I have been to this restaurant several times, and have always received good service. But this time, maybe our luck to be paired with a very attentive waitress, we really had the best experience i've been. We forgot we're there to celebrate my partner's belated birthday (a week ago) and the waitress brought us a special b-day dessert! She recommended something that I was at first hesitant to try.. but it turned out to be the best choice that night (dessert). Thank you, we had a wonderful time!
Danica Reed
Had a great time at my first Japanese BBQ experience! We had 6 people, but ordered the Meat Variety selection meant for 3 people... it was definitely enough food! I don't know how three people could eat all of it! Everyone in our party got either a miso soup or rice with this package. We also got four plates of beef, a large piece of beef in a pot, chicken, pork, mushrooms, salad, calamari, fried rice with tuna, and cheesy corn. The cheesy corn was the only thing we didn't like out of all of this... it was just corn with some Kraft cheese thrown on top. We also got smores for dessert with the package. It ended up being about $20 per person before tax and tip for this package, and we all ate lots! Such a good bang for your buck for larger groups. Fun experience and we had a nice waiter. I will be coming back!Vegetarian options: Theres a lot of meat here but you can also get lots of veggies or non meat itemsKid-friendliness: Kids menu available
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Toro Beef
Marcus Xiong
Food is good for a Canadian restaurant, but compared to the ones I went to in Japan, this was very mediocre. Good service, however, I ordered teriyaki chicken, and it came without the teriyaki.Vegetarian options: A lot of labeled vegetarian optionsParking: The parking lot is hidden away behind a construction site, but you could park across the streetDietary restrictions: Gluten-free and vegetarian options available
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Tina
*update 2023* they increased the lunch menu pricing. 2 items is $16 and 3 items is $20. Still excellent and my favorite location in Van.Weekday Lunch prices are UNBEATABLE. (See menu pic)- miso soup + salad + white rice- 2 BBQ item of your choiceAll for only around $14I usually expect a trip to JBBQ to cost around $30/person, so the total being this price was a shock.The food:- spicy pork was /spicy/. Was so good.- the beef was juicy- loved the zucchini- the sauce they provide is so GOODWas busy on a Friday afternoon (around 1pm) but we didn’t have to book reservation or wait in line. Seated very quickly. Service was lovely. Clean washrooms.
Stella Oh
We were pleasantly surprised that the staff brought out ice cream for the three of us for our friend’s birthday party! Although I had mentioned the occasion is a birthday when I made the reservation on OpenTable, I did not expect them to give us anything.The service was impeccable! Our waitress checked on us like clockwork - she refilled our glasses, changed our grill when it was time, and took away any empty plates once we were done with them. We didn’t need to ask for anything.Of course, the meat - all of it - tasted fabulous! You usually can’t go wrong with grilling your own meat. For dessert, we had s’mores. Roasting marshmallows over the grill is always a fun activity!
Recommended dishes: S
Star
We were pleasantly surprised that the staff brought out ice cream for the three of us for our friend's birthday party! Although I had mentioned the occasion is a birthday, I did not expect them to give us anything. The service was impeccable! Our waitress checked on us like clockwork - she refilled our glasses, changed our grill when it was time, and took away any empty plates once we were done with them. We didn't need to ask for anything.
Tyrell Taylor
Enjoyed a wonderful birthday dinner with family.Food was plentiful, and constant. Staff was fast and welcoming.The music must have stolen from a nightclub downtown because it was BUMPING. I've never thought I would be fighting the urge to ask passerby if they "-Come here often!?"
Pooja Jayendran
The best Japanese BBQ place,it's our 2nd time visiting here and everytime we enjoy the food .we chose the meat lovers and upgrades everything.hanger skirt and new York steak was my favorite of all.Also loved their sushi that came along as well as their
Jingqian Liu
In general this is a very good Japanese bbq place. The waiters are friendly and nice. The place doesn’t have a lot of seats and it is relatively capacious. My only problem against this place is that the amount of meat in each dish is so little so the cost per person for a meal is around 100 dollars. The bbq sauce is very authentic. It is the soul of Japanese bbq. It would be cheaper to buy the sauce and make a bbq yourself.
JenniferC
We come here all the time. My partner and I love the selection and happy hour prices. If you get the app and collect rewards, it is such a good deal. There's always perks! We also go for their daily drink specials.
The server did not offer to change our grill even once and when they did it was too late. They also made comments that we were ordering way more food items which should not be there concern.
Rach
The experience here is always fantastic- the staff are polite, friendly, welcoming and happy to help. The food is always amazing and it's great value for money. The quality of the meat provided is always great and it's always a treat to visit. They have hosted us for many special events and we would always be excited to visit again!
Steph
Great place to eat, good food, good prices, service was absolutely amazing. We were tended to by our attentive server. We left super full, it was a great meal. We dined on Christmas. I would highly recommend this place, esp during holidays, it is guaranteed they will be open on holidays which is great.
Cherry B.
It's a fun place to go with friends or family. If you have never been to Japanese bbq places you'll enjoy the experience.
Karmen L.
Gyu kaku lunch specials! It's such a good price for weekdays only :(excludes holidays-unfortunately) they should offer this lunch combo more often! Choosing 2 bbq meats that comes with miso soup and lunch salad then I upgrade the rice to beef sukiyaki bibimbap in a stone bowl. Also adding takoyaki- 3 pieces for $3 not a bad price! For the first time I tried this noodle set with beef garlic noodles in a hot stone bowl. The noodles were udon like and quite easily burned, definitely need to be careful and mix it well! Don't let it just sit there or else you will end up with burnt noodles like me. I would definitely come again but it's hard to come here if I got to go to work on weekdays
I have been to this restaurant several times, and have always received good service. But this time, maybe our luck to be paired with a very attentive waitress, we really had the best experience i've been. We forgot we're there to celebrate my partner's belated birthday (a week ago) and the waitress brought us a special b-day dessert! She recommended something that I was at first hesitant to try.. but it turned out to be the best choice that night (dessert). Thank you, we had a wonderful time!
