Last Vancouver post here. Here is a quick meal at Nan Chuu with Gene and Geoff. This place is a Richmond offshoot of Gyoza King, which remains one of my favorite Vancouver izakaya spots. Nan Chuu is a bit bigger, with a more narrow, long main room, and a similar modern decor. The place was quite crowded, and we had to wait a little bit for a table. I also remember a cute waitress.. 
kanpachi sashimi - C$18 We saw kanpachi sashimi on special, and decided to bite the bullet even at $18. That is the power that kanpachi has over me, I guess. It had a good texture, but slightly bland. 
gyu tan - C$4.95 Nan Chuu also has a bit more robata stuff than Gyoza King. We chose to try the beef tongue. It was really nice, actually. Tender and flavorful. Unfortunately, it wasn't warm enough. Perhaps it was sitting for a minute too long before being brought to us. 
pork and chive gyoza - C$3.95 The gyoza is pretty similar to GK's. Very crisp and delicious. It kind of feels more like a Chinese potsticker than Japanese gyoza though. That's not a bad thing; I'd be happy to eat many of these little morsels. 
hotate butter yaki - C$6.75 Another special was this scallop and butter concoction. Again, alright, but not too memorable. Definitely not as good as the scallop/mushroom dish at Gyoza King. 
mentaiko yakiudon - C$8.5 And finally, spicy cod roe udon. Gyoza King makes the best version I've tried, and I was eager to see if this could match it. It came close, but didn't quite get there. This was definitely better than Manzo, but still didn't have quite the pure buttery richness of the original GK. Maybe they need to put those nori strips... they at least make it look a lot nicer.
All in all, I'd rather be eating at Gyoza King. This seems to be happening a lot with Vancouver izakayas. Maybe it'll be simpler to just keep going to GK, Hapa, and Guu. I've got a couple of random SF posts to finish, then it's going to be Australia stuff. As for now - I'm fortunate enough to be going to the French Laundry again for dinner tonight! Thanks Jennifer. You'll probably read about tonight's meal in like... 2 months. :P