Denver's five best Japanese restaurants

By Laura Shunk Mon., Apr. 30 2012 at 10:05 AM

Cassandra Kotnik

Hana Japanese Bistro, 1148 West Dillon Road, Louisville
Sushi is front and center at Hana Japanese Bistro, the Louisville restaurant that I review this week, and the fish is fresh and the portions generous. But while the nigiri is worthy of your attention, it's the other Japanese dishes that will keep you coming back for more. Because Hana boasts a menu of treats that range from crisped gyoza to silky agedashi tofu to spicy ramen to the best soba we've had in town. Dinner also comes with a number of extra morsels from the chef, which gives you ample opportunity to appreciate his painstaking preparations and craft.

1. Domo, 1365 Osage Street
Eating at Domo is a little like eating at Epcot's version of Japan: The restaurant is elaborately designed to resemble a Japanese forest grove, down to stone slabs that make the tables and stumps that serve as chairs. That setting is background, though, for a feast of rare finds in the Rockies: spicy miso ramen, donburi bowls, hot pots bubbling with seafood, Japanese omelets and much, much more. Domo will also treat you to a number of pickled vegetables and other sides featuring ingredients rarely seen on this side of the Pacific. And that's what earned Domo our Best Japanese Restaurant award in the Best of Denver 2012.

Have another favorite? Tell us about it below.

More Best of Denver® 2012 Lists:

- Denver's ten best new restaurants

- Denver's five best seafood restaurants

- Denver's ten best Italian restaurants

All of these lists are also available on our Best of app; see it in action at http://bestof.voiceplaces.com/denver-boulder.

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Location Info

Venue

Map

Amu Sake Bar and Restaurant

1221 Spruce St., Boulder, CO

Category: Restaurant

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Izakaya Den

1518 S. Pearl St., Denver, CO

Category: Restaurant

Sachi Sushi

7980 Niwot Road, Niwot, CO

Category: Restaurant

Hana Japanese Bistro

1148 W. Dillon Road, Louisville, CO

Category: Restaurant

Domo

1365 Osage St., Denver, CO

Category: Restaurant

Tags:

Amu, Domo, Hana Japanese Bistro, Izakaya Den, Sachi Sushi

We Recommend

sushi marina del rey

Yoshinoya is the greatest and largest restaurant franchise in Japan. It provides very healthier but inexpensive meals. They are dedicated to Gyudon which is tasty meat on grain. They also offer katsu-don which is chicken and grain.

Guest

Most of the places listed aren't even real Japanese restaurants but fusion instead. Domo iis pretty mediocre, to say the least.

The lst just shows you how poor the selection is in Denver compared to larger cities like NY, LA, etc.

Rob

Yoko's in Sakura Square. Downtown Denver.

Guest

But what about LoHi? Shouldn't Linger be on the list? They have a lot of Japanese small tapas plates.

Come on guys, all I have going for me is that I live in LoHi and a best of Denver list that passes up LoHi for places in Niwot hurts my self esteem.

Solbear11

How did you not include Oshima Ramen? That place is fantastic and more "original" than most of the places on this list.

Jon S

If Oshima was included, some mediocre joint in Boulder County would have to get bumped. Since overrated restaurants in Boulder County seem to dominate these lists nowadays, no way Oshima had a chance.

Jeff

Donburi means bowl, so "donburi bowls" means "bowl bowls."

FrenchPressMemo

The list is best Japanese not sushi. I would not recommend Domo or Amu for sushi, for examples, but those are the top Japanese restaurants in the Denver metro area. Clearly Niwot and Boulder are not Denver but it is reasonable to include them in here- they are too small to stand on their own and too close to be overlooked.

peanut butter

It's official, the words "Denver" and "Colorado" are completely interchangeable now.

monopod

No, "Denver" means "Denver Metro Area" in this context. Obviously Glenwood Springs, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs aren't going to be included in "Denver," but given that a lot of people in Boulder regularly go to Denver (and vice versa) it's certainly fair to include them here.

Uncledave8

I think the majority of people in Boulder would be highly offended (particularly politically) to be considered part of the "Denver Metro Area". As I would be to be considered a resident of the "Peoples' Republic of Boulder".

GFTW

Really pushing the boundaries of the "city" of Denver!

Uncledave8

Agreed - Boulder, Louisville, and Niwot aren't Denver. Need to rename the list if you're going to go that far afield. If you'd stayed in Denver maybe two obvious choices for this list - Sushi Den and Sushi Sasa - would have made this list as deserved.

Mantonat

This is a losing battle. Westword has been doing this for a long time now. The main problem is not with Westword though; we are a commuter society based in a sprawling metropolis of linked suburbs and town. What do we call the area? Maybe Westword should run a contest to name the metropolitan area that covers Denver, Aurora, Boulder, Greenwood Village, Lakewood, Louisville, Westminster, Broomfield, etc. Either that or we can just understand up front that when Westword says "Denver," they mean "the Denver greater metropolitan area."