Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

Gyu-Kaku is the first Japanese style BBQ place I have noticed in Vancouver. When I visited Taiwan 4 years ago, this Japanese style, as opposed to the Korean style, was all the fad (and still is I believe) - every couple blocks would have a BBQ place. The difference in the two style is mostly in the marinate - Korean style marinate the meat to death (with great flavour, but to death) so the cut of the meat is not the most important thing, while the Japanese style focuses on the meat, only marinate minutes, if at all, before bringing to the grill.

Happy hour starts at 9pm~

The other main difference is the point of the Japanese style is not to grill the meat until you have the charcoal flavour, but to lightly cook the meat till it just slightly passes the raw-cooked line, then take it off the grill, eat it right away or dip in sauces to stop the cooking process. This way you can really enjoy the cut and flavour of the meat. But because of this, you will need to baby each piece carefully, watch out for the slightest change in color so you know the best time to flip the meat (only once). And it is important the grill surface is clean so you don't burn the meat. All of the above reason make it a really slow cooking process, so not recommended when you are hungry. However, the fact that this kind of places always serves alcohol baffles me - how are you supposed to baby the food when you have beer goggles on?

It is very cute that one of the dessert you can order is smores - well, yeah, why not?

Anyway, highly entertaining meal and highly recommended. Just go during happy hours because might as well save the money on food so you can spend on alcohol.