Gyo-O again!

Gyo-O is one of my favorite Japanese restaurants to eat at but since I’m rarely ever in Richmond, I don’t get to go there very often 🙁 So after a long day of blueberry picking one fine Sunday afternoon, I told mother deer that we should go to Gyo-O for lunch to refuel after a long day of hard work.

I feel so spoiled every time I go to Gyo-O because I get to eat such amazingly delicious food. Just thinking about all the yumminess I had the other night right now just makes me hungry all over again.

Gyo-O always tries to take advantage of the freshest ingredients around so it’s no surprise that they had an Uni based special menu when I went there the other night. Unfortunately I’m not an uni (sea urchin) fan so I couldn’t take advantage of such an offering but if you are, do check it out!

Tuna carpaccio

★★★

We decided to get the tuna carpaccio ($6.95) because we enjoyed their scallop carpaccio so much on our first visit. The tuna was melt in your mouth soft and the onion and vinaigrette on top added the perfect amount of acidity to the freshness of the fish.

Shrimp gyoza

★★★

The other starter we decided to get was the steamed pork + shrimp gyoza (5 pieces for $6.65). I tried the gyoza with the plum sauce (umeboshi) the last time I was here so we decided to go with the miso sesame sauce instead. There was a generous amount of sauce on top and it’s nuttiness resembled what you would find in peanut butter. Compared to the umeboshi sauce, I would say that this one is more savory.

Plum gyoza

★★★

The first thing we decided to get was the Plum bonito gyoza ($6.67). I wanted to get this the last time we were here with Grayson but we opted for a different appetizer and didn’t get this dish. I was glad to have been able to try it this time around because it was delicious! The dumplings were filled with large pieces of shrimp and they were nice and juicy on the inside as well. The preserved plum sauce it came with was really sour though but in a weird way, it complimented the dish.

Mini marinated tuna don

★★★★

Next, we decided to get the Mini marinated tuna don ($5.24). The rice was well seasoned with rice vinegar and the tuna slices on top were large and fresh. I would definitely get this again because even though it was a “mini” don, it was large enough to fill my tummy right up.

Seaweed miso ramen

★★★

Mother deer decided to share the Seaweed Miso ramen ($10.48) with lil’ bun. She said that the broth was flavorful and the ramen was cooked perfectly al dente. I’m not impressed with ramen very often because nothing beats the ramen in Japan but I was definitely impressed with the one here. It was near perfection and the variety of seaweed on top was a nice addition.

Lunch combo

★★★★

Old bean decided to get the lunch combo ($9.52) which came with a sides of oden, a mini tuna don, a salad, seared saba and chicken kaarage. The side salad had rice puffs, tobiko and a drizzle of peanut dressing on top. Lil bun said that the oden wasn’t anything too special because she felt as though it was merely an egg and a tofu puff in broth. I told her that that’s how oden is supposed to be like and then she said “in that case, it’s pretty good.” The chicken kaarage was well fried and crispy on the outside but still remained moist on the inside. Mother deer said that the saba was prepared nicely and had a good sear on it. It wasn’t too over cooked so it wasn’t dry on the inside.

Ebi tempura udon

★★★

It came with a soy based broth and the tempera came on the side which is always much appreciated because no one likes soggy tempera! She said that even though the tempura looked rather pale, it was well battered and crispy on the outside and the shrimp on the inside was quite large as well.

Spicy salmon and tuna don

★★★★

I had the spicy salmon and tuna udon ($9.50) the first time I was here but I requested for my udon hot and non-spicy. This time, I got the dish as is and it tasted completely different than the first time I had it. Since the udon was cold this time, I felt that the noodles were firmer and chewier than when I had it hot. The slices of tuna and sashimi was just as fresh as the first time I got had it.

At first I thought that the spicy sauce would be more sweet than spicy but I was wrong about that. The sauce had the perfect amount of spice for me. I didn’t find it sweet which was quite the pleasant surprise. I can’t decide which version I enjoy more!

Tuna steak don

★★★

The tuna was just lightly seared on the outside. The tuna was well seasoned and we liked how the tuna was still warm on the outside but remained cold in the middle. The avocado and mayo added creaminess to the don and the onions balanced everything out by providing acidity.

We will be back Gyo-O!