hmmm...I'm trying to figure out what to say. Maybe I'm not an Izakaya guy...so if you're a huge lover of the stuff...don't send me hate mail. Don't get me wrong. I love my Japanese food and I consider myself quite adventurous. I'll eat pretty much anything you put in front of me.

We heard great reviews of this place and decided to try it out. My girlfriend lived in Japan for a year and spun great stories of the Izakaya's she visited in Tokyo and Osaka. I was psyched.

Long wait, atmosphere was okay, service was okay, food was "m'eh". It's different, I'll give you that. Maybe my girlfriend's hype led to the disappointment...but she wasn't overly impressed either.

I probably won't go back. But everyone else seems to like it. Not sure what I'm missing. Like I said...maybe I'm not an Izakaya guy.

I always have great food here. I love their tuna tataki, duck salad, mashed potato fritters, yaki udon, and the list goes on. I didn't like their drinks, as they are sort of weak and tend to be sweet, but the food there is just yummy. I do wish they had more specials, as I've eaten almost all of their dishes many times over, but I'll gladly keep on eating the same thing if it's always htis tasty. I love the fact that a dinnerf or two with a big beer comes under $40. My favourite dish is their salmon on rice in broth. Mmmmm ... brings a warm glow to my heart.

Guu with Garlic is by far the best Guu in town and I'd say the best Izakaya overall and I've been to most of them. The food is creative, high quality and delicious. I have been there many times and have never had a bad experience. You do have to wait a long time to be seated most nights as it is extremely busy and not very large. It's not a restaurant for the faint of heart or the self important restaurant snob. It is a fun, friendly, boisterous atmosphere where you get a startlingly loud greeting by the entire staff when you enter and leave . As you are ordering, your server yells each dish to the chefs as you order it and the chef repeats it. What a great system!
I am a big fan of small dish variety and I'm also a pescetarian so I enjoy about 85% of the menu. I highly recommend the Gindara, Tuna Yukke, Ebi mayo, Tako Wasabi, Kabocha-Krokke, Salmon and Tai Carpacio, Tuna Tataki and many items on the special menu.
The drinks are good too. They boast they have 'the best mojito in town' and they are pretty darn close. Only problem is that they go down way too easily. The price is reasonable for what you get, which is a plethora of delicious little dishes and not huge portioned carb-heavy gut stuffers. It has a traditional yet trendy look with fresh, unassuming beats that sound like there's a DJ spinning in the corner. I do find the upper area seating uncomfortable because you have to sit on the floor and I have long legs. It's much more popular with the shorter, more flexible patrons.
Guu with Garlic is a truly unique and enjoyable dining experience and is easily one of my top 5 favorite restaurants. I highly recommend you go but don't stay too long because I might be waiting outside for a table...

A line-up outside the restaurant started at 5.25 pm on Friday, 5 minutes before it threw its doors open at 5.40, 10 minutes later than its stated opening hours.

Already the restaurant was quickly occupied with the bigger tables reserved. The only vacancies left for 2 of us was at the service area. Boy did we regret it.

Service was relatively prompt and we placed our orders quickly. The shrill and loud hollering of orders and the raucousness generated made the whole dining experience rather intolerable and uncomfortable - that said, it is typical of this genre of dining known as the "izakaya" experience.

We ordered tuna sashimi (French style), daikon salad, calamari, bamboo shoot, udon with perilla and seaweed topping, salmon cappachio and grilled soba.

The grilled soba looked quite "frightening" to me. The skin looked strangely colored and marbled. But to be fair, some parts of the mackeral (soba) tasted not bad -- the fishy fattiness which is supposed to be good for you. Uncovering the dish itself revealed lemon slices and fine whole dill twigs that was baked together with the fish.

However, the udon was the worst. Not sure what it was, but my partner said it tasted like soap ?! The udon had a starchy coating and tasted funny, like liquid detergent was used on some utensil which was not washed properly before our udon was cooked in it.

Unlike what another reviewer said earlier, both of us commented that the remaining dishes were NOT what we would "miss our planes" for. My intelligent palate detected the use of common Japanese mayo, and if Guu with garlic means literally sprinkling dehydrated fried garlic slivers on every single dish unimaginatively, then Guu garlic is something we can do without. To me, that was disappointing as i thought a culinary experience involving garlic would ingeniously work this wonderful stinking rose into each gastronomic piece of creation.

