Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

I had a great dining experience at Gyu-Kaku. The food came out fresh, well-seasoned, and fun to grill—perfect balance of flavor and quality ingredients. The sides and appetizers were also consistent, and everything arrived at the right temperature. Service was friendly, attentive, and quick without being intrusive. Staff explained the menu clearly and checked in at good intervals, making the whole experience smooth and enjoyable. The atmosphere is warm and lively, with a comfortable layout that still gives you space to enjoy your meal. It’s a great place for both casual dinners and small celebrations. Overall, a very satisfying visit—good food, great service, and a welcoming vibe. Would definitely come back.

We came to Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ on a Tuesday afternoon. The store was decorated with holiday vibes. It was our first time here so we tried different items just to explore. We got the House Sake, Harimi skirt steak, Bistro hanger steak, Premium Sirloin, Harami in Secret Pot, Kalbi Chuck Rib, Yaki-Shabu beef, Toro Beef, Mushroom Medley and Garlic Fried Rice. And the best of all everything was at happy hour pricing which last till 6pm. The food was amazing and good portion for trying different items. Overall It was fantastic and fun dining experience we had but in terms of parking. You know. It's downtown Toronto 🤷🏻‍♀️

Chris, our server, was very attentive. He changed out our grill several times and made sure our drinks were always full. Meat was tender and tasty. We ordered the Meat Lovers set course which had a good variety of items to try and enjoy. We will be back. What a fun experience for a group.

Amazing Japanese BBQ! The food was delicious, especially the meat quality. The sauces are incredibly tasty and the service was top-notch. Fun vibe—loved roasting the marshmallows at the end!

I had a great Experience at this Japanese Restaurant in Downtown Toronto. I got to prepare my own grilled meat and it was a unique experience. The food is delicious and healthy, and the customer service here is just fabulous . My Sunday is amazing and they had a lot to do with it. I totally recommend them.

Happy hours in gyu-kaku is a great way to unwind, specially with a difficult day at work. They also have special happy hours items that helps the wallet and have more items to consider. They have also a great staff that helps us making a great choice of items and the best options in the menu.

My wife and I came here to eat lunch and what a great experience! They give you instructions on how long to cook each type of meat on each side and it definitely helped! We ordered a bunch of beef but the one that particularly standard out was the Bistro Hanger Steak that the server recommended. Definitely would come back

Most of the dishes were tasty. Average cost for Japanese bbq meal $50 pp for variety of meats and side dishes. We added a review in order to get a free promo offered but the waitress took too long to get back to use and said unfortunately the time expired and couldn’t give us the free item. Felt a little doomed.

The only beef (pun intended) I have with this place is that there was too much food which is not really an issue. Went here in a group of 4 and asked for a combo for 4. The meats were all amazingly seasoned, the sides were filling and delicious (specially the garlic noodles) and the experience itself is very well organized. Service was attentive and fast . We didn't make it to the last course and dessert but they allowed us to pack our food to go.

I went here for their lunch special ($15.95) which comes with salad, rice, Miso soup and 2 meats of 100g each. I recommend the umakara beef or any of the less fatty ones. The fatty ones are good but the oil will drip onto the grill and create a lot of smoke. Overall a great deal! There are also a ton of add ons you can choose. Service was also fantastic and seating is comfortable. I do recommend to download the app as there are some offers and freebies there.

It is my favorite place to eat in downtown Toronto. The food is amazing, and the staff is incredible

We all could do with an early Japanese BBQ meal in April so we used our son's bday as an excuse. Excellent service & food! We got the Lunch special of 3 choices of protein and picked from the regular items for $19.95. The lunch deal comes with miso soup, salad, & steamed rice. If we liked the standard protein we would do premium options on our next visit. Good baseline for the restaurant. We did upgrade our steam rice for Beef fried rice and garlic fried rice (+$5 each). The specialty rice comes in a hot pot and the server mixes it up for you. We all loved the standard options especially the nicely seasoned Umakara Ribeye and Yaki-Shabu Beef! The thick cut pieces of Angus Beef Rib was a nice balance. My son choice the Toro Beef which was like thin slices of bacon. Not bad. We loved our lunch and was filled to the brim! Definitely with try the other 7 premium upgraded meats options next time. There were 3 poultry, 2 pork. & 2 seafood options. Complimentary Birthday ice cream was vanilla or matcha. Matcha was mild and creamy perfection with a S'more! We will be back as this was so good!

