Two Summers ago, we were back East visiting Quebec City and Montreal. We've been there before and it is always a pleasure to revisit the sights and sounds. Naturally, we also had some excellent eats, particularly in Montreal. Changing it up a bit, we made our way to Ottawa as well. Strangely, this was our first time in our Nation's capital and well, it was fine. TBH, Quebec City and Montreal are much more interesting. Sorry Ottawa. However, we did try Gyubee for the first time in Byward Market. We came away mighty impressed with AYCE hybrid Japanese grill. I say hybrid because they feature quite a few Korean items as well. Finally, we get a location in Richmond and of course, we made our way out to try it!
So they do have an online wait list, but all of your party has to be present to be seated. You have a 2-hour limit and they enforce this diligently. If you are arriving at peak times, be prepared to wait for an hour plus. So we got right down to eating and ordered everything we could. Yes, Gyubee is a Japanese Grill, but in reality, it is Korean-style. Hey, nothing wrong with that as we had some Banchan (Kimchi, Tofu, Spinach & Sprouts) and Takoyaki. I wasn't a huge fan of the kimchi as it was more sour than spicy. Furthermore, this was not the version with shrimp paste, so there was no complexity to the flavours. Otherwise, the rest were pretty typical. Takoyaki was decent being soft and fluffy.
I'll get right to some of the cooked dishes before I talk about the meats. These included Bibimbap, Steak Cutlet, Nagoya-Style Chicken Wings and Tantan Noodles. No joke, the Bibimbap was really good. From the chewy rice to the delicious veggies, the bowl just worked. We had enough gochujang for sweet spice and also a runny egg yolk for silkiness. Steak Cutlet was okay being a touch chewy. Wings were great, they were crispy with lots of flavour and juicy meat inside. Tantan Noodles were forgettable as there was an absence of spice and nuttiness.
As for the meats, I'm not going to cover all of them because it got chaotic at the table with everything hitting the table at once. I'll talk about my favourite cuts including the Prime Kalbi. These fatty slices of short rib grilled up well and were buttery soft. The same could be said about the Black Pepper Kalbi as it shared mostly the same properties except with a more robust bite. I also enjoyed the Pork Belly as it was a good mix of fat and meat. It cooked up buttery and had great flavour.
Unlike the location in Ottawa, the one here in Richmond does not serve Melona for dessert. Rather, they have Chapman's Sundaes in addition to their fantastic Crème Brûlée. For this one we had the crème brûlée was not torched enough, but still featured a crunchy sugar topping. The custard was rich and creamy while purposefully sweet. Overall, our meal was decent, but somehow, I enjoyed the one in Ottawa more. Maybe with some time, they will get up to speed and I won't be thinking that. I do wonder if the higher prices here (generally $10.00 more than Ottawa) would make this not "worth it". It is $50.99 on weekdays and $53.99 on weekends for adults. This is quite similar pricing to AYCE hot pot at Chocho, so it isn't outrageous. I guess it depends if you want the variety and actually can eat your money's worth.The Good:
- Pretty good meats
- Service was pretty efficient
- Their Crème Brûlée is pretty good with all things considered
The Bad:
- Crazy busy with a long wait time
- Is it worth it? Depends on what you are looking for