Gyu Kaku is a Japanese Barbeque restaurant that combines simple, delicious dishes with fast and friendly service. Their West Los Angeles location on Pico Blvd blends Japanese and modern culture.

Gyu Kaku thrives on their family–style meal strategy, where everyone orders plenty of food and every dish is shared among all members of the table. Gyu Kaku is famous for their style of how they present their food. Gyu Kaku only seasons the dish and allows the customer to cook their own food on their own personal grill at each table.

For appetizers, I had the “spicy addicting cucumber” and fried pork dumplings. The cucumber and dumplings are two of the few dishes in the restaurant that are served fully prepared. The cucumber had a mouth-watering taste and just the right amount of crunchiness? where it’s not too soft or too hard. The cucumber’s spice was also superb and made a normally boring food taste outstanding and leaves you wanting more after every bite.

The pork dumplings were very good as well. The dough was fabulous as it was very chewy and had a savory taste. The dough was a great complement to the pork which was cooked perfectly and had just the right amount of spice. The dumpling’s aroma was very pleasant and everything about the dish made it a great appetizer that any food lover should try.

Adding on, other meats that I had while at Gyu Kaku were the Filet Mignon and the Harambi Skirt Steak. The filet was very chewy and had a very sweet, inticing taste while the skirt steak was more firm and spicier. Both of the steaks had great seasonings that added more and more flavor to each bite.

I had the chance to try the Garlic Shrimp, but it was not as delicious as the meat. The shrimp was way too crunchy and the garlic seasoning on the shrimp was overpowering.

Gyu Kaku also offers a variety of different kinds of kinds of rice to go along with other dishes. The waiters make the rice right in front of the table and the people at each table can see all the different ingredients they want in the rice. I had the Garlic Fried Rice and it was superb. It had great flavor throughout and the meat to veggies ratio was just right. The best part of the dish was definitely the crunchy rice near the bottom of the bowl because it had the most flavor and a great crunchy texture.

When each dish arrives at the table, the waiter will let the table know the amount of time the chef recommends they cook the food for. The time given by the waiter is just a recommendation, however, but it’s very helpful.

As Gyu Kaku is a Japanese restaurant, they only supply chopsticks to eat the food with. However, if any customer is unable to use chopsticks, or just simply does not want to use them, a customer can very easily get a fork and knife by asking one of the waiters.

The service at Gyu Kaku was also incredible. Whenever anybody needed anything such as more water or a fork, the waiters were on it right away and were very friendly.

Overall, eating at Gyu Kaku was a great experience with exceptional food and service. The only criticism I have for Gyu Kaku is their shrimp, as it was over–seasoned and for that reason, I wouldn’t recommend ordering seafood while dining at Gyu Kaku. With that being said, I would recommend going to Gyu Kaku as soon as possible and get the chance to enjoy an amazing night of food.