5 star flavors, 4 star seating, 5 star service! Ok, so we are visiting Toronto, and I read the reviews others have left about this place (thanks, Yelpers!), so we came in to check it out. Food was awesome! We did the 4 person all-in choice, and it was a LOT OF FOOD! To be honest, for 2 adults and 2 kids over 9 (but not teenage boys...) we could have probably done the 3 person or even 2 person with 1-2 additions. Cooking is a hobby of mine, and grilling even more so - so this was awesome! I could have my kids (9 & 13) safely help to grill the cuts as we worked out way through this great meal! Salad was tasty, meats were of quite excellent quality, and the s'mores at the end were a GREAT way to finish the experience! My only recommendation for improvement would be to have a little more comfortable seating, which could be a challenge because of the frequent grilling. Would definitely recommend - don't be off-put with plasticized menus or the casual decor - the food experience here is fun and a nice change of pace!!! Totemo oishii desu! Domo arigato gozaimashita!

Great experience. Spent slightly over 100 CAD including alcohol for 2 people. Order the Gyu-Sushi, spicy tuna volcano, garlic fried rice, prime kalbi short rib, harami skirt steak, pork belly. Did not need to use any sauces provided. Meat was tender and well marinated. Everything was excellent but would say the garlic fried rice was garlicky which we loved. Typical Korean/japanese bbq setup which was expected

A pretty good japanese style bbq located in core downtown. We got the varuous cuts all of which were fresh and tender. Servers were very attentive and had changed our grill at least 34 times.

Gyu-Kaku has been on my list to try for awhile now and finally trying it out was an exciting experience. I came around 4pm with a few friends so there was plenty of seating to choose from and happened to be the Happy Hour time. There was an extensive menu from BBQ, rice dishes, ramen and more, which is perfect for people with different food tastes! I mostly stuck with JBBQ items from what I've tried. The service for the BBQ was really quick and the staff were attentive. I got a mix of beef, pork and seafood that all came in good quality at reasonable price point. Also note that this place is an a-la-carte BBQ place. 100% worth visiting this JBBQ place if you're craving some delicious food at reasonable prices! Especially since Gyu-Kaku always has specials, it's definitely worth checking out the menu beforehand. If you're looking for a social spot to eat, this spot is perfect for both small and large groups.

Went here for the lunch and had a great experience. We were a group of 3 so we went for the lunch menu instead of the course for 3 (which was not as good of a value as the lunch option in my opinion). The food came fast and fresh, all the meat was well-seasoned. And the servers were very nice and helpful. This location was not as big as the last one I went to (in Mississauga) which was expected in Toronto downtown. Overall a great place to eat if you're down for some Japanese BBQ.

Last night I went out to eat at this Japanese Yakiniku restaurant of which there are 3 locations in Toronto, we went to the one downtown on Church St. Though I would not compare the quality or ambiance to the Yakiniku restaurants I have eaten at in Tokyo, for the price they offer very good value and good quality meats. Certainly I had a much better experience here than when I at the overrated Shinta restaurant on Yonge St about a year ago. The staff were friendly and helpful, we did not wait long for our servings, and all in all it was a very pleasant night out. I would want to come back here with a larger group of friends next time who are in the mood for drinking a little as well. That would make it a really fun night out. Unfortunately I only took a photo of the table with the grill and forgot to take photos of the meats prepared for the grill, next time.

Hard to believe with gyu-kaku being in the GTA with multiple locations that only recently I've tried it. Always interesting to see how these bbq chains compare to one another since their offerings are identical (though shinta and gyubee are AYCE). Went with 2 other coworkers for lunch and ordered the 2x of the lunch course (which serves 2 people, $49.95) since we were pretty hungry. Basically, 4 portions for the 3 of us. The lunch offerings that they have here are quite value imo. The set included a handful of starters (salad, miso soup, rice and chicken karaage) along with kalbi chuck rib, filet mignon, bistro hanger steak, garlic shrimp and a mushroom medley. Personally really liked the chuck rib and filet mignon, just packed with a ton of flavour and when dipped in their selection of yuzu/soy sauces it's really good. Everything else was pretty standard. They also offer a bunch of daily specials on alcohol, with Tuesdays offering a pitcher of sapporo for only $12. Unfortunately went on a Wednesday and sake was not really of interest before heading back to work after. Service was also pretty excellent, as they guided us through the menu and how to best cook each of the meats on the grill. I'd definitely come back for lunch as the dinner menu seems a tad pricy.

This place is phenomenal!! Wonderful service, wonderful staff, wonderful food, and wonderful drink! You will regret it if you dont come try Gyu-Kaku. The meats were so delicious it was out of this world! They welcome everyone that walks in and the atmosphere is upbeat and friendly! The reservation process is all online with no hassle or phone calls at all, I wish all places had this feature! The staff outdoes themselves with the service they provide, the recommendations and explanations for everything make the dining experience so much better! Next time I'm in Toronto I will definitely be coming back and I will be recommending this restaurant to everyone I know for the rest of time!