Price-wise, both my partner and I suspect that many of the foreign "students" who frequent this joint are the ones who could live off their parents back home.

I've always wanted to try Guu w/ Garlic, but hated the wait. Luckily, I was in the area just 10 mins before it opens. I went in with high expectations for food.

The service was prompt. We have no problem communicating with waitresses. We ordered grilled beef tongue, chorizo and bacon potato gratin, potato croquette, snow crab with 3 dipping sauce. We waited 20 min for our first dish and 40 mins for our second dish. But that was okay because we were chatting.

I find the gratin to be on the salty side. And it tastes very very oily, almost too rich. It made my stomach really uncomfortable the whole night. Beef tongue was done right with a hint of charcoal (which I loved). There were proabably 20 pieces, each 0.5cm think. The portion was very disappointing. Potato croquette was just average. The snow crab....3 legs and 1/5 of the crab itself, cost me 12. The sauce wasn't even that special ( mayo with masago, soy sauce with real wasabi, lemon juice). Crab meat tastes bland. The crab dish is definitely overpriced.

When we got our bill, we found 2 extra dishes that we didn't order. They were sashimis. My frd doens't eat raw meat. It took them another 20 min to take care of that.

We didn't order any drinks because we had to drive that night. The food was at best average. What's with all the hype???

My husband and I went here on our first date, so it'll always be a little special for me. The ambiance is great, sometimes there is a line, but it's always worth the wait. The staff is very friendly, and they make the atmosphere a lot of fun. The food (what I've tried of it) is pretty good, but the drinks are what to go for. I don't usually like cocktails, but they have an amazing list with so many fun things to try. I really like the one with matcha and kahlua. They also feature this asian vodka type liquor that goes really well with the drinks they make. Everything on the cocktail menu is also very inexpensive (i think under 5$).

I really do think that this is the best yet least known of all the Guu restaurants. So this will work out in your favor as you can avoid the long lineups.
The food is great, i have never had a dish here that i didn't like. I was disappointed that they took the Mexican Harumaki off of the menu.
Their cocktails are unique and delicious (a little overpriced however for the small glass that you get).
9.5 times out of 10 i have had really great service and friendly waiters/waitresses. The only time i had a rude one here was on the phone when i tried to make a reservation ~ but i don't think he is working there anymore.
The ambiance is nice and relaxed ~ i would recommend this place to anyone who just wants to go somewhere nice for a drink and snack or even to go out on a date for a nice meal ~
Really great place ~ i don't think you'll be disappointed.

So being new to the area, I kept hearing about izekaya, and so I researched via reviews before going anywhere. Three of us tried a wide selection of eats. My honey-lemon cocktail was ambrosia to the tongue. First of all, all dishes had gorgeous presentation, and I was introduced to the tasty shaved bonito which topped many of the dishes. Okonomi Yaki, a seafood pancake-type appetizer, was delicious. Beef tongue was ok but a bit too chewy, daikon salad was delicious. My date ordered deep-fried chicken cartilage... which was an acquired tasted which he had not yet acquired. The BBQ pork steam buns were outstanding, as was the tai carpaccio and tuna sashimi. Calamari was also great. We had no idea what the size of portions would be and so we did over-order. Bill came to $80, with four alcoholic beverages and three of us stuffed to the gills. Can't wait to go back and try more dishes.

I love the dishes here - they are so unique and a true delight to my taste buds. Some of my favourite dishes: the deep fried pumpkin ball. I know it sounds a little strange...but it is a sensation to the taste buds...next...I enjoy the pork with white steamed bun (very popular dish in shanghai cuisine). And of course the salmon sashimi/tataki with garlic chips sprinkled on top and ponzu sauce.

About $35 for two people and you leave full, satisfied and looking forward to the next time you go back. It's always packed though...so getting a table is not easy.

The long line ups is the only reason I didn't try the place sooner, but after all, it was worth the wait!
To start off, I love the Oden, especially the tamago and daikon it's cook to the right softness & flavor. The Okonomi-Yaki was my fav too, bring back the memory of eating this on the street of Tokyo years ago. Ebi-Mayo and Soba-Grill are excellent too, if you are a seafood fan! Beef-Carpaccio and Tuna-Tataki goes perfect with a bottle of cold sake in the hot summer days! Not to mention the professional chef preparing our food right in front of my eyes! It was wonderful!