I've mentioned a few times of the trend in Vancouver of small plate Japanese restaurants (also called izakaya). Guu (the linked article also talks about Hapa Izakaya, and Kintaro which I'll be posting about soon) is another such spot. Guu has a few different locations throughout Vancouver. I checked out the one on Thurlow with Geoff and Tiff. 
chopped fresh tuna sashimi with green onion - C$4.80 
fresh salmon sashimi - C$4.80 
baked oyster in spicy cod roe mayo sauce topped with cheese - C$3.80 First I should mention that we went pretty late, and sadly many of the dishes we wanted to try were sold out. Most of their "signature" dishes were gone, including a pumpkin croquette, a baked cod, a potato croquette, a yakisoba, and some of the daily specials. About 5 things we tried got shot down if I recall correctly, and according to Geoff and Tiff, those are the really good dishes.
But we dealt with it and got some good stuff anyway. The tuna was the notable exception. There's not much more to say other than that it was straight up bad. The fish was way too cold - you could tell it was recently in the freezer. It wasn't frozen, but it was close. This dish really answers the question of why it's supposed to be "negitoro" and not "negimaguro" - it only works with toro...
The salmon, which was a daily special described simply as "fresh salmon sashimi," was vastly superior. It actually came out very very slightly seared on the outside, with some kind of ponzu sauce and chopped nuts on it. This dish was really excellent, and we were banging our heads for getting the tuna instead of 2 salmons. The oyster was also very good, more for the sauce that it came in - cheesy, gooey, and delicious. 
kimchi fried rice - C$7.20 
grilled beef steak skewers with grated radish & ponzu sauce -C$4 
skewered pork cheeks & green onion - C$4 The kimchi fried rice was really, really good. Fried rice is one of those simple to make, difficult to master things and they do it here really well. The rice has a great texture and flavor. The grilled beef was good - perhaps very slightly overcooked (medium rather than medium rare), but still tasty. The pork cheeks were on the specials menu, and we ordered it based on the experience of beef and fish cheeks being notably tender "cuts," so to speak. The pork was very fat, juicy and tender - almost like eating a meatier cut of bacon.
Very good. Hopefully I can go back to Guu and try some of the signature dishes that were gone.