Crystal was an excellent server! The portion of food is not that large/ we got the meal for four. The good was tasty. The piece of steak had quite a bit of fat. Nice ambience, fun cooking experience. I would probably go to the AYCE Korean bbq restaurants for better value next time! They did give just a heads up that they were closing but also stood and stared at us until we got up to leave because they were closing which made it very uncomfortable for us at the end:/ I wouldn't expect that from a place where we spent $300!!

Fantastic!!! I had such a great time. Had quite a bit of everything meat and indulged in their sake. Waitresses were super nice and accommodated us perfectly. Warm and inviting environment as well. You need to try it at least once!

Visiting from Kingston, Ontario, we weren't that hungry so we ordered from the Small Plates section of the menu. We had the steamed chilli dumplings, Japanese chicken karaage vegetable spring rolls and Spivey addicting cucumber. All were good but my favourite was the Japanese chicken karaage! Yum!!

Been here a few times precovid, and once during covid (takeout). Precovid dine in was great. I really like their lunch special which is convenient for folks even in the financial district to come over and enjoy. Everything is delicious and there are tons of meat/sauce/marinade options. However, my friend and I found their takeout to be disappointing. Honestly, I don't recommend it... the meat in both our bentos was dry/overcooked? but the container was still quite oily. I liked that it included soup and salad (esp love the salad!) but it still didn't feel value or worth the price of $20+. I like how you can control the doneness of your meat when you dine in and BBQ the meat yourself. I also got the garlic noodles for takeout. I asked if mine could come with beef instead of chicken (the menu offers chicken or shrimp) and they said okay... but then I got it with 5 pieces of chicken :/ I am okay with eating chicken but I wish they disclosed that when I ordered that it had to be chicken or shrimp. It was also a disappointing amount of chicken. The protein to carb ratio was not good.2 I would avoid takeout here in the future, but look forward to coming back when dine in resumes!

Food was really great and the staff was even better than the food! They worked really will with my food allergy (citrus) and were so friendly and welcoming. Would definitely go again when I'm in town!

My colleagues recommended this place for lunch, but we need to go at 2pm, they said. It's because they offer the super happy hour menu. When I got to the restaurant, I was surprised at how busy it was at 2pm in the middle of the weekday. I ordered the combination menu $17.95 that came with rice, soup and salad, along with short ribs, fillet mignon and pork belly. Sapporo was $3. It was a great deal for these great food. The server was efficient and friendly. The food was fresh. And I want to go back again.

Enjoyed our time here. Food was delicious, and while it was a pricier meal, the quieter atmosphere and attentive staff were worth it!

I've been here 26 times in the last 2 years. Surprisingly, I never took any pictures. However I can now sit down to write this review and give solid, tried-and-true recommendations :D Their lunch specials are an amazing deal. 13.95 for two plates of meat, choice of seaweed or miso soup, Gyukaku salad (big fan of the dressing), and a bowl of rice. 17.95 for three plates of meat with the same sides. (i usually get the seaweed soup because it's rare to find in restaurants. If you worry about MSG, keep in mind that MSG is derived from seaweed. So, I mean...i don't really mind. idk) I got the hanger steak 25 out of 27 visits, so yeah I can confidently say its very very consistently good. It's the most flavourful cut I've tried on the menu. While the harami miso steak is also good, it is $$$ and not on the lunch menus. If you want to try the more expensive cuts go to the dinner options which include 2-8 person courses, good for groups who don't know what they want, or if you want to try everything. The 2 person Sakura course is good for dates :) Once you know which cuts you like, however, i would recommend that you go for their Monday to Friday 11AM to 4PM lunch special. Chicken takes too long to cook and I never want to risk poisoning myself, and pork just reminds me of at-home pork belly bbq sessions. To me, i's the beef cuts that shout quality and flavour. -hanger steak: 1cm thick slices, meaty, flavourful, perfect chew-time, eat on its own for maximum wow-in-your-mouth -toro beef: thin, burns easily, think thin beef bacon that's not crispy -yaki-shabu beef: thin, good with rice, may get a bit too greasy mouthfeel -new york striploin: tough, it's just normal steak -filet mignon: cubed, tender, not too much flavour -ribs: well-marbled and thinly sliced. Good flavour -the horumon though!!! basically beef/pork offal (insides). Very fatty but so good once they are cooked. Grill these on the edges of the grill so the flames don't jump out at ya. I think they mentioned they're gonna take horumon off the menu though because many people got flamed. Remember to try the Gyukaku ice cream! They add soybean powder to it (like the ones on Korean shaved ice) and maple syrup to two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Go during lunch special hours and it'll be 2.50 instead of 4. You're welcome :) Download their app to earn points! Mondays through Thursdays you get 2x the points. 1$ = 2 points. 350 points = 15$ off. 500 points = 25$ off. You can also redeem meat plates or ice cream or their beef bibimbap for 100-300 points. I have more to say but this is already so long. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

