Dai SmokeHouse & Sake Bar — Restaurant in Puerto Morelos

I think some of the other reviewers need to keep in mind this is a Japanese restaurant in Mexico. Is the food authentic Japanese? Not really (keeping in mind, I haven’t ever been to Japan - but I’ve been to some high end Japanese restaurants stateside).

That being said, THE FOOD IS GREAT. It’s more Japanese-Mexican fusion. I had the “smoked ramen” and the broth seemed pretty authentic (comparable to chasu ramen broth that I’ve had elsewhere), and the pork was nice but it did have a hint of more Mexican flavors. However, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It was a great flavor combo and I would definitely eat it again.

Chicken yakitori: very nice grilled texture and flavor (I would say this was one of the more authentic dishes). Serving size was quite large, as it was served on a delicious bed of fried rice (the fried rice was made with intent - it wasn’t just an afterthought). This could easily be a meal on it’s own.

The bao bun: also really good, but huge - oversized. You definitely get your money’s worth even though it’s just one bun. That filling was good, but the bun itself was not as light/springy as a traditional bao. Still very tasty.

Complimentary fried rice balls. A nice touch, they were piping hot - clearly made fresh just for us (as we were the only ones dining at the time). Nice and crunchy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside. What more could you want here?

Vegetable gyoza: some nice umami flavor. Crispy on the outside. I thought they were just fine on their own (I didn’t use the dip).

As some of the other reviewers mentioned, a lot of the sushi rolls include cream cheese. My suspicion is that the restaurant may be trying to cater to local tastes (but I’m kind of guessing here). I wasn’t feeling sushi at the moment, so i didn’t order any.

Service: also 5/5. Our waiter was very kind and attentive. 2 for 1 cocktails were offered (but I didn’t feel like drinking). The jasmine tea was good. After we had paid our bill, our waiter had noticed that we were waiting for a long time and offered us bug spray and to call us a different taxi - which was a very nice touch.

Price: VERY FAIR. We did end up spending 950 pesos for two people but we did order 6 dishes (2 ramen and 4 apps). I actually expected it to be more expensive.

Lots of vegan and...

We had a mixed experience here

I’m not a big sushi fan, but my wife was in the mood for it, so we decided to give Dai a try. The service was good and attentive, and my wife really enjoyed her sushi.

That said, the overall experience was pretty underwhelming. The indoor seating had very harsh fluorescent lighting, which made the atmosphere feel very sterile. The outside dining area looked better but there were no fans to help with the heat

We also tried the pork gyoza, which were made with pulled pork - not the best combo. I ordered the smoked pork poke bowl - the flavors were off and id wasn't very good

If you're a sushi lover, you might enjoy it more, but for me, the food was a miss and the ambiance could definitely use some...

We came for lunch with a couple of friends and had a great meal. They open at 1pm. Today they had 3x2 specials, meaning buy 3 sushi or appetizers get 3rd one free.

Our order- 1 Orangeage, 1Ramune ( Japanese soft drink, lychee flavor) 1 pork bao, 1 Chicken bao, 1 shrimp bao All sushi without cream cheese 1Spicy Tuna Roll 1 Unagi Roll 1 Masago Roll

My favorite was the Shrimp Bao and Pork Bao. The sushi was really moist and fresh.

Our friends ordered their meal too and thought they were good. They gave us a complimentary deserts ( on spoons). Beautiful presentations.

Service was very attentive. They also deliver. We weren't expecting to be this good, so we were really happy. We...