Best Casual Japanese Restaurant 2011

Guu

838 Thurlow St. (multiple locations)
604-685-8817
Guu-izakaya.com

A highly competitive category; Guu (Gold) came out on top, a first-time win for the izakaya chain, for “the most vigour and fun” on the plate. The “raucously elegant” Kingyo (Silver) balances rigorous cooking technique with creative flair seen in plates like Aonori calamari—batter flecked with dried seaweed and shiso. Exacting standards and knife skills set the sushi at Dan (Bronze) apart from other casual Japanese restaurants. “The omelet sushi (tamago) is a litmus-test dish, and Dan’s is perfect,” noted a judge. “Seasoned with dashi, perfectly textured, sweet eggy flavour that blossoms in the mouth.” Honourable Mentions to ShuRaku (translates loosely as “enjoy sake”) and Zakkushi.

 
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