Came here with a friend for their Monday all day Happy Hour special - holy cow! If you do it right, you can maximize the bang for your buck. My friend and I was so full that we practically rolled home. First off, their Monday specials are quite good - lots of the dishes are discounted. We also had downloaded their app, and were rewarded with free food off the bat. My friend got the beef sukiyaki bibimbap as his free plate, while I chose the Gyu-Kaku salad. Since we both checked into Facebook / Yelp, we got an additional edamame appetizer on the house! Finally, my app offered us $10 off $30, so we ended up ordering near $50 worth of food but only paid $24 for the two of us! Insane! I found the service excellent at GyuKaku; our server was so friendly and patient with all our deals and discounts. However, I wasn't too impressed with the quality of the food. Compared to Shinta (the last JBBQ place I went to), the cuts of meats are definitely fattier and not as premium. The edamame was so salty and crunchy, exactly what you want and need in an appetizer. The Gyu-Kaku salad, however, was a real disappointment. It was such a strange mix of flavours - slightly bitter from the radish/dressing, slightly tangy from the mayo based dressing, slightly sweet... it was a super confusing taste. Would not recommend. We also ordered some specials from their seasonal menu. The horomone (beef intestines) was too fatty - when placed on the grill, the flames kept jumping up to lick the dripping fat. It lacked flavour and was just a blob of oil. We also got some sort of nabe, a hot pot of soup filled with enoki mushrooms, intestines, meat, tofu, and lots of minced garlic. Though tasty, you could just see that thick layer of oil floating on the surface! Definitely not something to eat often. In terms of meat orders, we got the pork neck (a fatty cut of meat resembling bacon), kalbi chuck rib (best cut of meat that we had), and toro beef. The beef sukiyaki bibimbap was also pretty good and very hearty! A little too sweet I found, but the rice was oily and slightly crispy. We were absolutely stuffed by the time we were done - I couldn't even finish all my food! A very good deal and of great value. Will likely come again as it's a great cheap eat place, but if I'm looking for something more upscale and high quality, will likely go elsewhere.

This past weekend I finally picked up some yummy menu items from their restaurant. It was worth the drive over because the weather was beautiful and the bbq items were so yummy! I got their bento box that came with: rice, soup, salad and 2 meats (chicken teriyaki and miso toro beef), a side of takoyaki & chicken karage. All the meat options were juicy and tender. It made me miss kbbq. The takoyaki and chicken karage were my favourite. The inside of the takoyaki was chewy and flavourful. The salad had a slice of egg, cherry tomatoes and lettuce. I was so full by the end of the meal. Can't wait to come back and try out their other menu items. Follow @debeats_ on Instagram for more reviews on local businesses!

We arrived at 3:30pm on a Saturday, and got seated after waiting 40 minutes. I would definitely recommend making a reservation ahead of time to avoid the wait - it seems like they have quite a few tables held for reservations specifically! You can also check in on Yelp or FB to get free edamame. Their happy hour runs from 11:30am-5pm daily, where many items on their menu are $1 off or more. We ordered the happy hour set for 2, which included the Gyu-Kaku salad, 2 miso soups, beef sukiyaki bibimbap, steamed chilli dumplings, bistro hanger steak, filet mignon, yaki-shabu beef, toro beef, chicken thigh basil, mushroom medley, and broccoli. We also ordered the harami skirt steak, Gyu-Kaku kalbi short rib on the side. Our favourite was definitely the kalbi short rib, but everything tasted great in general. For dessert, we got the taiyaki with vanilla ice cream, and s'mores. It was really cute grilling the taiyaki on the grill. Overall, the service here was great. It did get quite pricey though (almost $60 per person after tax and tips), so I probably won't come back often. The meat here was of similar quality to Gyubee, an AYCE JBBQ restaurant, so if you have a big appetite, I'd recommend Gyubee! If not, Gyu-Kaku has more variety.

