy Murray on the practice court

I love watching and playing tennis. It is something I play alot during the week. I was lucky enough this year to go watch the men's ATP tournament in Toronto. Every year they alternate with the womens tour coming next year. The favourite and world number Rafel Nadal is playing well, and hopefully can win this tournament.

This is the first year I watched an entire day of live tennis. It is much different as if you were watching it on TV. The sound on the court sounds so crispy and with the amplification of the speakers on the court makes it sound much more exciting at times. It was the 3rd round I got a chance to watch and there were lots of great matches. All the top seeds got to play on centre court where they played a much lower ranked player, while on the others had better matched up players which made it more interesting.

Watching from the outer courts there was no bad seats, it was a first come first serve basis with the seating on the side, and premium members get seating behind the players. It was good to see how the pros hit the ball, the pace and spin. Not all players hit the ball hard, and they are all fairly accurate. Their kick served really bounce high and about at my eye level which was shocking to me.

I purchased 300 level tickets for centre court, and the viewing experience from that distance wasn't that pleasant for me. I prefer watching it on TV with the angles they are able to provide. I was not able to tell the spins and depth of the shot that easily.

There was lots of sponsors within the grounds. Petro was kind enough to give everyone some savings on their gas purchases. I wanted to get my serve clocked but they ended up having an accuracy contest instead, and I was able to win a small towel from that. Merchandise was fairly expensive, and food as well.

Aside from watching matches you can watch players practice on the side courts as well, and it actually seems fairly easy to get an autograph during their practice session or after they win the match on the smaller courts.

It was a fun and enjoyable day. If I get a chance I will mostly do it again. Perhaps another 2 years when they return to Toronto, and hopefully there still be lots of superstars around.

For my photos at the Rogers Cup, please click here

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Day 1 in Boston

Photo: Boston Harbour

This summer, I got a chance to get away and visit the east coast US.  I don't know much about the geography, but the only city I can think of out there was Boston.  For the trip we were looking for a good deals on flights, preferably flying out of Toronto, but had an option of flying out of Buffalo if the cost of savings was significant.  We ended up flying Jet Blue with a savings of about $110, so for 3 people that is a good chunk that can be spent else where for the trip.

The Drive across the border for a wednesday morning was good since we left at 5am for a 8:30 am flight.  There was a bit of wait for about 15 mins at the lewiston border, and due to construction on the buffalo freeway we got there about 7:30 am.  Once arrived there wasn't a long line up for check in and security.  Everything was getting off to a good start.  Once we got on the plane, the ride was about 1.5 hours and I have to praise jet blue.  There was lots of leg space, and they offer live satellite TV on the plane which made the ride seem very short.


Photo: Boston Transit System Symbol. The "T"

Once arrived at the Boston airport we needed to use public transport to get to our inn.  At the terminal there was a machine which sells a 7 day unlimited ride pass to their transit system (The "T") for $15.  We had to take a bus which was clearly marked at the bus stop and then from there we had to get to the subway terminal, and figure out which way we had to take the train.  They use the term, inbound and outbound and have maps showing which bound goes to which stations.  From there we made another transfer to another line which was an underground streetcar.  There was lots of people using public transit and if we were to take the T during rush hour would of made it a little more difficult like any other city.

We first wanted to check into our Inn.  We discovered that the accommodations in Boston doesn't come cheap.  We were looking for a place with wifi and near a subway.  We decided on Oasis Guest House Inn.  It is as the picture was displayed online.  Very small and cozy place, big enough for 2 people.  The street we were on had tall and narrow houses, and this house was turned into an inn.  This place runs for $150 night and came with free breakfast.  It is near Back Bay and 5 min walk to a subway.  After staying here for 2 nights, we discovered that the walls are very thin, and unfortunately we had a room next to a public washroom beside our room, and the water kept on running at night, so my friend was not able to get a good night rest.

We did not really plan out our first meal of the day.  So we headed off to the streets to locate a place were we can eat.  We decided on eating at Uno Chicago Grill.  You can see my review by clicking here.


Photo: Symphony Hall Street Sign

After the meal, we decided to check out some local Boston tourist attractions.  When we were walking around town, we noticed the amount of universities in this city, somewhere around 10-15.  The area which we were staying in was very artistic and was filled with lots of theatres, galleries and halls where people can perform many different art form. The Boston Public Library was one of the places to visit. As you enter this building, the decor and interior is exquisite. There is about 3 floors of many old paintings on walls and statues. Aside from the marvel that it is, people use this place to study.


