Restaurant Review: Gyu Kaku

Hi, hello, konichiwa!

Recently, I went to the Japanese BBQ restaurant Gyu Kaku. For those who are unfamiliar with Japanese style BBQ, it is where you have a grill in the middle of your table, and you grill the foods yourself.

As a co-worker recently said, it kind of seems ridiculous to pay someone else for you to cook your own food, but hey - it's all about the experience these days, right? my short answer: sometimes.

I would say that this is one of those times where it may be worth it. (Disclaimer: my friend had a groupon - so we didn't really pay full price).

The restaurant is located a little bit off the beaten path (East of Michigan Ave. on Ohio - near NU Hospital) but it has a cool vibe - reminiscent of it's neighbors in River North (dim lighting, modern asian inspired design). My first hint that it was going to be a good meal - there were a lot of Japanese people dining in the restaurant. Not to sound racist in any way, but if a person of Japanese descent thinks the Japanese BBQ is good - it must be pretty legit.

The groupon we had was for a pre-determined menu for two that included Short Rib, Filet, Skirt Steak, Basil Chicken, vegetables and a fried rice type dish - TONS of food. I am not a huge red meat eater, so I was a little bit skeptical but hey - I'll try anything once. And let's be honest - one of my favorite app's is "The Rock" at Japonais - a thinly sliced steak that you grill yourself on a rock heated in the oven to 500 degrees.

Honestly - especially with red meat, I would almost venture to say I would prefer to cook it myself because I know how I like it cooked. The seasonings on all of these steaks were fabulous and I can say that I tried each meat more than once because they were that good! They were cut up into bite size pieces, so I was able to cook each bite to my preference - and not to toot my own horn but I cooked them perfectly! The vegetables were so-so, but the fried rice dish was amazing.

The vibe of the place wasn't great - it's not somewhere that I would go to meet anybody - but I would say it is a good date restaurant. It's the right amount of dark, it's not too loud, it's reasonably priced, and you are basically sitting around a fire - could be pretty romantic if you wanted it to be.

I wasn't in love with the place, but I left very satisfied. Overall, I would give the service a 3 out of 5 stars (nothing great, but nothing to really complain about); the "scene" a 2.5 out of 5; and the food a 3 out of 5.

I would go there again, but I wouldn't list it in my top 10.

Until next time,
Aly