Gyo-O

Came here as a result of a ramen craving. Not the usual ramen place. The ramen is seafood based and has that shellfish taste to the broth. Wasn’t my favorite broth and the octopus, clam, and shrimp meats in the ramen itself were decent at best. I wouldn’t come back for the ramen.

I heard Gyo-​O was one of the few places that had bukakke udon so I ordered the seafood tempura bukakke udon. My friends ordered the Seafood Yukke Don and one of them subbed the rice to udon noodles with an additional $ 3. Originally, I wanted to order the natto yukke don, but the server was worried that I wouldn’t like natto, which is fermented soybeans, she offered to let me try some before I placed my order. She was right. I didn’t really like the slimy texture and aftertaste of the natto. Thanks to her my appetite was saved.
My seafood bukkake udon was udon noodles, with two pieces of ebi tempura, two pieces of veggie tempura and two pieces of fish tempura. The broth came on the side, which allows you to pour how ever much you want during the course of your meal. I noticed that the broth on its own tasted different from when it’s mixed with the other ingredients.
My friends’ seafood yukke don/​udon had Chopped Tuna, Salmon, Squid, Prawn, Fishcake, Takowasabi in Marinated Sweet Soysauce with Half Boiled Egg on Rice/​Udon. I didn’t try, but it looks really tasty.
For your money’s worth, I didn’t think the bukkake udon was worth $ 17+ but there are cheaper versions of the bukkakke udon which is essentially due to the toppings. I just didn’t think having the broth at the side made that big of a difference. But you’d never know until you’ve tried, right?

I’ve been a fan of this place for many years. Many of the dishes that they serve here are quite unique and not too common, even in the Richmond and Lower Mainland area, I find. The majority of their dishes are udon, rice, or ramen. If you are a big eater, you may not be too happy with the portions here. I think they’re sized for you to be satisfied /​full, but not overstuffed.
I highly recommend their seafood yukke don ($ 11.43). It’s chopped assorted sashimi pieces in an amazing sauce, on top of rice, with a lightly poached egg on top. You can mix it all together, breaking the yolk into the mixture, or eat it as is. I am more of a fan of udon, so I asked for the rice to be switched to udon. This cost $ 3 — a steep price! But I paid it anyway and it was still amazing.
I’ve tried their ankake udon and bukakke udon. Ankake udon is dry udon topped with tempura bits and a poached egg, with a thick-​ish broth on the side. Additional toppings such as chicken are extra. Bukakke udon is udon with a tempura-​sauce like broth on the side, and with the toppings you choose. Either are a good option if you’re wanting udon that isn’t dry. I’ve also had their ramen salad, which is great for the summer.
They have some unique ramen here, such as the oyster milk ramen, that I have yet to try. It gives a good alternative to the miso/​shio/​shoyu that is so common for ramen joints.
I always use a coupon here for a free mini tuna carpaccio. The coupon is from a small book of local Japanese restaurants that I got from the Japanese convenience store on Robson (Konbinya). The tuna carpaccio is covered in a sesame sauce and onions. It’s only 2 pieces but whatever — it’s free. You’re allowed to keep the coupon to use for subsequent visits.
Yes, your meal won’t be cheap and you won’t be stuffed full. But the quality is good and so are the flavours. Service is also pretty good, and the décor is nice. I’ll be back when I crave for yukke don/​udon!

One of the G-​Series Izikaya’s its focus being seafood. We came here on a rainy sunday while in Richmond and decided to try it out. We were craving noodles so all of us ordered some. The udon was fun, as it came not only in soup (with a very well prepared poached egg) but also a side of soup that you can add in yourself! I added the chicken karage just to add some meat into the seaweed udon I ordered, but the pieces were kind of small (still tasty, just… small). I’d go back if I had to but not exactly craving it. They also didn’t have G beer… which was a fail…

3 words: seafood yukke don. Amazing sauce that creates flavours that you can’t find anywhere else with chopped sashimi over a bed of rice all mixed together and then magic happens. Also really love their Sashimi Ramen Salad but with the mayo on the side! It was a lovely sesame dressing and comes with toothsome ramen noodles! Takoyaki is always a go to as well! :)

My partner and I frequent this place. The servers are always very accommodating. I didn’t like unagi so they substituted seafood in my rice. There was salmon, squid, scallops AND prawns instead of unagi. Was super happy.
I usually get the seafood yukke don. The deep fried baby octopus is delicious as well as the seafood salad. Solid eats!