Would I recommend? yes, definitely! How's the food? This one is easy, the food is great! Really loved the thin slices of beef, that was especially tasty. everything from salad, to bibimbap (rice mixed with beef), to karage, fried dumpling, and the bbq items and desserts were all tasty! How's the service? The servers were very patient, helpful, and friendly. I would say their service quality is pretty up there. I loved the way they serve the food, they will wait for you to finish and slowly serve you all the food so your table does not get all filled up. They take their time to explain to you all the dishes and how to properly enjoy them. How's the environment. the environment is what you would typically expect for a bbq restaurant. loud and lively. but different than most bbq restaurant is again that their food is not overly seasoned and their staff is friendly.

I came here my first night in Toronto & this place blew me away! I'm not going to lie our wait time was close to an hour, but it was totally totally worth it. I first started off with the fried calamari as my appetizer. The sauce (some sort of spicy mayo) that it came with was so delicious, I want to dip everything in this sauce LOL. Then I had the New York steak & shrimp. The steak was so delicious, the shrimp was also good but I felt like the steak was just so good I barely paid attention to the shrimp. To end up I had some of my bfs pork sausage bibimbap (it's enough for 2) & that was the cherry on top. The bibimbap was so flavorful, I've never had fried rice like that. I tell you this place is going to become one of my new favorites, everything was just that delicious! My server (white guy with tattoos) was very nice as well. My bfs & I bill came up to around 80 CAD (we also had one drink each) every dollar was so worth it.

Tip, ordering set menu only gets mediocre meat. Order the better quality beef separately, they are pricy but taste much better! Huge difference in texture and taste! It's a lot to offer from the menu, we enjoyed the separately ordered meat much more. The service was friendly. I got a table on time according to my reservation. I give 4 stars because I think the set menu meat can have improvement, it's not all you can eat after all. Also, I ordered a kids combo, but the combo comes with things that charge me extra that I didn't ask to add on.

Lovin Gyu Kaku! Comfortable seating, great marinades, high quality meats and lots of awesome side dishes or additional dishes to choose from if you want a little bit of everything!! Came here for regular weekend bbq and their happy hour/ super happy hour on Monday! $3,$4,$5 dishes of meats to choose from and the regular happy hour is usually $1 or more off the reg price for certain meats. We have so far tried their Garlic Noodles and Beef Sukiyaki Bibimbop which both came out deliciously. The garlic noodles has an amazing strong smell of melted butter and tastes sweet& savoury. Noodles cooked just right ! I will say their meat is so tender and flavourful, and especially along with the crunchy spicy garlic or their spring onion sauce! Another plus is their grills are the thicker metal types which I always found cooked the meat more evenly. Great attentive servers. Super nice, knowledgeable and willing to help you especially when there is a bbq fire lol. And dont forget you can never order too much, you can bring home the extras for your lunch or snack later. Highly Recommend, as close to Japanese bbq as it gets in Toronto!

We came here on a Wednesday night and were delighted to find out that the Happy Hour special was going on all night! For $60 you get a big japanese w seaweed salad, gyozas, and a bunch of meats! The meats are well marinated and super thin. Not too fatty. I enjoyed the three different dipping sauces with the meats! This was my first time at a Japanese Bbq place and I enjoyed it! Be prepared to come out smelling like Charcoal though!! :) Tip: go on a Wednesday or during happy hour for their special!

Are here a few months ago and really enjoyed it. Back in Toronto this weekend and tried to reserve a table. They said they don't reserve for tables of 2. Really? What are we supposed to do, invite strangers to share our table just to get seated. This place is really popular now but as they do things like this, there following will dwindle and they will be asking why?

I have been to Gyu Kaku numerous times before in NYC. In fact, I even had about 490 rewards points to spend in my app! The BF has never been - and has not had Japanese BBQ before. So when I discovered that there is a branch in Toronto, I offered it up as a dinner option. Honestly, we had so many options for dinner that I'm not even sure how we decided on this one! We had 8:30pm reservations and arrived about 5 minutes after. They seated us right away, no problem. Last call is 9:00pm, so we had to make our food decisions quickly! I picked 5 meat dishes and 1 bibimbap. The bibimbap and the kalbi short rib dish ended up being free after I redeemed my points. A+ for the app and how incredibly easy it was to use to redeem rewards. By the time we finished our meal and I had scanned our check, I was already back up to 300 points! All the meats we had were good and it's actually kind of hard to figure out which one was the best. I think we both agreed it might have been the hanger steak? We also had their taiyaki with ice cream, which I've never seen on a NYC menu. BF really enjoyed this as he is a taiyaki fan, but he doesn't get much of that in Michigan. Service was friendly and prompt. Both our servers were very nice and helpful. Tip: There is a parking lot just a block or two away and it's pretty cheap.

