After a franchise contract ended, all Guu Izakayas were renamed Kinka Izakaya, explained the owner after we sampled a delicious meal on Monday. A bunch of bloggers were invited to a tasting with a guest and I was lucky enough to be one of them!
We started our meal with drinks. I had the Cassis Peach Oolong: cassis liquer, peach liquer, oolong tea.
Nash had the Sake Highball: sake, whisky, cointeau, soda and orange.
Our first dish was the Gomaae: blanched spinach with sesame sauce. It was seasoned generously.
Maguro Tataki: seared BC tuna sashimi with ponzu and garlic chips. This was super fresh and one of my favourite dishes as the sides were perfectly seared to leave a soft pink middle.
The Seaweed & Tofu salad was a refreshing palate cleansing part of the meal.
Their Karaage was nicely fried, moist in the centre and served with a garlic mayo. I liked it more without the mayo personally as the batter had a soy sauce touch.
Kaki Mayo: Baked BC oyster with spinach & garlic mayo topped with cheese.
Karubi: grilled miso marinated short ribs.
Gindara: grilled miso marinated black cod with yuzu miso sauce. This was my favourite dish. The fish was melt in your mouth and the skin was to die for!
Lastly (before dessert), in case I wasn’t already full (which I was) there was a Kinoko Bibimbap with rice, mushrooms, cheese and seaweed sauce.
Dessert was a piece of Sake Tirimisu. The alcohol was subtle but would sneak up on me! It worked will in a tirimisu.
Our delicious meal concluded with a gift bag, and they lived up to their logo of “serving people happiness”. Our night was full of fresh, delightful food and superior service.
This meal was complimentary but views are my own.