Photo: Boston Public Library

The Library is around the Back Bay area which is an upscale area where all the tourist come to see. All major retail stores such as LV, Prada is in this area and reminds me of just a larger scale version of Yorkville. Also within the area there was a convention centre and many office buildings here as well.


Photo: Building within the Back Bay Area

Next, we wanted to start on Boston Historical sites which is called the Freedom Trail which is about 3 miles long. We decided we start from the north and make our way to the downtown core area. Our first destination was Bunker Hill. I am not quite sure what this place is here to commemorate, but it has to do with war. Reason why I didn't read into this was that this site is under construction, and there isn't much to see even at the base of the building.


Photo: Map of Freedom Trail

Next down the street we visited the Naval Yard. By the time we got there around 5 in the afternoon was that it was closing and we didn't have much time to look around. We only had time to visit a ship that was docked in the habor. It was took late to look at the deck below. There was a canon and a sailor aboard. The ship is well kept and all the places seem to be free along the Freedom Trail. I was question if the employees on this naval yard was really in the navy.


Photo: Ship at Naval Yard

As we were off to our next and final destination we crossed a bridge and we saw the TD North Area where the Boston Celtics plays. It was a nice sunny afternoon while we were walking to Quincy Market. Along the trail, we had to cross into Little Italy. The area was filled with old buildings and streets were very narrow. There was an old population of italians living there. The streets was filled with people and in most restaurants it was packed with people enjoying their dinner on the patio.


Photo: Street with Old style buildings

Quincy Market wasn't that impressive to me as a market, but more appealing as a casual dining area. Most places serve seafood and there are plenty of bars. Remember to bring your ID with you, because we were hassled at 2 separate locations. I made comparison to St Lawrence Market which might not been fair. Around the market there was street performers. It was sure a busy area, but not a photo worthy location for me. As dinner was approaching we decided to eat somewhere within the area, and my friend suggested we goto the Oyster House. (review to follow)

That concludes our first night in boston. Went to lots of places, had some good food, and after walking around for about 8 hrs. I was started to get a bit tired, but all the starbucks breaks in between really helped.

Y

Restaurant Review: Atlantic Fish Co.

761 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 267-4000
http://www.atlanticfishco.com/




Out in the east coast they are known for their seafood.  So I will try to have as much seafood as I can for my short stay in Boston.  My friend came across a place in the Back Bay area of Boston which in comparison is like the Yorkville of Toronto.  In this area, there are lots of tourist and high end hotels, and everyone on the street is dress quite well.  The Atlantic Fish Co has been in many publications and tourist guide as a top restaurant to visit in the Boston Area, and luckily we were staying just within a few blocks of this fine establishment.  It is very classy, and we were greeted at the door by someone in a suit, and lots of people was having lunch over a glass of wine.



We've been walking around town for a few hours and worked up an appetite once again. We came into this restaurant to enjoy some great seafood. Everything was very clean, there is a window where we sat near the back which gave you a good glimpse into the kitchen.  I was very impressed by the cleanliness of the silverware and glasses on the table.  Unfortunately I am not big on wine and just relaxed over a chilled glass of water.



My first order of the day was an appeitzer, and on the menu it stated that their new england cowder has won an award.  The only new england cowder I ever came close to is from a can by the name of chunky's.  How sad.  But I am looking forward to better things.  While I was waiting on the chowder, there was some bread on the table.  It didn't look that special at first but once I started cutting it open, it was simply the most amazing bread I've ever tasted.  Soft on the inside, and just crispy but not hard on the outside, and the bread was still warm feeling like it just came out of the oven.  The butter which it was accompanied with was whipped and very creamy and soft which made it all that better. Might not look much by the picture, but you have to try it to really experience it.



Soon came the Award Winning New England Chowder. Man, After the first spoon, I wanted more and more. I love the ingredients inside this chowder. Everything seem so fresh, and they weren't cheap on the seafood. Chunky's only wish it can, can this goodness inside their product. The price wasn't that bad, around $6.



