Visit Website

Phone: (919) 251-9335

Directions 4.2

Dashi is a Japanese ramen shop with an upstairs izakaya in the heart of downtown Durham. The second-story izakaya is available for private parties as well as intimate omakase dinners featuring elegant Japanese comfort food and drink. Perfect for a sit-down dinner for up to 55 people or a cocktail-style event for up to 75 people. Dashi specializes in exquisite ramen noodle bowls as well as innovative small plates and a bar that showcases an extensive selection of sake and shochu along with cocktails, wine, Japanese and local beers, and more.

Google Rating

4.2

Sydney Huynh 9 months ago

We came here during restaurant week and definitely felt it was a great deal for 3 courses! We made a reservation online a few days before and were seated immediately. We started with 2 different types of dumplings, kimchi & pork and veggie dumplings. They came out hot, fresh and crispy! And absolutely delicious and both had great flavor. they both came with chili sauce to dip with but it was not spicy. This was my favorite course of the meal. For the second course, we ordered the tonkatsu ramen, which in my opinion, was only alright. It was pretty salty and didn't have much flavor. The pork was big and the best part of the ramen for me! The portion was pretty big and we took the remainder to go. Lastly, we ordered the yuzu cake, which was sadly a huge disappointment. It tasted just like a dry, plain pound cake and had no yuzu flavor whatsoever. Our waitress was nice and attentive and kindly packaged our food to go.
Han VanderHart 4 months ago

The ramen is good but OHH the small plates at Dashi! Don’t miss the daily sashimi and steamed buns, fish of the day, and oysters. Just a really lovely spot for a date night. The KFC (cauliflower) is also a favorite. Right now Dashi is in full Sakura bloom, too, and feels pretty magical upstairs in terms of ambiance. Have a better old fashioned (please bring back the cardamom syrup!), and don’t forget to order the ice cream sandwich with miso caramel and sesame seed brittle and OH you can thank me later, friend.
Clare Curtis 2 months ago

Dashi is a great spot to go to for vegan ramen and small plates. I tried the edamame which was coated in a lovely salt and oil mixture. The cucumbers were fantastic with sesame dressing, garlic chips and togarashi. The veggie gyoza were delicious too. The star of the show was the vegan ramen and added crispy garlic and fried tofu. The broth was rich and flavorful. Definitely look forward for to returning.
Abby Lu 3 months ago

I enjoyed the meal and we weren't rushed to leave, so I thoroughly appreciated being able to take our time with the meal. We ordered the pork and kimchi dumplings, which were really good but five dumplings for $14 was very expensive in my opinion. We had the chuka soba and the mazeman ramen. The chuka soba was a little undercooked in my opinion. Service was great and I really liked the aesthetic and vibe of the space.
Orange Caterpillar 2 months ago

I am a frequent customer and genuinely love this restaurant, especially the yakimono, katsu don, and fresh oysters. I regularly come for meals and happy hour, and I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere and friendly staff.

However, I was very disappointed with tonight’s omakase experience.

As an East Asian person who has had omakase many times, I have to question whether this can really be considered omakase. What I experienced felt much more like a Japanese-inspired prix fixe/fine-dining menu than an actual omakase.

1. Tuna Crudo
It was okay, but felt more like a sushi-buffet-quality dish. The sauce also seemed to be the same or very similar to the sauce used for the oysters, which I have had many times here. For a special omakase dinner, I expected more creativity and variety.

2. Kani Salad
The salad was good, but I was disappointed that it used imitation crab rather than real crab. The dinner was $65, plus $25–35 for the drink pairing and a 20% tip, bringing it to over $100 per person. At that price, I expected higher-quality ingredients.

3. Lobster Dumplings
This was the worst course for me. The dumplings were deep-fried, with barely any recognizable lobster flavor or freshness. The sauce was extremely dense and salty. I only ate one.

4. Grilled Pork Loin
I actually liked the sauce and thought the Sancho Demi flavor was interesting and unique. I appreciate restaurants experimenting with different ingredients. Unfortunately, the pork itself was extremely dry and tough—almost like cardboard mixed with flour—and very difficult to swallow. The dry pork paired with dry potatoes made the dish even heavier. They provided a knife but no fork, which also made the tough meat difficult to eat with chopsticks.

5. Dessert
The whiskey chocolate mousse was very sweet and felt much more American, almost like a steakhouse dessert, rather than something Japanese-inspired. I was expecting something such as matcha pudding, wagashi, or another Japanese-style dessert.

Booking Experience
The booking page was also confusing. I thought I was booking an omakase experience with a Japanese chef for tonight, but later realized the event I had in mind was actually next month. It seems there are different omakase events, but the booking information could be much clearer.

Overall, I found this experience significantly overpriced for what was offered. If you are looking for an authentic or traditional omakase experience, I would not recommend this particular event. The food felt much more like Japanese-inspired fine dining than omakase, and several courses did not meet the quality I expected at this price point.

I genuinely like this restaurant and have been a frequent customer, which is why this experience was particularly disappointing. I hope they take this feedback seriously, because I would still love to come back for their regular menu and happy hour.