Oh my. We ordered the bbq for 2 and it did not disappoint! I love that they let you cook it entirely by yourself (some places will only cook for you) so you can entirely have a private meal cooked exactly to your liking (because you did it yourself). Every cut of meat that came out was more delicious than the last and we thoroughly enjoyed our experience here. Absolutely worth the wait (they get busy). Wish I took more photos of the food but we got too excited and had to get cooking and eating!

This place is normally a little expensive but during their lunch and happy hour specials you can get a really good deal! Meats are a la carte. Their lunch special allows you to try 2-3 different types of meat at a fixed price. Since we tried a whole bunch of meats, I don't actually remember the name of all of them. It was marinated well and there was also 3 different types of dipping sauce for you to try as well. Most of the meat cuts were more on the chewy side, which isn't exactly my preferred type of meat tbh. But if you like steak-type meats you will probably love it!

I love this place. Very casual atmosphere, great, attentive servers and very clean. The food is fantastic. The pre-cooked items were perfect. The karaage chicken is to die for. Every course they brought us had care put into the taste and the presentation. The uncooked courses were of great quality and the servers were on top of making sure our cooking grate was replaced with a clean one as often as necessary. The time flew by when we were there, but we will definitely be back. Highly, highly recommended.

Great place for a quick lunch stop or an evening for an ayce bbq ! I was here on a weekday lunch break and there were lots of lunch specials going on , also you can download their app for free stuff ! Food was really good here would come back !

If you are looking for a high quality Japanese BBQ place, look no further. We were so impressed by the customer service from start to finish. Our waiter explained the menu and we opted for the 80$ choice for 3 people... even though we were only two. I thought it was a lot of food but definitely not an inordinate amount. It came with about 5 protein dishes including chicken, pork and shrimp which were all EXCEPTIONAL, 2 veggies and rice. I've attached a photo of the option we chose. Now, I am a sucker for saucy foods. Each table comes with three sauces. A spicy, the ponzu (which is a citrus type of sauce) and the sweet sauce. ALL ELEVATE THE DISH. USE EVERY ONE! If you are really hungry, this place is great!

My friend wanted to come to this place after going to their location in Vancouver and said it's super yummy and they have Happy Hour. I came here on a Thursday for lunch and decide to order the Sakura Course for $39.95. It came with: -Gyu-Kaku Salad -Chicken Karaage -2 Miso Soup -2 Rice -Premium Rib Eye Steak -Filet Mignon -Bistro Hanger Steak Miss -Shrimp Garlic -Mushroom Medley -2 Ice Cream And we also ordered Toro Beef and Cheese Fondue (omg, so good when it's mixed in with the meat but you have to eat fast cause the cheese will dry out and harden on the sides if you leave it in the grill for too long) Side note; their green tea ice cream was so rich in flavour it had that slight bitter taste and super yummy! I asked our server and she said they order from their supplier. I wish I knew lol. In total it was about $30 person with tip and tax and the portion was decent. If it was ayce I'd like it 10x more though haha. The service was amazing; our server explained how to order from the menu and told us how long and how we should cook our meat and veggies which was really helpful. She also brought out the dishes depending on how fast we ate so that we wouldn't have every single dish crowding the table. I would definitely come back again!

Sometimes the best meal is when you cook it yourself. Here at Gyu Kaku, they serve you up some really tasty cuts of beef. Some of them are marinated while some are just lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. Recommendations are highly recommended because this place will get very busy and it's usually an hour wait to get a table. Grill your own food places aren't new in Toronto but Gyu Kaku brings that Japanese sensibility for: -offering a great environment (casual like an izakaya); -equipment (grill that has a strong and quiet fume hood underneath); -menu (offering a pretty wide selection of premium grill items); -price ($40 per person which includes tax and tip should leave you feeling stuffed); -and even a loyalty app where you can get $10 off $30 when you sign up (best thing ever). The menu here is quite large with appetizers, noodles, soups, and of course a wide selection of different cuts of beef while also offering pork, chicken, seafood, and veggies. You can order a la carte to your heart's delight or go for the one of the pre-built combos that can serve 2, 4, or 8 people. We ordered the samurai combo for the four of us and we were left feeling beyond full. The samurai combo offered appetizers, salad, noodles, rich, and a selection of 8 dishes (mix of beef, pork, chicken, and shrimp) for the grill. The tastiest cuts was the ribeye steak and filet mignon while the toro steak and skirt steak were marinated lightly and very tender too. The atmosphere was very comfortable and lively. I would love to come here again.

My favourite Japanese bbq place. The server was so friendly! Food was amazing. Meat was fresh and the seasoning was prefect.