Next came my Crab Cake Sandwich.  I decided to order this dish because as I was walking into the restaurant I saw lots of customers eat a sandwich.  The portion looked good as I was hungry coming in.  I asked the waiter which of their sandwiches are the most popular and recommended this sandwich.  Did I mention I'm not a big seafood lover?  I really don't like fishy smell of any seafood.  This then leads to my next sentence of how well prepared this sandwich was.  There was no trace of any fishiness and tasted pretty good with all the seasoning and vegetables.  Again their selection of bread and how toasty they made it was excellent and made it a superb sandwich.



My Friends ordered the Tuna Tartar sandwich, and it came with wasabi mayo.  He described it as cooked on the outside to a crisp, then still raw and fresh on the inside, he really enjoyed his food.  The other dish that they ordered was the seafood Linguine.  Lots of seafood on the plate and pasta was cooked very well.  No complaints from all 3 of us.



Again after this meal, we were stuffed but we still had lots of places to visit to walk off our lunch. This restaurant was the perfect way to relax from site seeing and sit and enjoy some good tasting food. The atmosphere, price, service, location made it very attractive and it is a must visit if your around the Back Bay area.

I give this place 4/5

To see my other photos please click on them below

Restaurant Review: Uno Chiacgo Grill

280 Huntington Avenue, 
Boston, MA‎
(617) 424-1697
www.unos.com


Photo: Entrance

Shortly after arriving in Boston, Me and my friends found ourselves lacking energy. We've been up early to catch a flight this was the first place I saw as we were walking along the streets of Boston. I have this fasination and curiosity about deep dish pizza after seeing it on the first time on the travel channel. On that channel they showed UNO, the original location where this pie was originated from. I was in search of one of these locations in Toronto, but the taste of the pizza was quite disappointing.


Photo: Sampler

We arrives slightly before lunch hour and there was no lineup. We sat down and picked our food quickly.  We first decided on the sampler which had a great variety of finger food.  They sure went away fairly quickly.  There was an avocado perogie, mild chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, some fries and chicken fingers.  They were all lightly fried to a crisp, and my personal favorite would be the mozzarella sticks.  The cheese was ozing out and it was perfectly battered.  Then next would be the avocado perogies, it wasn't that ripe and was well constructed and nothing fell out of it as you were eating it.  The other items was also prepared nicely but these 2 items just stood out.


Photo: Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza

Now onto the main course.  It didn't take too long for the pie to come out.  We decided to get the Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza.  The Ingredients contained Italian Sauages, Mozzarella, Tomato sauce. Very simple toppings but it was filled to the top.  We got the large size for 3 people to share.  When the pizza arrived at the table, the size was quite small.  Once we cracked open the pizza, we saw the amount of toppings inside and how much cheese it contained.  It reminded me of pizza hut.  I was disappointed that on TV the pizza was deeper and had even more toppings, I was hoping about 1 inch thick.  First bite into the pizza it tasted good, but I had such high hopes of being it more like a lasagna than a pizza. As I was chowing down to the end near the crust, I noticed it was more like the crust of an apple pie.  It crumbled and tasted very much like a pastry and mixed well with the tomato sauce.  After another slice I found myself to be quite full now.


Photo: A Slice of the Pie

After this meal, I was satisfied and thought of how different it was to the other deep dish pizza I had last time.  But couldn't find it much different to pizza hut's pizza with loads of toppings, except the crust was constructed differently.  If this franchais was around in Toronto, I would most definitely revisit it, but until I goto Chicago to find another original deep dish pizza joint, I am still not 100% satisfied.  Overall, everything was good, service, food, atmosphere.  The price was not overly expensive and the total bill came to around $35 after taxes and tip. 


Photo: Fresh From the Oven

I would rate it 3/5
For Larger pictures please visit my set here
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Restaurant Review: Chicago Pizza Kitchen

2338 MAJOR MACKENZIE DRIVE,
MAPLE ON.
Chicago Pizza Kitchen Unit #1
Just West of Keele street.

Phone: (905) 303 - 4030
http://www.chicagopizzakitchen.ca/

This has been my first review in quite some time.  Not that I've stopped eating out, but just nothing really exciting to review.  I've been a big fan of Chicago deep dish pizza after learning about this type of pizza from the travel channel, and trying to locate an establishment in Toronto that serves this type of pizza.  The first time I've tried it was at UNO in New York and it wasn't as good as it looked on television, then I've heard about this place from Redflagdeal's food forum.  This is my second time going to this place, but the first time really didn't count since they are not opened on mondays.  Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me today and had no pictures, but I still decided to give it a review, while its fresh in my head.

