After rushing about to the various markets in Toronto, I met Angelica at the College subway. As we walked to Guu Izakaya, I found myself wishing again I had remembered gloves. The moment we entered, we were greeted with a raucous welcome from the Guu Izakaya staff at the dimly lit Church street location.
Angelica and I have known each other for a long time and share a mutual love of good food and a reluctance to have our pictures taken. This picture is just how we love it. Blurred and indistinct.
If I could pinpoint where my generally sensible diet went off the rails in Toronto, Guu Izakaya would be it.Angelica is a serious foodie and something of a food snob. She was photographing food long before it ever occurred to me to do so. She's one of those friends you might not see for years, but the minute you see each other again, you pick up right where you left off.
After re-establishing that I trust her, she proceeded to order our dinner. I sipped on a drink called Bamboo and watched the chefs behind the counter.
We started with gomaae. The spinach was perfectly cooked and bathed with black sesame dressing. Many restaurants offer gomaae with white sesame dressing, but after tasting this dressing, I concede that the dark earthy flavour of black sesame adds depth and nuance that its lighter counterpart lacks. After we politely shared this gomaae that either of us could have easily devoured on our own, I swore a solemn oath to myself that I would attempt to replicate this dish at home.
That was followed with kurage - marinated jellyfish and glass noodle salad. Imagine something like a sunomono salad, minus the vinegary flavour. This salad was characterized by sharp, fresh and unmuddled flavours that did not compete with the delicate taste of jellyfish. Another winner.
At this point, I ordered another drink to fortify myself. I vaguely regretted eating two pakoras on Gerrard Street earlier that day. I should have fasted all day for this. Kurage was followed by oden - a Japanese winter dish of various items cooked in a light dashi broth. Dashi is a type of cooking broth or soup that serves as a building block for tons of recipes.
This particular pot of oden was filled with bamboo shoot, egg, radish, squid and fish cake, puffed fish cake, deep fried tofu, fish cake, and taro jelly. The egg was a bit overcooked for my taste but I loved the fish cakes and the broth. The bill referred to this dish as moriawase. I thought this was interesting because moriawase refers to a celebratory display of sashimi or other food that's artistically arranged.
No celebratory dinner with Angelica is complete without fried chicken - in this case, chicken karaage. Angelica is a serious lover of fried chicken. Prizing flavour above the mainstream preference for white meat, Guu Izakaya used succulent chicken thighs to create a karaage with a lovely crisp outside and a moist, perfectly cooked interior. They got extra points from me for adding a decent little dollop of respectable tasting garlic-flavoured mayo for dipping. I'm an unrepentant lover of mayonnaise.
I'll confess that by this point, my stamina was flagging. I nibbled a bit on the karaage, but when I saw the sashimi salad, I dove in. Laced with wasabi mayo, the dish was a riot of colour and texture. The fish and seafood was surprisingly fresh. As a coastal dweller, I'm always suspicious of sushi that's served at any land-locked location. Huge lakes do not count.
In Japan, an izakaya is a bar where people go after work to unwind with the assistance of booze and bits of food to nibble. Guu Izakaya is client-focused. The service was courteous and prompt. The kitchen staff were delightful. I enjoyed the long benches and decor.
Angelica, thoughtful dove that she is, remembered to order my kakimayo (oyster grilled with spinach and garlic mayo) without cheese.
My oyster looked enormous next to Angelica's cheese-covered oyster. Perhaps the chefs felt sorry for me having to miss out on the wonders of grilled cheese.
Kakimayo was delightfully creamy with a perfectly cooked oyster nestled inside. I could eat a good number of these quite happily.
The pièce de résistance came in the form of black sesame ice cream. They thoughtfully included two scoops for us even though I insisted I was about to die from surfeit and an impending allergic reaction. Angelica insisted I sample this. I caved. I scraped the tiniest bit of the ice cream onto the tip of my teaspoon. I didn't regret caving. Silky smooth, the sultry sweetness of black sesame fulsomely spread itself over my tongue.
At two drinks apiece and a slew of delicious dishes that left us completely satiated and in dire need of a walk, the bill was actually quite reasonable. Guu Izakaya has multiple locations in Vancouver and Toronto. It does get busy, so either make a reservation or show up around 5 pm to avoid waiting in line.
