Review Location:559 Bloor Street W
Toronto, Ontario
Last week I went to one of my very first Tweetups hosted by Ken (@inyourmouthTO). I believe it was also his first time hosting a Tweetup, so I must commend him on what a success it was. Thanks for organizing!
This is also my very first blogging post about an event, but luckily it's still not too far away from my modus operandi: lots and lots of food! While Guu (@GuuToronto) is one of my favourite Izakayas, I have never actually gone to their second Toronto location: Guu Saka Bar.
Following some customary table manners we got to sit in the room where you have to take off your shoes and sit on the floor. Everyone walked around throughout the night, and it was really nice to see familiar faces as well as new ones! :)
Compliments of Yoshi (@GuuToronto), every person got a custom made name tag with our names translated to Japanese. Mine says "Jasmine", as in the flower :)
Just for the tweet up, Guu made a special drink menu. All around the border were the twitter names of attendees. Very creative! :)
I decided to order the How Maccha which consisted of Sake and Matcha. Given how green it was, you can probably imagine that they didn't go light on the maccha powder. The green tea flavour was sweet and potent, it was almost like having green tea ice cream! One thing I didn't really like was how gritty it was from the undissolved maccha powder. However, some others tried and didn't seem to mind it. I guess it might be just me.
The food that was served was a pre-set menu, and consisted of a lot of items that I've had at Guu Izakaya before. I'm happy to report that the food is just as good as the original location!
Takowasabi - marinated octopus w/wasabi stem
Gomaae - blanched spinach w/sesame sauce
Seaweed Salad - marinated seaweed on greens
Maguro Tataki - seared B.C.tune sashimi w/ponzu&garlic chips
Karaage - deep fried soy sauce marinated chicken served w/garlic mayo
Sashimi Platter
This came compliments of the chef, so it was a nice treat! The sashimi here is always so fresh, probably because they get such frequent shipments of fish. I'm not sure I've ever seen a sashimi platter on the menu, but I guess it never hurts to ask!
Sapporo Beer
Oops, I probably should have got the order right between consuming the beverage and taking the picture, but oh wells. Sapporo (@SapporoCanada) was the other sponsor of this event, and put up some beer mugs as giveaways for answering Sapporo trivia under the hashtag #SapporoFun. Not only did I learn a thing or two about Sapporo, I was lucky enough to snag one of the prizes! I don't know why but I just love Sapporo mugs. It also came with a 2 year anniversary towel from Guu. Thanks for the neat gifts! :)
Aside from the trivia, there was also a sock/slipper contest. Winner got a drink from guu named after them! Congratulations to Amanda @AmandaBlake9) and Shashena (@Shashena)! Awesome socks ladies :)
Good food + great venue + awesome people = one amazing event. Looking forward to more events Ken! :)