This place is really on the outskirts of the GTA and just very close to Canada's wonderland.  The location is pretty good, and looks like lots of regular customers that would goto this place and get delivery.  This place is family friendly, and the staff is very nice when I went on a sunday evening.  They have a very small seating area, about 20 people inside and maybe another 15 on the patio.  Once I stepped in I already knew I wasn't going to be as hungry as I thought I would be because there was no air conditioning on the inside and it was quite windy outside.

The menu is quite good and there is lots of selection and everything is laid out pretty good and easy to navigate and making decisions seem very easy.  I went there for their deep dish pizza so I ordered the Classic which had, sausage, mushroom, green peppers and onions.  All their deep dish pizza are cut into 8 slices, and will take 30 mins to be ready.  In the mean time, we ordered some potatoes wedges with cheese and mayo.  They were fried to a crisp, with lots of cheese and mayo on top, but there wasn't anything special about this dish.  Its missing the pop, or that extra something to make it better, it tasted very plain to the point just like eating potatoes.  I didn't want to fill myself up with that and there was a quarter of the plate left of the wedges.

I had quite an expectation from this place, although I haven't had a deep dish pizza from Chicago, but was thinking it would be as good as New York's UNO.  If your looking for photos, all the pizza's I've seen them serve are actually the same looking as the one on the website.  When it was brought to our table, the waitress served us a slice and noticed that the sauce wasn't very thick, and just fell off the pizza, but there was still lots on it.  There was mini tomato chunks and parsley on top, very home made and watery looking.  When I cut it with my knife I was expecting the cheese to ooze out of the pizza, unfortunately it didn't do that, and I was very disappointed.  Then when cutting down to the bottom, I was expecting a crispy crust and again I was disappointed.  At this point, I didn't even put the pizza into my mouth.  When it went in, it wasn't as good as I would of liked.  I liked the UNO's deep dish from New York much better, and even Papa Johns much better.  After eating 2 slices, it didn't stimulate my taste buds enough, and my appetite was diminishing from the heat and humidity.  I don't like wasting food as I took the rest home.

I've had the chance to use their restroom this time.  I would like to say that its not the cleanist, but it doesn't smell, and all the toiletry was filled up.  For a very small place I would say that is pretty good.  As I left they were very friendly the owner and waitress looked happy and greeted us good bye.  My overall impression of the food wasn't the greatest and I don't think I will go back.  I was originally going to eat there yesterday but was glad I didn't since I was bring a couple of my friends with me.

I would give this place 1/5

Y

Ipod Touch Review

I've been holding out on purchasing any Apple product for quite sometime, but I finally had a use for it.  I don't really listen to music unless I'm in my car and majority of the time, my drives last less than 5 mins and the radio will suffice for that.  Once Apple took off with their Ipods I knew there must be some good in their products, well I finally experienced it first hand.

Cosmetically
I want to say this device is very thin, and fits very well in my hand.  The screen is very well built and has very good manufacturing to it.  The back is silver and you can scratch it very easily.  Also the whole thing is a finger magnet, but you can't really get away from it since its a touch screen.  If you don't like stuff scratched up, I recommend you buy a case and screen protector right away.

Itunes
Everything needs to be synced with itunes for any type of media to go onto your device.  This is where they have total control of your device.  I cannot just drag a new song I just downloaded into my device.  I am not really a big fan of itunes and find it annoying having to sync everything.  My album art didn't come out properly and was a big disappointment.  I can really live without it, and prefer just drag and drop method.  I haven't done too much due to the ease of use right out of the box.  I'm sure if I played around it for long enough I can figure everything out.  One thing I noticed or haven't figured out is, if all my music is in a folder, and I add songs to that folder, Itunes does not automatically add those files to my library, kinda annoying.

Apps
I think this is what makes this device so awesome.  The number of things made for this device.  I think most apps are just shortcuts really to things we can find on the web.  Also so many websites are built for the ipod screen resolution which is great when your surfing.  There is no other smartphone out there that has this many apps.  The only down side is that I cannot have many apps open or running that is not a native, which is kinda annoying like if you have ebuddy running, it closes everytime you switch to another app.