I had high hopes. The pictures look so good. Felt really dirty in there. The cups were super old and dirty, the miso soup came and the bowl was sticky. Maybe it was due to the menu being so old and dirty.
I ordered the Yukke don and its basically tiny pieces of end bits and imitation crab mixed together in a paste and put on top of rice. The nigiri pieces are cut super thin. The tempura was super skinny. I think they cut a lot of corners to cheap out. My husband ordered karaage don. It looked fine but he had a bad stomach ache when we got home. My stomach wasn’t feeling great either. Definitely will not be back.

Gyo-​O is definitely one of my favorite Japanese places. It is a small restaurant, full of drawings and wooden blocks all over the walls. Their stuff guarantees freshness and different from the mainstream Japanese restaurants. I usually get an assorted sashimi, tempura with 3 different sauces or just a miso tuna or salmon don will do. This place is fast paced, so don’t expect to be able to hang out or chill because as soon as you’re done, they will hand you the bill. Afterall, it is a busy place with people always waiting for a table. Parking is available at the plaza.

Loved their seafood ramen with the clams. If you like savoury, mmm! Tasty and unique! They seem to have a lot of interesting dishes like one where you pour this thick broth/​sauce into your udon, that one I didn’t like as much, but maybe you weren’t suppose to add it all at once like I did!
Also service was pretty excellent, typical wonderful Japanese restaurant etiquette.
Décor is pretty nice, ceiling are high and airy to balance out the place, its a small hidden gem, and a Japanese cooking show is on TV to build your appetite and amusement.
This is a great place if you want to try some unique Japanese dishes but not stray too far to Asian fusion restaurant realms. If you’re tired of your normal shio, shoyu, miso, give Gyo-​O a try! Coming back to try everything else on the menu.

I have been frequenting this place a while as it is one of few decent japanese resraurants in Richmond. The food here are diverse and a bit on the expensive side. The udon variety is surprisingly good here and tempura prawns or takoyaki goes well. The ramen are a bit salty for my taste and to me the flavor of the soup base is a bit forced thru excessive seasonings.
The sushi and sashimi is above average quality but lacking in vareity and quantity. The lunch combos are pretty pathetic. On paper and picture, it looks like a good deal but except for rice, everything else gets smaller and smaller — one day I would need a magnifying glass to find the terriyaki chicken on rice and mackerel pieces hidden behind a leaf. Also, I tried their seasonal specials like uni on rice or unagi congee. It says in big words — «promotion extra uni!». When I actually get the uni on rice, I see three pieces on rice. So when it is not on promotion, I get two pieces or less??? for $ 27. The same goes for unagi — it is truly pathetic. They really shouldn’t say «extra unagi or extra uni promotion».

Good service but too pricy.
Quority of foods were not so good.
Need working out to be better.
I had a lunch special, sashimi was top of hot rice:(
Fish was very small I eat one bite.
Other item are not enough to fill of my stomach. Miso soup was to much Dashi wz msg.
Ramen was expensive. But tast was good.

Neat little Japanese joint at one of the many plazas in Richmond. I had the Seafood Tonkatsu Ramen and was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. The broth stole the show for me. Perfectly creamy/​milky mixed with salty, exactly how I like my broth! Nothing special about the noodles but decent quantity to price point value.
A return trip will definitely be in the works for the future.

This place is a pretty decent restaurant. I had the tuna toro steak don which had a nice, smooth texture. I found it reasonably-​priced and quite flavourful as well.
The room decorations are unique and create a homely and warm feeling. It is quite small though, so its not great for large groups. Also it is cash only.
Definitely recommend at least once to try out, if you want some delicious tummy fillers!

My favourite Japanese FOOD for low budget fine Japanese cuisine! The seafood yukke don is my favourite! So delicious!

Ten bucks for a tasty bowl of saucy, perfectly cooked udon topped with a poached egg, seaweed, and slices of raw fish. Damn good. I can eat this with no fish and be perfectly content.

