Sakura Festival @ Guu Sakabar

This post is dedicated to my friend Mel, who insisted that I must write about our recent dinner at Guu Sakabar so she can reminisce about the meal. I know, I've already posted 4 or 5 times about eating at Guu, and by now, even I'm a little tired of raving about it. This time, however, we came during their Sakura Festival, so there were cherry blossom decorations everywhere!

The enthusiasm exuded by the staff is always quite infectious, and this time it seemed intensified by the cheerful décor. We came around 6 pm, so there was no wait at all! I think this was the first time that I didn't have to wait for a table at Guu. It was also my friend Mona's first time at Guu, and to be honest, I wasn't sure she was going to like it. After all, she isn't a fan of raw fish and deep fried food...

We ordered the two featured cocktails ($6.50 each) for the Sakura Festival. I opted for the Caffè Sakura- granadine, coffee liqueur, plum wine, milk and topped with whipped cream. This was very delicious but I would've preferred a little more alcohol. The pinkness of the drink made me very happy! Mel ordered the Princess Sakura (what a cute name!) with cassis liqueur, yakuit, red wine vinegar, and soda. Her cocktail was more refreshing and wasn't overly sweet. She also wished for more alcohol in her drink.

I didn't really try anything new this time, since nothing on the special menu enticed me. The deep fried seafood pancake ($6.80) was delicious, as always, slathered with tonkatsu sauce and karashi mayo.

So happy that I got to have more of the kinoko bibimbap ($8.80) this time since there were only the three of us sharing.

The sizes of these baked oysters ($7.20) seemed to get bigger and bigger every time I order this... but really, how can one resist gooey cheesy goodness with garlic mayo?

The deep fried brie cheese ($6.80) was the only new thing that I tried for the night, and unfortunately it didn't work for me at all. As much as I love cheese, I couldn't stomach so much at a time!

Grilled miso-marinated black cod ($9.80) - incredibly buttery and fatty!

Seared B.C. tuna sashimi with ponzu sauce and garlic chips ($6.80) - I really appreciated the delicate flavours after all that heavy cheese and mayo from previous dishes!

Mel is quite the dessert fanatic so she insisted that we must have 4 desserts. For some reason, the Sake tiramisu ($5) wasn't as strong as when I had it last time. Of course, the cheesecake ($3.80) was still my favourite, though my dining companions both found it too rich.

And finally, we enjoyed apple cinnamon spring rolls ($4.80) and crème brûlée ($3.50), and both were fabulous! I'm happy to report that Mona thoroughly loved her first Guu experience, despite her aversion to sashimi and deep fried food. It was certainly another great meal with great company!