I've been craving BBQ and after seeing so many good reviews about Gyu-Kaku I came here on Family Day with my boyfriend for dinner. We arrived at 4PM hoping to avoid the mad dinner rush but we were informed that it was a 1.5 hour wait for the next table for 2. No problem, that gave us enough time to go to the gym across the street and shower before we came back. I received a text about 20 minutes after we left the restaurant saying our table was ready - and the waitress at the restaurant had told us to be back within 15 minutes of receiving 'the table is ready' text. I called the restaurant to explain I couldn't be back within 15 minutes (still have to shower). The waiter who answered my call was very courteous and understanding and told me they'd hold the table as long as they could. We got back to the restaurant ASAP and was promptly seated. Pablo, our server was great. He explained the menu to us and made recommendations. We ordered the Meat Lovers (for 2) and swapped out the pork for chicken thigh. The meats arrived from 'thinnest' to 'thickest' - or can also be seen as from quickest to cook to the longest to cook. This helped the table from cluttering and allowed us to pace ourselves when eating. The meats were very high in quality but I felt like there wasn't a lot of depth in the flavor. The marinades were very subtle and it didn't satisfy my cravings for taste. (I do love the spicy sauce they have on the side though!) The beefs are definitely the best options here - they all tasted very similar to each other for me, so the texture of the meats will definitely dictate how I order here next time (fatty & chewy vs. thick cut). Pablo came by halfway-through our meal and changed the grill for us without us having to ask even though the restaurant was packed. Overall, I definitely loved the experience here and the food that was served but this isn't a place I would crave to come back to. When I do come back however, I have the Gyu-Kaku app - I received points from signing up and our bill this time I'm planning to order the beef suiyaki when I return (for free!). +1 star for great service! We paid: 70(ish) dollars + tip.

Delicious food - excellent service. Highly recommend for a fun night out! Something yummy for everyone.

This was a great experience to have; I took my fiancé who had never been to a Japanese bbq, and my cousin and her husband the wait time is long if you don't reserve ahead on yelp, but they do their best to be quick. The service is nice and there are multiple people checking on you to make sure you have everything you need. Some servers are better, explaining sauces or the menu a bit differently. But overall the experience was good and the meat was yummy. If you are a rice gal - order more. Also the bibimbap is a small rice side- make sure you wait to eat it with the cooked meat!

I am a big fan of Japanese/Korean bbq so decided to try this place. Ordered the Premium Meat Lover set. When the dishes came, I thought the portion would not fill me up but that's not the case. At the end, I had to walk around to digest. All the dishes are so fresh and good. I like how they gave you 6 different types of premium meat to try. The only drawback was the price, it could be all you can eat at another place but again, the meat they offer is different.

I've been getting the umakara beef donburi for takeout, and it is absolutely bombastic. Love it. Edit: I've also been here several times before quarantine for lunch and dinner. Restaurant experience is consistent with my rating: delicious food with hospitable staff. Love their salad dressing and dipping sauces. Yum.

Service was fantastic!!! Also, food was amazing too. Unfortunately, I went there when they're not licensed yet. Definitely will go back. Btw,I went to North York location.

This spot is located in a perfect location in downtown and it's very accessible to people. The food was seasoned well and the beef was bot chewy. The rice was a bit bland however but the entire order made ma happy!