Definitely the things to get here are the rice bowls! I have yet to try the much talked about bukkake udon though, so perhaps I should reserve my final judgement till then.
My husband and I arrived on a weekend night and business was brisk. We ordered the seafood yukke don, the garlic miso ramen, and the deep fried baby octopus.
The yukke don was very tasty and a decent portion size with plenty of chopped seafood in it. The soft poached egg, once broken and mixed in, made it very savoury and rich. I really enjoyed this dish!
The baby octopus was also very good, with a wasabi mayo topping. My husband was happy to wolf these down.
The ramen, however, didn’t live up to the taste and enjoyment of the other two. The miso flavour was not very strong (it did taste like seafood and garlic though… the other two components), and there wasn’t very much seafood in it. Actually if you’re looking for the ramen with pork slices in it, they do not seem to carry it here (at least for now… I vaguely remember having a porkier ramen here about two years ago). The girls sitting next to us also did not enjoy their ramen (I’m so guilty of eavesdropping…)
Service was very quick and polite, no complaints here!
I would definitely come back but only for the rice bowls and to try the udon; I would pass on the ramen next time.

After dining here for the first time, I said to myself, sayonara gyo-​o, I probably won’t come back! Why? That bad? Nope! Let me put it this way, if u considered yourself chubby or oversized, please take my advise & always sit on the bench by the wall. U will know what I mean when u see their cheap stools cover with the thinnest so-​called cushions. First, u won’t feel comfy at all. Second, u will easily make yourself embarrassed sitting on the floor in front of the whole tiny restaurant. I am serious coz I «almost» got trapped & that feeling wasn’t nice at all.
There’s nothing I can highly recommended as the price is on the high side, service good, taste is so so, deco is kinda tacky (not my cup of tea) anyway. Really I m quite disappointed!

The seafood bukkake don was awesome with the poached egg! Yum Yum…
The oyster milk ramen was very interesting and has a nice flavor. I think it might be a bit too rich to consume for one person but we shared everything which was just right.
The uni + scallop don was probably the least interesting even though I am a uni fan since there wasn’t enough uni on the rice don for the price you pay.
I think this is a nice place to go if you don’t want to wait long for a nice lunch.

This restaurant is run by the same group that opens Nan Chuu Izakaya.
The space is located in a busy strip mall with tons of other eateries, the restaurant reminds you of the quick noodle shop in Japan with their décor. Not suitable for large group as the tables are really small.
The Menu is extensive with pictures and descriptions and if you still don’t know what you want, flip to the last page and they printed out their most popular items.
We ordered:
Salmon Carpaccio $ 6.90
Oyster Milk Ramen $ 15+
Seafood Tonkatsu Ramen $ 10+
The Salmon Carpaccio is basically 4 pieces of Salmon Sashimi topped with Roe with Salad Greens, dash of homemade Soy Sauce and generous helping of Wasabi Sauce over everything. The fish tasted fresh but if you are not a saucy person, you might not like it.
Oyster Milk Ramen has a light flavor broth, there were 3 of oysters, baby bay scallop, clams, some tomato chunks and tons of green onion and seaweed.
Seafood Tonkatsu Ramen has a more deeper flavor broth, there were 3 tiny clams, 3 baby shrimp with 5 pieces of chopped up squid pieces along with tons of green onion and seaweed.
The ramen noodles were cooked nicely and not mushy at all.
Price is a little high for what they give you. There are several places within the same mall have better offers.

I’m not much of a starch or carb person… if you know what I mean… I gotta watch them sugars or I will put on the pounds. Unless I find something absolutely that blows up in my mouth amazingly of course I won’t bother trying it again. From what I’ve heard Gyo-​O has good rice bowls and ramen so I decided to give it a go!
In terms of ramen, it was extremely MEH. You can get better ramen at mediocre chains like Benkei. Nothing compared to Motomachi or even Kintaro. The broth was pretty watered down and the flavour (miso) was not miso-​ey! So sad! Also the amount of meat or seafood that they give is pretty sad… I was like… NOOOOO, where’d all the protein go?
Rice bowls were ok, but I thought they lacked finesse and flavor, it was pretty much a bunch of things thrown on rice. I don’t know it’s kind of hard to mess it up, but there rice wasn’t the right rice… it was just white standard Chinese restaurant rice… not fragrant Japanese sushi or normal rice.
Appies were not so good. They were izakaya sized, but not izakaya taste, it was like going to Aberdeen’s foodcourt. Don’t go here for the food. The ambiance is nice though, really cool interior. The walls are high and painted. There are wood blocks with Japanese words painted on them… a good photo op-​place.