Zeffirelli's, CinCin and Bacchus were my choices for dinner since we passed on Gusto di Quattro because I did not want to leave Downtown. But in the end, I chose Guu because I wanted a fast meal and was tired. This was also a great time to take advantage of being open minded because I was hungry and am not a big tapas fan. By the way, we were seated in the corner beside the couple outside and our area had no lighting above us. It was awkward because we could not see what we were eating, I guess call it a "Dark Table" experience? The table was also sticky so I was using the hot towel provided to scrub to it down. However, I forgot it was a communal table so I was shaking the whole thing while the couple next to us were eating! Whoops, thankfully they were very friendly.
The last time I came here was in high school and the restaurant looks pretty much the same. There is a mini "upstairs" section where people sit on the floor, bar seats, tables in the centre and patio seats. From what I remember, the staff is usually friendly and service has never been an issue.
Walking in, we were greeted with loud shouts from the staff but waited ten minutes for someone to speak with us. When a waiter approached us, he helped the group behind us despite mentioning we arrived first. To be fair, the waiter was rushing around and tuned everything out. He also told the group of three to follow him but walked too fast and disappeared so the group stayed behind us. Fortunately, a waitress came over and seated us first because there was no space for the group of three.
After settling down, we waited more than fifteen minutes for drinks and had no side plates or chopsticks. We did ask a few times but the staff kept forgetting. When the second dish arrived, BF did not want to wait anymore and went up to grab chopsticks himself but could not find any napkins.
After having what was supposedly dinner at Simba's Grill, we were still hungry and headed literally next door to Zakkushi Charcoal Grill. The izakaya uses Binchotan which is a Japanese charcoal that produces no flame or smoke (although I have seen photos of flames from Zakkushi?), making it comfortable for those who only go to barbecue restaurants on "laundry" or "wash hair at night" days… like me.
Similar to most izakayas, Zakkushi is not very big. The restaurant is long and narrow but surprisingly the seating arrangements are not cramped. Menus are provided on every table and kept there, which is great for those who like to order a bit and add additional orders later.
