Wendy likes to check out the Klip magazine where they feature local restaurants and other interesting items. The front cover to a recent issue had Gyo-O as one of the featured places (it sure pays to be on the front cover)! Gyo-O is at a good location inside the usually busy Continental Centre in Richmond. It is basically facing the ever-popular Pearl Castle, so it will be an easy find.
A nice night view from the outside. I particularly enjoy the attempt for an authentic Japanese feel with the board signs, etc.
That wall just mesmerizes me. I have no idea what it says, but it is pretty darn cool. Unfortunately, they were playing an ancient Japanese show from possibly the early 80s and being a techie, the VCD quality of the show doesn’t do the TV justice (sorry, just a pet peeve).
Wendy thinks this place is more of a Sashimi Bar/Cafe than an izakaya. They don’t really have tapas, but more sashimi rice bowls and noodle bowls.
This is their specials menu for the day. The item that I ordered was the Spicy Tuna & Salmon Bukkake Udon ($9.75). I nearly bursted out in laughter after reading that (and took a pic and sent it to my male friends for a good laugh). It was interesting that I could not not order it.
Started off with a miso soup as usual. It was very good but honestly, I really can’t taste that much of a difference between the different stores that we’ve been to. Please forgive my ignorance.
The Assorted Sashimi dish was an elaborate display of various kinds of seafood in its raw form for $15. You got your regulars such as the salmon, tuna, hamachi and hiding behind you got the special guests: octopus, shrimp, hamachi, scallop, squid, and salmon roe (ikura) sprinkled generously on top. All the items tasted fresh and was a wonder to consume.
Here is Wendy’s order. The Mentaiko Ontama Soupless Udon. The noodle quality was fantastic. It was chewy but easy enough to break apart with your teeth at a moment’s notice. I thought the flavoring was a bit weak and nothing excited or to write home about, but I only had what’s left from Wendy so I’ll let her talk about this one.
Wendy: For $9.75 this really was quite expensive, but I was still satisfied since it’s not everywhere you can get real mentaiko (that salmon-colored blob beside the egg, which is essentially spicy cod roe), and they give you ample amounts of it. Tastewise it really was a pretty simple dish but all the flavors mixed together really well. They do provide additional sauce if you find yours bland but I think it was ok. Not sure if I’ll order it again since it is quite pricy for the size, but I sure wasn’t disappointed with my choice.
Wendy was displaying her muscle and chopstick power by demolishing the egg yolk and letting that spread out (bukkake!) onto the udon. Very impressive!
The star of tonight! The Spicy Tuna & Salmon Bukkake Udon. Just look at that! The same quality of udon from Wendy’s bowl and an ample supply of Spicy Tuna and Salmon. There actually was an egg buried underneath all of that and I had to show off my guns by smashing the yolk as well – lots of fun. The salmon and tuna were quite large (just as it was in the Assorted Sashimi plate) and had the same awesome quality – easy to chew on, tasted great, and went down easy. Probably the best sashimi I have had in a while. The entire bukkake udon idea was awesome.
The bill came to $38.86+tip. I would say that the meal was very satisfying to say the least. This is less than going to All-You-Can-Eat buffets these days and yet Wendy and I were quite full. The service was excellent, food was definitely above par and the price was pretty good – and of course this is in Richmond! We will be back.
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Have to admit, on a recent visit here we came away very disappointed, especially the poor rice. Expected much more from the G-King group…
Keep it PG ;).