DANIEL SAN - MANLY, SYDNEY

Daniel San
55 North Steyne,
Manly, Sydney

Daniel San serves great Japanese street food with a fun, playful side. This quirkiness flows through the entire place. Clearly named after the Karate Kid term used by Mr Miyagi to describe the main character, it has a retro 1980's Japanese rock and roll diner feel to it. It's different and it works!

Executive Chef Benjamin Orpwood has a strong history of good food, having previously been sous chef at Toko. He's certainly let his creative juices flow here and developed a fun-filled menu.

Sitting right across from the beach at Manly means Daniel San also has amazing views.

They've used their location very well too, with plenty of outside seating to grab views and raised inside seating to share them too.

Aren't edamame beans a great nibble to start a meal?

At Daniel San there are two versions - steamed, or for just a little more cost, the spicy ones (which we had).

If you're more observant than us - which probably isn't hard - then you may also notice that there are two bowls - one has the beans and the other is for the husks after you eat them!

Sausages at a Japanese place? Well if it's Daniel San then expect the unexpected. Listed as Osawa San's Japanese snags they arrived in a serving of three, skewered and with a decent sized dollop of kewpie mayonnaise. These snags were so juicy and dipping them in the mayo was even better!

If you haven't had chicken karrage then you're missing out on one of the tastiest treats going around.

Here, it's basically marinated chicken that is lightly coated in buttermilk and bonito flakes and then rapidly deep fried to create a crispy crunchy coating.

Here the outer crunch revealed tender juicy chicken inside that we then eagerly devoured.

The steamed buns are very popular here - and for good reason. There are several interesting varieties including honey glazed Berkshire pork belly with spicy cashew sauce and snow crab with avocado, but we decided on vegetarian.

The spicy tofu with grilled avocado guacamole was fantastic. The whole combination worked so well and the different textures gave it plenty of variation. In servings of three it's well worth trying a few different ones.

Japanese for many of us conjures up fresh sashimi - and you won't be disappointed here. They have some impressive choices in both quality and presentation.

The Deluxe Sashimi Boat includes the Chef’s selection of five different types of fish, freshly sliced and served on a "boat" with various traditional garnishes. Heads turn when this arrives at your table, and the standard is just as good.

Dessert at Daniel San is again just as varied and playful. The strawberries and cream cheesecake is served deconstructed.

You get the base crumbled on top of a delicious mound of cheesecake with a strawberry topping.

It's a huge serving too - with lots of tables sharing dessert as each bowl could satisfy two people.

In keeping with the quirky style here, the other dessert we had was just as "different".

Ever had tofu for dessert?

Sounds a bit odd doesn't it - but this is nothing like you may be imagining.

The milk and white chocolate tofu with coco nibs is a killer finish to a meal and we'd highly recommend it.

Daniel San is lively, fresh, fun and tasty - all in one.

You can just drop in for a drink and a nibble, or you can stay for an entire meal from the fun and funky restaurant menu they have. Your call!

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Daniel San. Special thanks to their floor manager Sukh and Andy for looking after us so very well. Big thanks also to Alex Cohen for arranging our visit.