PaiGu

Guu Izakaya opened its doors in Toronto on December 18, 2009. Since then, Ryerson campus dwellers, the work crowd, Toronto foodies, and Vancouver expats have been pouring through its doors non-stop. From the exterior (and from the usual hour-long line-up outside its doors), the restaurant looks more like an exclusive club than a Japanese “pub”. Izakayas in Japan are affordable watering holes that also serve food for salarymen to hit up before going home. However, when I dragged my own crowd of two Vancouver and one Ottawa expats to Guu on a Saturday night¹, we were mostly interested in the food.

As soon as I pulled open the massive wooden door to its entrance, I was greeted with a loud and energetic chorus of irashaimase! from all over the restaurant. I was temporarily shell-shocked and froze in the entrance way, literally too dazed to take another step. Was this a restaurant? Was I still in Toronto? The warm, lively, chaotic scene before me seemed a world away from the wet, cold, windy, and empty street I had just left. I spotted my friends at the bar and quickly joined them.

The restaurant was not very large, but they seemed to have somehow fit a hundred people inside. The commotion of the Japanese chefs behind the bar, along with everyone else in the place, made it so loud I found it difficult to hear myself speak. Every few seconds, the entire staff would shout a chorus of Japanese together, and I would again be shocked into a daze. It took us a long time to order as the shouting made it hard to focus on the menus in front of us. Time here also seemed to go at a faster pace than the outside world. Our server came by four times before we were ready to order – it seemed like we were taking a long time when in reality, we took no more than twenty minutes. When we finished our meal (in a rather timely fashion I would say), we realized we had maxed out our two-hour time limit, but it felt like no time at all. » Read the rest of this entry «

1. It seems that weekends are not as busy as weekdays. Guu is open daily from 5 pm to midnight; if you go before 6pm, there usually isn’t a line-up. After 6 pm, on a weekday, the wait can be up to two hours. [↩]

Legal Sea Foods is a well-known restaurant with locations across northeastern United States. I did not know this while I was in Boston though; I knew it only as the restaurant near our hotel that had the funky vertical sign. Our group of eight walked in without a reservation on Saturday night, and at first they said we would have to wait at least 40 minutes, but when we turned to leave, they ended up seating us in a private dining room. Our waiter was amazingly accommodating. For example, after we’d placed our orders, we noticed on our informative place mats that Legal was known for their clam chowder, which none of us had ordered. So we called our waiter back and he brought us a bowl and eight spoons to share. In a matter of seconds, the bowl was empty and we were fighting over who got to lick the bowl¹.

Their assortment of seafood was overwhelming, and it took us a very long time to decide what to order. When the food came, none of us regretted our choices, although I attribute that more to the fact that everything at this restaurant was nothing short of delicious.

I chose rainbow trout from their list of grilled fish, which you can pair with your choice of seasoning/sauces. It tasted great with shandong sauce, as the fish itself was lightly seasoned, with flaky but tender flesh. I could tell it was quite fresh, as there was no “fishy smell” that comes from fish flesh decomposition when the fish has been sitting on land for too long.

We were so full after the mains that no one could manage dessert, but how could we leave without trying the Boston cream pie? So again, our waiter brought us one Boston cream pie and eight spoons, and again we fought over who got to lick the plate.

In hindsight, the mains may have been delicious simply because of the fact that their seafood is fresh (good relationship with suppliers maybe?), since most of their dishes ranked low on the creativity scale (except the almond-crusted salmon). I mean, when you have a plate of fresh mussels, lobster, and scallops, who cares how you make your tomato base? On the other hand, thumbs up for good supply chain management!

The restaurant is large and fairly noisy, probably because there are two bars in addition to its dinner patrons. Our location had a very modern interior, with winding staircases, pleather couches, and hanging spiraling glass. Their wine selection is quite long and varied, with very reasonable prices by the glass, half-bottle, and bottle. I chose a 2006 German Riesling to play it safe with the crowd, but a medium red probably would have been more suitable for our meal. There are not as many high-end wines, mostly wines in the low to mid price range, which is perfectly fine with me. Our waiter was very amiable, although he was slow to get us the bill, especially considering he knew we were in a hurry to get to the Boston Symphony Orchestra on time (it seemed like their customer to waiter ratio was on the low side, or maybe it was just Saturday night).

All in all, it was a lovely meal to complement a lovely evening.
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1. For both the soup and the dessert, I did not get a “before” picture because I was fighting off the masses for my spoonful of heaven. [↩]

Waldo’s on King is an adorable little restaurant just outside the Covent Garden Market in London, Ontario. It seemed like the perfect setting for a ritual Sunday brunch. Unfortunately, after our meal, it will not be a regular visit. While the decor and service were effective in setting the right atmosphere, the food was surprisingly unimpressive. Despite an excellent array of appetizers on the brunch menu, everything that arrived was wanting.
The Lobster, Shrimp, and Scallop Bisque sounded amazing, but when it came, it was nothing more than orange sour cream, with a few scarce pieces of seafood. The scallops had a funny taste to them, as if they had been chemically treated (they tasted basic).

The Baked Brie in Phyllo was even less appetizing, with the “fresh fruits” garnish amounting to nothing more than a strawberry and a slice of orange. Why even bother putting that on the menu? It’s just sad.

The Chicken and Coconut Soup was a watery pool of coriander. I should have known. Coconut and broth do not fit in the same sentence.

We were excited when the Neptune Salad arrived though, a heaping plateful of shrimp, scallop, and lobster. That is, until we realized the scallops again tasted funny, like the chemically-treated kind. Besides, premium scallops would never be heaped onto a $11 salad, so I guess we should have seen that coming.

The only perk? They have great coffee.
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