TL;DR: With the fine attention to detail for customer service all the way to the accessibility of the local Japanese eatery, Dami is a real treat that has been standing here for years and is not going away any time soon.
This small stretch of road can sometimes bring up a real good find. Right in front of the car sales yard, a few business along with some fine eateries sit there, with Dami possibly being the most eye-catching of the lot. What is serves is somewhat basic Japanese fare, but that basic fare is made with a keen eye for details. It will fill you right up, so step on in.
Another month, and we have ourselves another PPV event on the WWE Network. This one was one of their more enjoyable and gimmicky events, the Elimination Chamber. How excited I was - even more than usual. That could only mean on thing: I needed to find something to eat while watching the event. It was back to scrolling through the UberEats app, it became a case of seeing what looked good and what would be open around the given time. Well, what do we have here? After seeing it adjacent to other places that did delivery in the past, I was stoked to see good old Dami open right up for business in the delivery sector. After that, a few orders were plugged in, the time and place were set, and Bob's your uncle.
At first. Let me explain. Upon a few years experience with delivery services, the customer service part is not one of the richest aspects of it. It has the general structure of them arrive at your house, maybe you get a friendly fellow or lass drop off your order, and fingers crossed that the food gets there in a timely manner. Maybe it has always been the case, but I reckon all these online delivery outlets have had restaurants up the game. Still, more often than not it still gets stuck at whether the food arrives on time and is good enough to eat.
Dami goes beyond that. Upon placing that order, it was not long before I got a phone call from them asking about the details. To me, this actually gives the restaurant credit from them showcasing attention to detail. It was also the first time they had an order be in such advance and were simply checking to make sure the details were correct. That maneuver comes in conjunction with another important aspect in customer service - how the waitstaff come across to their clients. The lady on the other end was polite, and very personable. I can tell from that small interaction that when dining in, clients are treated very well.
Also with the service, this is amongst the quickest that I have experienced. Proximity possibly helps, the preparations all the way to the food being at the doorstep took less than half an hour. In the meantime, the UberEats app has installed a tipping option for each delivery to the drive - he would have gotten a generous bonus from me if it were in place back then. It all creates a prelude of positivity that will boost enjoyment when eating the food. That was definitely the case.
Menus will differ slightly between eating in, and getting it via the delivery app. Among them though, a general gist can be analysed. This appears to be more of a social eatery still keeping a relatively casual atmosphere. Therefore, you have the usual donburi and noodles for an individual portion, as well as plenty of bits and pieces to share. These include the general gyozas, tempura bites et al, but it doesn't stop there. What possibly gives the menu most of its character would be the sushi, starting of modestly enough with your nigiris, shashimis and all that - party platters are available at short-term request - but you have got to check out the fusion rolls. These are both filled and topped with all kinds of goodies, enough to be filling and leave an impression.
If the memory serves me correctly, with any of the main meals via delivery (at least where UberEats is concerned) the price is bumped up a little to incorporate a default inclusion of some entree bites. These were two spring rolls and three takoyaki balls. This is a great idea, giving just a little extra for the clients as well as keeping up value for money. With there being a first time for everything, the takoyaki balls came dry - none of the sauce, nor the characteristic shavings that come along with. These suckers were still tasty, with the creamy filling being very hot, as well as the fact this might have had the biggest lot of octopus in the middle. The spring rolls were more or less spring rolls, still hot and with a great pastry coating. Whomever thought of putting in this ingrained upgrade, you sir are an ingenuous one.
So getting onto how the food was, it was exceptional. My house mate often isn't too finicky in general, and the Japanese style of chicken curry is sure to impress him every time. So it was that that went on the order first. Even in not getting a bite of it, an observation towards the way it was served gets Dami some more credit. The restaurant gave a generous amount of curry sauce that was served in its own tub. That amount was more than enough to mix with the bed of rice, and the several bits of crumbed chicken. When credit ought to be given, it will be given.
For mine, I went back and forth on the selection, ending up eventually with Teriyaki beef. Essentially, this was the classic dish with a combination of meat and vegetables on top of rice. Both this meal, and the chicken curry, were generously portioned and filling. Many a Japanese takeaway have I frequented, and the portions here are up at the higher end of the scale. Each piece of beef was just as tender as the last, which meant they had a good cut in the kitchen. They were soaked in the teriyaki sauce to the extent you get the taste, but it is not overwhelming. Various vegetables including broccoli, carrot,and onion were mixed through, creating a colourful aesthetic which gave off plenty of crunch. Mixing it all in, there was just enough sauce to compliment the rice preventing anything from going dry.
In addition to the two meals, I threw in an entree platter. These platters are chef's choice, giving clients three random entree bites. I got platter B, which gave us some dim sims in the flavour of choice (it was prawn), crab cream croquettes, and tori karage. Between this, the bonus extras with each main meal, and some delicious main meals, about the only thing which would have rounded it off perfectly might have been a Ramune. Other than that, no complaints.
When the word entree platter comes to mind, it possibly is either a big selection of all they got or they select the greatest hits, and choose a couple of pieces from that lot. They use neither of those options, instead getting the full order of each concerned bite. The dumplings were that standard variety that was still hard to fault. They appeared to have been steamed, giving off that fluffy outer layer. That then gives the filling - prawn this time - a unique flavour and texture combination that brings out aromas that are hard to do otherwise. Those crab cream croquettes were even better, with a delicious mild, creamy center that went well with a robust crunchy outside.
However, the best of the best came with the tori karage chicken. They served big pieces of chicken karage, which had been cooked twice to give off the best crunch that they could conjure up. Inside this double cooking, the chicken became some of the most tender, most moist meat that you could ever want to come across and it only got better from there. A fusion of sauces, one being mayonnaise and the other teriyaki, gives of a distinct flavour in conjunction to a creamy texture, then is spread around every single piece. Almost smothered in fact, and this is so delicious and moreish - certainly a must to order when you are here.
Dami is several cuts above average, which means considering that we are talking about Japanese cuisine, that it is higher than originally anticipated. Serving sizes are generous and filling, each morsel of food is given the due attention and treatment to ensure both quality and taste is at a consistently high level. It is almost as good as it could get, just that bit shy of the perfect score of 5.0. I'm sure the sweets they got in store will be just as delicious, and could blow your socks off. It will be difficult to find Japanese eats that are both high quality, and as accessible as Dami. You have a real diamond on your hands.
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