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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Please Click Here for the set with larger photos

Restaurant Review: Torito Tapas Bar

276 Augusta Ave.

Toronto, Ontario

416.961.7373

www.toritotapasbar.com

During this march break, I had the chance to try out a tapas bar in Kenningston Market. A friend of mine recommended this place found from martiniboys. This would of been the 3rd tapas restaurant I've been to, and had no expectations. Was at the place at 7 and it wasn't busy at all, but once 8 rolled around it was quite the happening place in all of Kenningston.

As we entered it was a dark environment and a had nice easy going music playing in the background.  Had a very nice easy going and chillin vibe to the place.  The wait staff in the restaurant was very helpful and came by often to check on us.  In the picture below they had a prefixed menu (on the chalkboard on the left) for $35 and $5 of this goes to a charity, and I did like the interior.  It is a very small place and can fit around 40-50 people.

Facing the entrance

Unfortunately as the night progressed, the lights became even more dim, and I wasn't able to take any pictures of the food.  My group of 3 decided to get the prefixed menu as the waitress described it as a good starter for the 3 of us.  It came with a soup, pulled rabbit on a toast piece of bread, and pan seared sweetbraeads with potato and tomato.  The soup wasn't that special, there was tomoates and potatoes in it and seem very plain and not something I would usually order from a restaurant.  The rabbit was new to me, first time I tried rabbit meat.  The dish came in 3 pieces around the size of the rim of a small coffee cup.  On the bread was the rabbit meat, and it was very tiny (size of a a toothpick) and came with some onions along with it.  It was good, except I couldn't tell what was the closest meat it resembled.  My friends came to a conclusion that it was like chicken.  The Pan seared sweetbread was okay,  I personally just didn't like the texture and didn't have much taste to me, again, very plain.

Aside from getting the prefix dinner menu which wasn't enough for 3 people for dinner.  We ordered an additional 3 tapas. The only food item I got a picture of was the sliced meat with grapes (picture below).  The meat was very salty and the grapes was very sour,  but once combined, it was more delightful, unfortunately there wasn't that many pieces for me to try. Next we got the daily special, which was a halibut grilled naturally in its own oil (my description of this isn't as well described, thats all I can remember from the description).  I'm not a fish person and I felt that this piece of fish had a bit of fishy taste but I can bear the taste.  My two friends enjoyed the fish very much and it was their favourite dish of the night.  The last dish I tried was my personal favourite, it was the Chilean tripe stew, it came with chicken peas and a few very thin slices of cheese on top. The sauce was excellent and the tripe was cooked to perfection, and as you put the cheese on top of the tripe, the combination is truly a melt in your mouth sensation.


Sliced Meat with Grapes

The price of the meal came to about $50 a person with a 1 litre pitcher of Sangria.  I enjoyed a few dishes and the price I think is normal for tapas bars.  Really good environment to hang out in, and the staff is really friendly.  If your hungry I don't think its a good place to eat at for the value.  It was a good experience and I did enjoy a few dishes. 

Overall I would give this place a 2.5/5

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2010 Winter Olympics

Well I've been wanting to post something about the olypmics but couldn't find a photo for it, but I will continue anyways. I want to congratulate all the athletes that competed in the game for the entertainment value they provided for the world, their hard training for the last 4 years to prepare themselves for the games to represent their countries.  I am proud and happy that Canada won the most gold medals which was a surprise to me, and hope they continue this to the summer olympics where they really slumped.  There was lots of olympic spirit all around Toronto, and I can only imagine how much more festive it would of been in BC.  The weather did play havoc and the opening ceremony wasn't that great to me but it united Canada from the first gold medal down to the last.

Hockey should be changed to Canada's nation sport instead of lacross officially. People did celebrate in the victory of their own game and all the headlines it created across the country.  How simply a few people playing a sport can do this to the whole nation.  Even people that are not hockey watchers watched this game. 

I have never heard so many people say they are proud of being canadian in a very long time. and this really is rare.  I think people should be proud all the time, and not just because of these recent events.  I think more people were wearing canadian apparel than on canada day.  Alot of canadians are immigrants and they celebrated canada's victories and forgot about their original country of decent for a moment.  Where people of all ages, and cultures came together and cheered for team canada.

I hope the Canadian altheles willl be as successful in the 2012 London Games.

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Restaurant Review: Banjara Indian Cuisine

Banjara Indian Cuisine
796 Bloor St.W
Toronto, On
M6G 1L7
Ph: 416 963 9360

http://www.torontobanjara.com/

After reading a thread about great indian cuisine this was the place everyone pointed to. Although it is quite far from where I live, I made the trek down for dinner. The restaurant is walkable distance from Christie station, and they do have limited parking which I was able to get. As I was pulling into the parking lot I notice the number of people standing at the bar waiting for a table, and as I entered the establishment, we were greeted right away and asked to wait for about 10 mins for a table for 2. I say it took about 20 mins to wait, as more and more people came in, and alot of them was to pick up their take out. This was promising because many places around the neighborhood at the time was dead and had no customers. There was a huge mix of people eating at this place, and alot of them caucasian.


