Guu Sakabar
[?]
647-343-1101
The cacophony in this izakaya is astounding, with servers calling orders, cooks calling back, cheers and greetings, and if someone admits to a birthday, the staff breaks out tambourines and the crowd erupts in a deafening rendition of Happy Birthday. The room is beautiful in barn wood, straw mat and dark charcoal slate—basically, Japan meets northern Ontario—and the food is fantastic. Kurage (jellyfish) is delicate, crunchy, silky tossed in toasted sesame oil, kakimayo, is Guu’s outrageously good answer to oysters Rockefeller with mushrooms, creamed spinach, Japanese mayo and melted cheese. Yaki udon sees fat, slippery noodles dotted with chunks of beef, topped with seaweed and okonomiyaki, a fluffy, flavourful pancake with cabbage and squid is a treat. Gindara (black cod) in miso and yuzu is sweet, buttery, citrusy and the open kitchen’s only misstep – the skin burned beyond black. The barbecue pork belly redeems: super tender with a lovely cap of belly fat, sweet and savoury and over too soon. Unlike many Asian restaurants here dessert is worth saving room for. Almond tofu is silkier than the silkiest panna cotta and black sesame ice cream is wonderfully refreshing. Service is insanely friendly and efficient, the wine list is just fine with four whites and three reds, but it’s the sake list that intrigues with a dozen bottles, including two locally brewed, as well as two Japanese single malt scotches. Small plates $3–$13.
Description
Category Features
Price Range: Dinner for $60 - $90
Editor's Star Rating: 2
Related
Related Listings
Related Tags
Mexican, Middle Eastern, African, Thai, Seafood,