Dan Japanese Restaurant

This restaurant offers authentic modern Japanese foods, and I love their modern/creative dishes!

I usually don't come to Dan for their sushi because, first of all, they don't have so much variety of sushi and, second of all, their cooked food is exquisite.
All the dishes I've tried here was so good:
- Tontoro (Grilled Pork Belly)
- Ika mentai (Squid tempura with mentai and japanese herb)
- Tuna Gomaae
- Sansho Steak (Beef steak with pepper corn)
- Grilled Squid (with poached egg)

They usually have chef's special (daily special?) on their menu.
I forgot what i ordered in the past, but one of them was superb. It was baked potato and dungeness crab topped with bechamel sauce came in a little cocotte cup.

The owner couple is always friendly and nice. The servers are friendly and attentive.

Something that shouldn't be forgotten in talking about this place is their desserts. Their cream custard and fondant au chocolat are second to none. I heard that the owner's wife makes all these desserts. I wish they would open a cafe for their dessert!!

I am going to disagree with the majority of the posters and say that I fell in love with this restaurant. The sashimi was exquisite. The tuna with chilli and avocado was amazing, I already want to go back. Was also checking out what the table next to us ordered and wanting to try their sashimi too! It wasn't perfect, the salmon was covered with I think a mayo sauce which was too creamy, but like any other restaurant, there are things to love and then not-so-much.

They've gone with a very simple, understated style, it seemed like the essence of calm Japanese culture in there...the food matches that with simple, fresh flavors. I found the prices not too exorbitant, I thought it was reasonable for the quality. Maybe they lowered their prices since the recession?

Staff were lovely and the exact opposite of pretentious. One of the most enjoyable meals out I've had in a long time, I wish I could eat there every night.

This rating strictly on the tamago, which can be confirmed as authentic, made inhouse, and tastes good too. A bit smaller than Samurai's, but still recommended if you have a craving for this, & in this area.

many of the holes in the walls will outsource and buy from a wholesaler, which is understandable given that it takes awhile to make, without not too much profit given the expense.

but my japanese friend told me that's how they rate japanese sushi restos so i gotta trust him lol.

typical kitzy decor, high ceiling, clean.

date worthy.

An excellent high quality Japanese restaurant that features a lot more than sushi. They have grilled fish, different types of Japanese "nabe" stews, tempua, salads and various other tasty things. Many dishes are seasonal depending on the availability of the ingredients.

The husband & wife who run the restaurant are always friendly and can help if you are not familiar with some of the more obscure dishes.

If you want cheap sushi made from old fish then go to one of those crap all you can eat places.

If you want delicious fish & cooked dishes then come to Dan.

I was fortunate to have a friend recommend Dan Japanese restaurant to me. I had high expectations before our meal and left with a pleasant taste in my mouth.

We had called a day before to request "omakasei" menu, which literally translates to "I'll leave it to you". The chef asked a few questions about us, or favored tastes and that was it.

When we arrived we had a table set aside for us, and shortly after the dishes were served. Each of the dishes complimented the next. As a unique twist we were served handmade soba that one of the chefs had handmade for us that morning - it was amazing!

I would love to divulge more into our dishes that night, but I think everyone has their own preferred tastes etc. so I highly recommend you try "omakase" for yourselves.

In my opinion it is rare to find a Japanese restaurant in Vancouver that caters to the taste buds of all individuals while ensuring the flavours stay true to Japanese cuisine.

I will be a repeat customer, and I will most likely go for "omakase" again. The chefs said next time we could try an entirely different menu if we wanted - at 50$ a head I think it's a steal when I can compare Dan Japanese restaurant to many Michelin star restaurants.

Go for the omakase. You're sure to get some special treats.

Dan is not cheap (but not too expensive either), but the quality of ingredients makes it quite nice. A very pleasant experience compared to the other Japanese restaurants in Vancouver.

Well, yes it's on the expensive side. But the ingredients are really good, the people are friendly, the service is good and the grilled sable fish is.just.crazy.good. It melts in your mouth to let the flavours explode.
All in all, my favorite japanese in Vancouver.

First dinner in Vancouver, picked from a food blog list of top 30 things the blogger liked to eat in the area. Why not!?!? No reservations, but they took us at the bar, which is better anyways to see the action. Place filled up about 30 minutes after we got there and now understand the reservation issue.

Started off with a couple of the days specials, miso with clam soup and the salmon collar. I know, not sushi, but any kind of fish head, collar thing I'm a sucker for. And boy was this one great! Charred just right, the right amount of salt, tasty and amazing fish to start with. The miso clam soup was deep and rich and will put a smile on your face.

For Sushi, we tried the ocean eel (Anago), a spicy tuna roll, sea bream special, and the tuna of the day special. In the states, about all you can find is Unagi in the way of eel, so this Anago was an eye opening education. Loved it. The spicy tuna was fine, but not as spicy as I like. Me and the DC disagreed on the sea bream. I liked the shiso leaf underneath but she didn't and though there was too much washbi (is there such a thing?). The tuna special was good, but nothing to distinguish itself.

Also had the saki sampler and enjoyed a beer all the while watching the chef. A great little neighborhood place I wish was in my neighborhood. Loved watching what others got as well to get ideas for next time. But I might dream about that salmon collar and some cold beer.

PS. No pictures as I was too embarassed to take them in front of the chef, He was kind enough to let us know tips on how best to eat the eel so I didn't want to insult him by taking pictures. But things were pretty!

Dan is an upscale authentic Japanese restaurant (read: run by a Japanese chef) on a sleepy stretch of West Broadway. The food is well above the city's all-you-can-eat monstrosities (sashimi is good quality and the grilled red tuna and seafood salad have nice flavours) but is, sadly, completely unmemorable. This wouldn't be a problem except that portions are small and expensive. A meal for two came out to around $120 after tax (granted, we did share a sake), but neither my friend nor I were really full afterwards!

I would never begrudge a restaurant for charging a premium for food that's creative and exciting, but the food at Dan's was just so ploddingly competent and uninspired (much like its decor) that I left feeling disappointed. Yes, the seafood is fresh and of good quality, but the flavours are a snooze. For upscale Japanese dining, I prefer Zest on West 16th, which is also of the small-plates-high-prices variety, but offers inventive flavours, memorable food (the pillowy texture of their fried battered shrimp still haunts my food dreams) and an interior that's equal to its price point.

I came here a while ago; I remember sitting on the second floor (perhaps I should call it a walled terrace), where there was a lone table for 4. We had the benefit of privacy, but a dearth of open space and table service. The sashimi was on the low-end, and the rest of the dishes were standard fare.

I think one of the main reasons why we found this restaurant alluring was its name: Dan, did you get a warm tickly rush when we ate here? ...