Web surfing
One of the reasons which made me want to pick up this device was the ability to surf the web.  It is very easy to navigate through the web, there are many websites built for this which makes surfing so great.  The scroll and the screen is very responsive.  Some websites takes a bit longer to load due to the complexity of the sites now a day, which is cause by the slow cpu on this device.  The worst thing is not being able to see flash content.  Haven't ran much into that because the website creators have developed pages optimized for the ipod, but it does get kind of annoying not being able to see what I'm use to on my desktop browser.

Wifi
It is pretty easy to get connected, but the connection manager is really not that great.  It doesn't hold the signal very well, it will jump from full bars to one bar right away.  It also doesn't have a good manager to see all the saved wifi hotspots you've been to.

Typing
Coming from a blackberry keyboard, surprisingly it wasn't that hard to get use to.  Without calibrating the screen, I got the hang of it very quickly, but sometimes the suggested word is so small and hard to hit the button.

Music and Video
I have to say, its been pretty easy and straight forward, the sound quality is pretty good and the headphones isn't as bad and cheap as they look.  I guess after years and generations of ipods, they should of perfected the skill and interface design that everyone wants.

Final Words
Well, I am happy with my purchase except that the fact that my headphones didn't come with the mic and I needed to upgrade to the 32GB version to get.  It has crashed on me a few times and froze, so its not as perfect and crash free as apple claim their products are.  Task manager is actually a good thing to have so I can stop a specific thing, but I guess if there isn't multi tasking, there is no need for that.  Good job apple, I do applaud the marketing team and the amount of content you guys are able to get for your product, without it, it wouldn't be so useful.

Thanks

Y

Restaurant Review: Little India Restaurant

Little Indian Restaurant
255 Queen St W
Toronto, Ontario
www.littleindia.ca

I've walked down Queen St W many, many times and it seems to be just filled with restaurants of many ethnicity.  As I approached this restaurant there is actually another Indian restaurant attached to this one and another one 2 stores down on the same side of the street.  I've decided on going to this place because of the stickers from Toronto magazines, and things I've read about it.  This will actually be my second time to this buffet and had a pleasant experience the first time around.


Photo: Statue at the top of the stairs
As I walked into the restaurant I was greeted and didn't have to wait long for a saturday afternoon around 2pm for a seat.  The lower level seating area was packed and discovered they have an upstairs.  There are many things such as paintings and status which trys to give you the feel of india.  I am not sure how authentic it is, but it works for me.


Photo: Food at Buffet
The place is very clean and tidy.  But as you walk towards the buffet area, the food doesn't really look that appetizing. The food they serve comes in variety of different colors.  From my photo you can just see how you cannot see what type of food is hiding under the sauces, so its good to be adventurous.  As they say never judge a book by its cover, the food is actually pretty good.  Me and my friend agreed that the food was better at a different place, but for $11 for a buffet the food is good. 


Photo: Plate of various Items from Buffet
I had a variety of food.  The butter chicken could of been much better and expected it to be a staple at all Indian restaurants, so that was a little disappointing. There are many other various types of chicken such as tandoori, and this other crispy chicken which was very good.  The meat was tender and wasn't very spicy which is perfect for me.  So for all those wanting very spicy items, I don't think this is a place to go.  The Samosa could of been fresher, and wasn't one of the better items.  The Naan always came out fresh and was very thin and crispy.


Photo: Inside Restaurant

Overall it was a good meal. You get what you pay for. Of the 3 Indian restaurants along the same area, this seem to be the most popular one, and the only one with customers on a Saturday afternoon. Service was good, and restaurant was clean. The selection of the food was average compared to the variety you would get from a Chinese or Japanese buffet, but before you enter the store, there is a huge sign listing the number of items but it can be misleading. Also refreshing to see Indian people eating at this restaurant.

I would Rate this place 2/5. Nothing stellar, but its not that bad. Great for a cheap buffet.
For more photos please click here


Photo: Street Sign

Restaurant Review: Messini Authentic Gyros

Messini Authentic Gyros
445 Danforth Ave.
Toronto, ON M4K 1P2
www.messini.ca

I've been wanting to goto Messini for a very long time and take some pictures at this place.  I've been going to this restaurant for many years and the food quality and service has been really consistent.  Out of maybe 50 times, I remember one instance my food wasn't so great.  During the taste of the danforth they are one of the places with the longest line ups.  As I was on their website, they go through the history of what Gyros is and have pretty extensive website about how Messini came to be, but one fact I did not know was that they were open till 4am on friday and saturday night to serve the younger crowd after their late night out.  This place has been reviewed by many places and always come out as one of the best Gyros place in Toronto which I strongly agree with.


