Guu

Last night "K" recommended that we go to Guu for some Izakaya style cuisine. It was a number of small dishes that are suited to go with drinking. The food is not fancy by any means, and reasonably cheap. But the quality is great and the small plates allow us to sample many different things. It has a regular menu and also a large menu of special items for the day.

Monk fish liver: I have heard that this is the Japanese version of "foie gras" and I was not disappointed. Texture is great: just like foie gras. There is a bit of a fishy taste but it is actually good. It looks like the liver was wrapped in a log shape and poached gently. Delicate and very tasty. There were seaweeds on the bottom as well.


Grilled octopus balls: standard "street food" in Japan. It was done very nicely with some teriyaki sauce and mustard. I almost forgot to take a picture before we finished them all! Oops.


Grilled black cod with miso mayonnaise, with some grilled beans and bamboo shoots: I don't know what else to say...can we ever have too much black cod/sablefish? This is definitely not as delicately done as the other ones I have had at the more upscale restaurants, but it is still wonderful (and extremely good price!). The miso mayo was perhaps a little strong for me, and the fatty bits close to the skin shows that it is perhaps not a "choice cut" piece of fish. Still, the fat gives it extra "fish flavor" and it gives a different kind of enjoyment.


Traditional hot pot (Oden) with broth and various items: daikon, taro jelly, fried tofu, and various fish/squid cakes. Not our favorite, but it is still very interesting.


Grilled pork belly and garlic: the sauce is wonderful, and how can you go wrong with grilled pork fat?


Grilled scallops on toast: there were some sauteed fresh shiitake on top as well. The flavors were wonderful. The toast got a bit soggy, though, probably because we waited too long before eating.


Pork intestines: with some grilled green onions. It's an okay dish. The intestines are chewy as you would expect with a little bit of an "intestine taste" (don't know how else to describe it). It was good street food but not spectacular. I think this is the large intestine, but I could be wrong. The grilled green onions were very tasty.


Grilled rice balls with black sesame filling: this was great. I have heard of grilled mochi but I have never tasted it. The texture was wonderfully crispy yet very light. The crispy layer is extremely thin (no batter). Black sesame is definitely one of my favorite things for dessert.


With all this food, plenty of sake, taxes and tips, it came under $60 for two people. I think this is really good for the price we paid. Certainly worth going back again.