Chakhna

What the hell is that, you ask? Chakhna is the hindi word for snacks, akin to tapas for the Spanish and Izakaya to the Japanese. We dropped by Denman street for the car-free day festival and after a few hours, we both looked at each other and said, let's have some Chakhna. After a quick yelp search, we arrived at Kingyo.

Without a reservation, we had the choice of sitting at the bar or a communal table. We chose the communal table that was divided from the other side with giant bamboo plants; how cute! I appreciate the fact that they have separate seating for walk ins other than the bloody bar; it's nice once in a while not to have your feet dangling while enjoying a meal! The menu wasn't too extensive (#bless), so we settled on some tuna tataki and the hot stone beef tongue. Side note: Order the plum wine here; it's magnificent. I like it on the rocks but you can have it straight up as well. Anyhoo, on to the tataki.

Buttery and fresh with a tangy dressing, this is what dreams are made of. Absolute perfection. They didn't skimp on the tuna either - the portion size was on point with the price. Give me a bowl of this everyday and I will be your slave forever. The hot stone dish was next, which was quite popular since almost everyone at the restaurant was having some version of it.

The idea is that you cook your selected meat on the hot stone and enjoy it with its accompanied condiment. The beef tongue took merely seconds to quick since the stone was quite hot but it does cool down so I would suggest cooking all the meat first and then taking your time eating it. The tongue was distinctively chewy (as tongues are) but the sauce definitely elevated the dish. I wish I knew what was in the sauce but it had a yuzu-red pepper flavour to it if that helps.

With our bellies satisfied for the time being, we hit Guu Kobachi for some takoyaki. If you've been to the other Guu locations, this one is smaller with a less extensive menu and not as rambunctious as the others.

Takoyaki, deep fried octopus balls, is one of my favourite Japanese dishes. Tonkatsu sauce with mayo drizzled over deep fried fresh seafood. What is not to love? The katsuobushi flakes (which is basically flaked dried fish) give this dish that distinctive tangy taste, which I live for. Tooooo good.

All finished with a sip of plum wine (yes, I got it at Guu as well), our chakhna experience was a hit!