Photo: Chicken Gyros

I've had almost everything on the menu, but their most standout item is their gyros.  It is different from many places I've eaten it, and which is the addition of fries inside the Gyros.  The chicken is my favourite but it does come with other variation such as lamb and pork.  They are never cheap with the toppings and everything is always fresh.  One minor thing that I would like to mention is the way they wrap it, as the juice from the toppings do fall out, please becareful as you make your way to the bottom, but they do wrap the gyros pretty well, and much better than many places where I forgot about the sauce dripping through the foil and onto my clothes.  After each bit into the Gyros, its like an addiction and you just want to take another bit.  The combination with the fries with the chicken makes it outstanding.


Photo: Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Today me and my buddy decided to get something new for an appetizer.  We went through the list and saw that I've never had Spanakopita (Spinach Pie).  When that arrived it came with Pita.  The Spinach Pie was very good.  It was crispy out the outside and had cheese and spinach on the inside.  As you bit into it, it was soft and crispy but it didn't fall apart.  The only thing that would of made it better was if it was freshly made and straight from the oven to my plate.  We originally thought it would just be a single piece but it does come with 2.  I did enjoy this very much.  The Pita was hot and toasty from the grill and was served with and olive dip.


Photo: Greek Salad

My friend got the Chicken Souvlaki single stick with rice, it also comes with a Greek Salad.  These meals come in big portion, and my friend offered me half his salad.  Messini Greek Salad is composed of cucumbers, onions, olives, cheese, green peppers and tomatoes topped off with an oil.  I remember the first time I had it and thought it was weird, a salad with cucumbers, but I'm glad I tried it and since then became a fan of it.  The taste is exactly the same as when I first tried it, very crunchy and fresh.  This dish seems very home made and doesn't have a fast food feel to it.


Photo: Chicken Souvlaki

Althought I didn't have the Souvlaki, My friend commented that when he was having the skewers the chicken is very tender.  Lots of flavour on the inside and not dried.  He was very impressed with it and it was grilled to perfection.

I guess this review was a little different from my other reviews.  Didn't start with an appetizer,  and seems like all over the place.  Service is good, they have lots of staff but they are pretty busy.  The place is not big like Jack Asstors but can sit maybe 50 people.  Take out is very popular and you see people walk in and out all the time.  Everytime I went, during dinner time, I've always needed to wait for a table.  The washroom is decent but you do have to make a trek downstairs to the basement of the store, personally I do not like washrooms that are located to an area where it seems where only staff attends to.  One of the things I learnt early was that I was pronoucing Gyros wrong, its more like E-row.  The food is great here, they pride themselves on freshness it seems, and from the crowds that march in and out, you can tell this is a very successful restaurant.  Almost everyone I took to Messini came out loving it and wanted to bring their friends there as well.  The price is also not expensive at all.  Usually 2 Gyros, Fries, Salad only would cost $14 with taxes and gratuities.  As my dinner today costed around $32 which included one pop.

I would give this place 4/5
Would Give a perfect 5/5 if washrooms was located in a different place and if it had a larger seating area

Y

Restaurant Review: Guu Izakaya - Toronto

398 Church St
Toronto, ON
(416) 977-0999

 www.guu-izakaya.com

I've been hearing about this place called Guu for a few months now.  After seeing a review from foodpr0n and the Toronto Star it seems like one of the hottest restaurants in the Toronto area right now.  How popular? Well, to ensure me getting in the restaurant, I waited 20 mins before the restaurant opened at 5.  After reading numerous post on redflagdeals and other food forums, alot of people waited over 2 hrs to eat at this place.  Is it worth the wait? You will have to find out for your self.  The restaurant is not in the fanciest corner of the downtown core area, and many people walk by looking at this place, and as the night progressed, the line up even gets longer.  When I left at 6:30 there was about 40-60 people waiting outside not in very warm weather.  If your waiting along the outside, they do have 2 heat lamps to keep you warm in the winter time.  Everyone that seems to goto this place seems like their early 20s to mid 30s and majority of them are asian.