The "Premium Meat Lover's for 2" BBQ course included: Starters -- Gyu-Kaku Salad, Chicken Karaage, 2 Miso Soup, Beef Sukiyaki Bibimbap; BBQ items -- Harami Miso Skirt Steak, Kalbi Short Rib, Filet Mignon, Toro Beef, New York Steak, Chicken, Corn, Broccoli; and Dessert -- Maple Syrup Gyu-Kaku Ice Cream. It had a value of $91.50 but their regular price was $75. I thought this was an amazing deal for the quality and quantity of food for two people! The Miso Soup was really good! It was a big deep bowl of miso soup with small cubed tofu; the soup wasn't too salty or thin. The Chicken Karaage came with spicy mayo and a slice of lemon. It was good chicken karaage too; it was slightly salty and seasoned well. The shapes of the chicken karaage pieces were interesting though lol. The Edamame was good. The Kim-Chee was also really good. Apparently, Gyu-Kaku manufactures and purveys its own brand of kimchi in Japanese supermarkets. The kimchi wasn't too spicy either. The Gyu-Kaku Salad had a mixture of cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, sliced egg, and peppers. It was a very refreshing salad and the dressing was very good too. We started grilling the meats by this point. (By the way, I LOVED their barbecue tongs! How is it that something so simple as metal tongs could give me so much satisfaction and contentment?) I was so impressed with the meats!! The Kalbi Short Rib was really tender and marinated so well that the flavours shone brightly. The Filet Mignon was incredibly tender. The Toro Beef was more firm but still you could taste the quality beef in each bite like the other two meats. I was so impressed! The Scallops were very squishy and chewy and fresh. When the Corn and Broccoli were done, these were delicious too. The Corn was buttered -- mmm, so good. The Broccoli had sopped up a bit of the barbecue meats flavours and were cooked really well. We took our time enjoying the food and meanwhile, the servers came by constantly to change the grills for us. The process of changing the grills was so much more simpler than the Korean barbecue kinds -- at least to me, it looked very simple and was faster. It helped a lot to have a clean grill to cook our meats so that we wouldn't have any extra char on our food from the previous grilling. I really liked their attentiveness and service. After our first round of meat, we tried the other items on our table too. The Beef Sukiyaki Bibimbap was brought to our table with ingredients fully intact in the hot stone bowl. This was also a really good dish! So tasty and the beef was thoroughly marinated in the sukiyaki sauce. Some people might found the flavour a little overpowering. I'm so glad I ordered the Spicy Tuna Volcano to try. This was spicy tuna on top of a inari sushi (sushi rice wrapped inside a seasoned deep-fried tofu). By this point, I was getting full but this was definitely a must-try item on the menu because it was so good. I'm also glad we ordered the Yuzu Shishito Pepper to try. These peppers were grilled so perfectly, weren't spicy at all, and a great complement to the meats. The Harami Miso Skirt Steak was the #1 bestseller on their list and I absolutely agreed with this! Even though I didn't get to try all the meats on their menu, this was definitely the best one we tried that night. The Harami Miso Skirt Steak was so, so juicy and tender and fantastic! It was entirely due to the quality of the cut of meat. I highly recommend this one! The New York Steak was still good but when compared to the Harami, it just couldn't compare. The Chicken was marinated with yuzu, basil, and spicy miso. This was also good chicken that was tender after being grilled. The main stars of that night though were the different cuts of beef. We finished off with a sweet note. The Maple Syrup Gyu-Kaku Ice Cream was vanilla ice cream dusted with soybean powder with maple syrup. It was a really sweet scoop of cold ice cream that sealed off the night of meaty goodness. I was very impressed with Gyu-Kaku and understand why they have expanded to so many locations all around the world. They have 600 locations globally! I thought that their prices were very reasonable too -- especially the BBQ course for two. Spending about $100 for good quality Japanese meat is so worth it. I'd much rather come here for good quality BBQ than to an all-you-can-eat BBQ restaurant. They also have Happy Hour where the deals are even sweeter. I recommend you to try Gyu-Kaku if you haven't tried it before. Make sure to make a reservation! When we left at 8:15 p.m.-ish, there were so many people waiting for a table.

I understand the Yakiniku experience is heavily Korean influenced, but I wouldn't really be able to distinguish this from any other typical KBBQ. I was really hoping that Toronto was getting a unique Japanese BBQ experience that I've had like in New York and San Fran. All in all, service was ok. Meat was decent. Nothing really stands out, but a nice to have in the neighbourhood.

We came here for dinner for a friend's Birthday. The location we went to was Church street which is NOT an AYCE. This one is a la carte. The Bloor street located is AYCE. Restaurant is modern but the ventilation system could be better. We smelt like BBQ when we left. Warning this place has a 2 hour limit so if you're planning to be there for a long period of time be warned they will come to the table to kick you out. The food quality was good and flavourful but I've had better. We ordered the dinner for 3 and also add in a calamari appetizer. There was more than enough food for all of us. I would give this restaurant a 4 star if they didn't come and tried to kick us out after 2 hours of seating. It's not a AYCE which I can see why they would have a time limit. We tried to get my friend a dessert to celebrate her Birthday but didn't have time because we were kicked out. Not sure if I would come back since there's plenty other BBQ restaurants that have better service.

My friends and I went on a Saturday night with reservation. I see people lining up when we got there so it's probably saver if you reserve before hand. As a meat lover, I've been to Japanese BBQ place couple times before, but this is the first time to Gyu-Kaku. Instead of order individual items, we got the set menu for 4 person. It was around 50 per person after everything, so a bit pricy. Since it's a slow process cooking the meat, you get full gradually while waiting. But I can't say the portion is a lot. From the quality of the meat, I actually can't taste too much of a difference from the other AYCE places I've been to. So I think it's mainly the environment and service you are paying for. I'm really happy with their service (this is the reason I'm giving 4-stars haha). One thing I like is they have an app where you can earn and redeem points. This is definitely a good way to attract customers back for more food!