Photo: Inside Restaurant

The restaurant didn't have very nice decor, and my friend pointed out that it looked like a travel agency above the cashier. They still had their christmas lights out, and the place is very small. From the picture above there was one more table beside me, and you can see how small the place is. Inside was not very well lit, and my pictures might look a bit dark as the christmas lights on the window gave it a glow.


Photo: Meat Samosa

We started off with a meat samosa as an appetizer and it came with this crispy chip item that was a little salty. I wanted to try their Sweet Lassi which on the menu described it as a yogurt type drink. The Samosa was well portioned and had little pieces of meat inside it. The crust wasn't too oily but very crispy. When we bit into it, the food wasn't really hot in temperature and was not very spicy. The Lassi was good, not something I drink very regularly, but nothing very spectacular. It was a good start to the meal.

The table we sat at was very small, and they put 3 very small table very close together to fit 3 groups of 2 people. So it wasn't very spacious and we didn't have much privacy, but the people beside us (stuck in the middle) was very nice, and saw me with a camera, and said this place is great, and they live across the street. They loved every item on the menu, and that they try many dishes and never has been disappointed.


Photo: Butter Chicken Combo Platter

Then came the main course. I decided to get the Butter Chicken combo platter which included, cauliflower, potatoes, peas, butter and rice. There was 2 items I don't remember the name of and do not know of the item's name. The food came out very quickly, before I finished my Samosa, and made it difficult to place all the food around the table. I asked for my food to be mild, as I am not a big fan of spicy food. This was a good level of spice for me when I started eating my meal. The food wasn't hot again, and I am starting to wonder if they premade these food that everyone orders and just heat it up. Also the meal came with a Naan, which was good, and to my liking. It was soft and crispy and that was the only hot item I received that I can remember all night. All the items were good on the combo, and gave me a good chance to try alot of their food at once.

By the end of the meal, I was quite full. Dinner for 2, which included the lassi, 2 combos, samosa and a beer came to $50 with tip. And the crowd didn't dissipate and there was still a large number of people waiting for a seat. I didn't get a chance to visit the washroom, so I cannot give my review of that. The dishes and glasses were clean, and the service was good. They came by twice during my 50 min meal to refill the water. The watiresses took your orders via a handheld device which I don't see quite often, and if you wanted to conduct a business meeting there I believe they have wifi, because I found a hotspot with the name of the restaurant. Overall I would come back to this restaurant, and would like to try their other dishes. My friend also commented he has been to another restaurant which is better, so I'm really interested about that place as well.

I give this place 3/5

Click here to check out the rest of the gallery

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Restaurant Review: Chino Locos - Burritos with an Asian Twist

Chino Locos
4 Greenwood Ave,
Toronto, ON M4L 2P4
http://chinolocos.com/

After reviewing Burrito Boyz many RFD comments said that Chino Locos had really great burritos and I was very eager to try this place. I saw that they have a new location opened up in the downtown area, but I headed over to the original location. There isn't much parking as it is at the corner of Greenwood and Queen St. It was very easy to find, and if you take the subway, there is a bus stop right in front of the store. When I first drove by the store, I was looking for a lit up sign, but as I walked out of my car towards the establishment, I realized it was just a banner and really cheap looking sign. Once I opened the door, the bottom handled was taped up, and the door doesn't close properly, or close at all automatically. The store is really small, and what you see in the picture is the space of the place. There are 3 bar stools and one chair for anyone waiting. This place to me is mainly focused on take out.


Photo: Store Size

First thing I enter this take out place, I turn my head upwards looking for their menu. After looking for a few seconds, the employee their knew we were first timers. The menu was just placed on the counter and had only a few selection. I picked the pull pork burrito, and my girl friend picked the steak burrito. You get your regular choice of white or whole wheat wrap, and then they asked if you wanted chow main or rice, then realized that was their special ingredient which we chose. I really cannot take anything spicy, so I always go for very mild flavor burritos.


Photo: Off Da Hook Burrito

It took about 5 mins for the burrito to get assembled then it was put into a grill to toast the wrap. The only other burrito place I've been to recently is Burrito Boyz and I will use that to compare my experiences. I prefer that the wrap be a bit more toasty just like Burrito Boyz. It was surly a new experience of having chow main in my burrito, but didn't really fuse to my liking. I come from a chinese background and did not really like it. Didn't really taste the guacamole and sour cream. On my pull pork the meat was very tender and had lots of flavor, but I cannot tell, but something was giving it a taste I did not like, and think its coming from the chow main. The portion was good, and was most definitely full from eating this meal. Price is avg as, 2 burritos came to around $14. Space was limited so, I wasn't able to eat within the store.


Photo: Asian Fusion Burrito

My experience wasnt that great overall. I would rate this place 2/5. I think the concept is very unique, and can see why people like this, but personally its not something for me. The staff was very nice, and the inside gave a very homey feeling, like it was a neighborhood favorite. I'm sure you would be full from eating this, and at the time I arrived there was alot of people buying taking or picking up their orders.

Check out the rest of the gallery here. Sorry for the poor pictures but there was very little lighting and the burritos are taken in my car, and I didn't bring my flash with me last night

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