Photo: Chef Cooking

As you enter the restaurant, the whole staff greets you in japanese.  And everyone working in this establishment is japanese.  They all have self created name tags which was very unique.  The place is not very big and there are only very few small tables.  You can eat at the bar area and the chef will be preping and cooking the food in front of you.  The restaurant had a very good atmosphere and the staff was always smiling and good spirited even though it was super busy.  They had a special menu and a regular menu which had quite a few selections of items.


Photo: Regular Menu

First we decided to order Kurage - which was a marinated jellyfish and vermicelli.  It is one of my favourite dishes regularly at a chinese restaurant and wanted to see how their version pair up against it.  The jellyfish was fresh and had a crispy/crunchy feel which I liked, but I think it lacked flavour, which I am use to. Next came the Assorted Oden which is like hot pot.  This dish is accompanied by japanese mustard.  Unfortunately I didn't get to try the mustard.  This dish is very plain and simple.  I thought there would be some type of soup based left but there wasn't much left.  Never had a Taro Jelly and it seems to be very plain, just like the remainder of the items here.


Photo: Assorted Oden

During the night market, I tried Takoyaki and didn't really like the taste of it.  Then I saw on the travel channel how great it can be.  So I thought since this time, since I'm in an authentic japanese restaurant it must taste much better.  And I did not regret on this.  It was very tasty and very soft.  The sauce wasn't too tangy and was the perfect bite size.  I thought it would make for a perfect snack.


Photo: Takoyaki

Next came the Kinoko Cheese Bibimbap.  It came with a stone pot like you would get from a Korean Restaurant.  As it arrived, the cheese smell so good, and it was mixed immediately.  So I wasn't able to get a picture of it before it wasn't scrambled.  The mushroom was a good mix with the sauce.  When I took the first bite of it, I wasn't very impressed, but after a few more bites, I enjoyed it more and more, and found the garlic and cheese mix to my liking.

Then came my favourite dish of the night.  Introducing the Kakimayo.  Its grilled oyster with spinach, garlic mayo and cheese on top. yummm.... looking at my photos while writing this blog is making me hungry and I just finished dinner not too long ago.  I love the mixture of Spinanch and cheese, and inside there are tiny chunks of potatoes.  The Oyster was cooked to perfection.  If only they served this at an all you can eat buffet.


Photo: Kakimayo



 My Friend has been telling me to try the Brie Cheese.  Again, they have cheese in another one of their dishes.  This time, they take the cheese and put batter around it, and lightly fry it.  As you bite into this cheese heaven it just melts and flows out of the crust which is not over fried.  I found all the dishes I ate was not over cooked.  I was pretty full at the time, and couldn't eat any more due to having a really late lunch and my body not use to eating at 5pm.


Photo: Brie Cheese

My least favourite dish of the night had to be the salmon natto yukke.  The concept at first I thought was pretty cool.  Where you have salmon mixed with 7 other sides (cold dish) and then you wrap it in seaweed.  I had 3 wraps, and the raw egg mixture I didn't really like. 

I couldn't wait for dessert.  No matter how full I am, I can always eat ice cream.  Usually at buffets I eat green tea ice cream, or they have red bean or mango.  Well at Guu, they had black sesame flavoured ice cream.  Once eating it, it was very normal, nothing too special except it made my teeth all black.  At the same time,  I ordered the banana tempura for dessert which was really good.  My girlfriend commented that it could of been fried a little bit more, but I liked how it was presented, and the coconut ice cream was a good addition to it.


Photo: Black Sesame Ice Cream

After nine tapas for 2, I was stuffed.  We were warned that there is a 2 hr seating limit due to the huge demand right now for this place.  The total with tip and 2 teas came to $75.  This place was much more filling than when I went to Torito Tapas Bar on saturday night, and cost much less.  I would most definitely go back to Guu to try their other dishes and revisit my favourite, but maybe around my usual dinner time at 8, and without the 2 hr wait.  It looks like they will have a patio in the summer but don't take my word on it.  The washroom was decent and had mouth waste and toothpick for you to use.  Service was good, and as we left the restaurant the whole staff yelled some phrase in japanese.  I would only give this place 4/5 because I had to wait super long.  I can see why this place is pretty hyped up and I think it lives up to it.  Not all the dishes was to my liking, but the good ones exceeded my expectations and worth my rating of 4/5.

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