Had a great time at my first Japanese BBQ experience! We had 6 people, but ordered the Meat Variety selection meant for 3 people... it was definitely enough food! I don't know how three people could eat all of it! Everyone in our party got either a miso soup or rice with this package. We also got four plates of beef, a large piece of beef in a pot, chicken, pork, mushrooms, salad, calamari, fried rice with tuna, and cheesy corn. The cheesy corn was the only thing we didn't like out of all of this... it was just corn with some Kraft cheese thrown on top. We also got smores for dessert with the package. It ended up being about $20 per person before tax and tip for this package, and we all ate lots! Such a good bang for your buck for larger groups. Fun experience and we had a nice waiter. I will be coming back!Vegetarian options: Theres a lot of meat here but you can also get lots of veggies or non meat itemsKid-friendliness: Kids menu available
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Toro Beef
Food is good for a Canadian restaurant, but compared to the ones I went to in Japan, this was very mediocre. Good service, however, I ordered teriyaki chicken, and it came without the teriyaki.Vegetarian options: A lot of labeled vegetarian optionsParking: The parking lot is hidden away behind a construction site, but you could park across the streetDietary restrictions: Gluten-free and vegetarian options available
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
*update 2023* they increased the lunch menu pricing. 2 items is $16 and 3 items is $20. Still excellent and my favorite location in Van.Weekday Lunch prices are UNBEATABLE. (See menu pic)- miso soup + salad + white rice- 2 BBQ item of your choiceAll for only around $14I usually expect a trip to JBBQ to cost around $30/person, so the total being this price was a shock.The food:- spicy pork was /spicy/. Was so good.- the beef was juicy- loved the zucchini- the sauce they provide is so GOODWas busy on a Friday afternoon (around 1pm) but we didn’t have to book reservation or wait in line. Seated very quickly. Service was lovely. Clean washrooms.
We were pleasantly surprised that the staff brought out ice cream for the three of us for our friend’s birthday party! Although I had mentioned the occasion is a birthday when I made the reservation on OpenTable, I did not expect them to give us anything.The service was impeccable! Our waitress checked on us like clockwork - she refilled our glasses, changed our grill when it was time, and took away any empty plates once we were done with them. We didn’t need to ask for anything.Of course, the meat - all of it - tasted fabulous! You usually can’t go wrong with grilling your own meat. For dessert, we had s’mores. Roasting marshmallows over the grill is always a fun activity!
Recommended dishes: S
We were pleasantly surprised that the staff brought out ice cream for the three of us for our friend's birthday party! Although I had mentioned the occasion is a birthday, I did not expect them to give us anything. The service was impeccable! Our waitress checked on us like clockwork - she refilled our glasses, changed our grill when it was time, and took away any empty plates once we were done with them. We didn't need to ask for anything.
Enjoyed a wonderful birthday dinner with family.Food was plentiful, and constant. Staff was fast and welcoming.The music must have stolen from a nightclub downtown because it was BUMPING. I've never thought I would be fighting the urge to ask passerby if they "-Come here often!?"
The best Japanese BBQ place,it's our 2nd time visiting here and everytime we enjoy the food .we chose the meat lovers and upgrades everything.hanger skirt and new York steak was my favorite of all.Also loved their sushi that came along as well as their
In general this is a very good Japanese bbq place. The waiters are friendly and nice. The place doesn’t have a lot of seats and it is relatively capacious. My only problem against this place is that the amount of meat in each dish is so little so the cost per person for a meal is around 100 dollars. The bbq sauce is very authentic. It is the soul of Japanese bbq. It would be cheaper to buy the sauce and make a bbq yourself.
We come here all the time. My partner and I love the selection and happy hour prices. If you get the app and collect rewards, it is such a good deal. There's always perks! We also go for their daily drink specials.
Restaurantji Recommends
The server did not offer to change our grill even once and when they did it was too late. They also made comments that we were ordering way more food items which should not be there concern.
The experience here is always fantastic- the staff are polite, friendly, welcoming and happy to help. The food is always amazing and it's great value for money. The quality of the meat provided is always great and it's always a treat to visit. They have hosted us for many special events and we would always be excited to visit again!
Great place to eat, good food, good prices, service was absolutely amazing. We were tended to by our attentive server. We left super full, it was a great meal. We dined on Christmas. I would highly recommend this place, esp during holidays, it is guaranteed they will be open on holidays which is great.
It's a fun place to go with friends or family. If you have never been to Japanese bbq places you'll enjoy the experience.
Gyu kaku lunch specials! It's such a good price for weekdays only :(excludes holidays-unfortunately) they should offer this lunch combo more often! Choosing 2 bbq meats that comes with miso soup and lunch salad then I upgrade the rice to beef sukiyaki bibimbap in a stone bowl. Also adding takoyaki- 3 pieces for $3 not a bad price! For the first time I tried this noodle set with beef garlic noodles in a hot stone bowl. The noodles were udon like and quite easily burned, definitely need to be careful and mix it well! Don't let it just sit there or else you will end up with burnt noodles like me. I would definitely come again but it's hard to come here if I got to go to work on weekdays