Temaki Den — Restaurant in Denver

UPDATE: I've reverted my 1 star review for service to 5 stars across the board.

I believe the experience I described previously was accurate based on my impression of the situation at the time, but after further communication with the staff at Temaki Den, I've come to realize that my understanding was limited--and that any mistakes made by the staff were flukes that would be unlikely to ever happen again.

Quickly after learning about my experience, the managing partner and chef called me personally to talk about what happened. He was sympathetic and apologized. He also explained why everything had happened the way it had and told me how he would remedy the situation.

I was pleasantly surprised by the personal nature of the communication.

Once again, I believe I can say that Temaki Den is my favorite restaurant in Denver. The food is some of the most delicious food I've ever had, and now that I've seen how seriously the staff take learning from their mistakes and proactively working to fix them, I can once again say the service is impeccable.

I look forward to dining here every time I return to Denver to visit.

*UPDATED: This was my favorite restaurant in town until my latest experience.

The lounge is open seating on a first-come-first-serve basis. I was about to move from Denver to another city, and my friends and I (8 of us in total, which I recognize is a large group) decided to show up and sit at the bar to grab some food and drinks during the off hours (around 4:30 on a Sunday) to say our farewells.

We walked into the restaurant, and it was almost entirely empty. Only two people were sitting at the large bar, and maybe 20 or more seats available there. At the same time, only about 20% of the other seating was filled.

After the host told us the restaurant might not be able to accommodate us (despite being nearly empty), they went to check. When they returned, they (rather rudely and uncaringly) informed us that we could eat there but only if everyone ordered omakase. (I almost always order omakase, and I've done so many times.) But some people in my party wanted to be able to choose what they ate. That seems a reasonable expectation to me, as Temaki Den normally allows its customers to choose a la carte from the menu.

I understand the challenges a restaurant can have when hosting large groups, but restricting a menu on an arbitrary basis--when if we were, say, two separate groups of 4 attempting to sit at the bar around the same time, the menu wouldn't be restricted--is nonsensical and pretentious.

Once, I was very glad Temaki Den received recognition from the Michelin folks, but if the praise results in an excuse for Temaki Den's staff to treat customers poorly, as they did with me and my friends, I wish they'd never been...

UPDATE:🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Coming here to update my review. It has been a while since dining here last. The owner reached o it to me after my previous review and was so gracious, kind and understanding and offered me an opportunity to come in to dine again and I did just that tonight with one of my friends and I’m so happy I did. The service was amazing the food was amazing (always) and it was a much better and top notch experience!!! My friend LOVED it and we can’t wait to come back! I am very grateful for the hospitality and professionalism of the owner and I’m very happy with tonight’s experience! Will be back soon! Thanks again!

I have been to this spot before and I brought my best friend with me who has never been and I was super excited after raving to her how delicious it was! This is one of the few restaurants I can eat at due to multiple severe allergies I suffer from so I was so excited to have a cute girls night with my best friend. The food was great at first but we quickly lost our appetite! We both ordered hand rolls and we were chatting as friends do and the server came up and asked how everything was and I said fine I was just waiting for the rest of my hand rolls and I was working on eating the other ones but I was getting kind of full. She basically reprimanded / scolded me saying “the hand rolls are meant to be eating immediately because the seaweed gets moist and that other servers would most likely have something to say to me about it as well if I didn’t eat them soon” that really made it extremely awkward and uncomfortable not to mention the glances she was sharing with the other server. We were both really put off and I asked if I could just get a to go box because we just wanted to leave . When the male server brought some back they exchanged another smirk at one another and rolled their eyes!!!! That was the last straw that was so off putting, uncomfortable and unprofessional so much so that we probably won’t be returning or recommending due to the abrupt poor service! Very sad . We were having a great time up until that point because it made us feel like we were doing something wrong and like we were in trouble and about to...

Incredibly fresh. The seaweed on the namesake Temaki (hand roll) is so delightfully crispy, it made my night. I’ve had plenty of sushi where the seaweed was chewy and it is such a disappointment. This was the furthest thing from that & made me so happy these affordable little rolls are so so good. Just make sure to eat them right away or your seaweed will get soggy from the rice. I actually saw a sushi chef remove & re-make a couple temaki because one of the guests had to go park the car & the rolls were sitting for 5 or 10 minutes. Also be aware that they’re not rolled in a cone shape like I’m used to & they’re not quite as big as your average seaweed-on-the-outside roll (about 2/3 the size). Good lord, the rice is also perfect. Sour but not too sour, has a depth of flavor you don’t get too often from rice & is just sticky enough.

I highly recommend everything yellowtail (negihama temaki, hamachi negiri, & if you’re lucky enough, the hamachi toro aburi). It’s hard for me to describe- there are almost floral elements that compliment the silky, bright but deep flavor. While the “daily” special hamachi toro aburi literally melted in my mouth, my favorite was the pure, raw flavor of the negihama temaki & “simple” hamachi negiri.

I will say I was a little disappointed that the piece of ootoro I got was a bit chewy since that was the first time I treated myself to the coveted fatty tuna.

I also tried the seasonal garden roll- the server took the time to highlight that the mushrooms were harvested by the head chef & the zucchini came straight from one of the other chef’s garden. The flavor combos were unreal for a veggie roll & loved the way they wrapped it in seared paper-thin-cut tomatoes.

I almost forgot! The seaweed salad was one of the best I’ve ever had. It was a little small, but totally worth it. Sometimes these things are way too vinegary & just not great. The seaweed really shone through & the purple seaweed especially had a surprising & delicious earthy taste.

Overall, this is an excellent place to eat & really fun to people-watch at the sushi bar :) Don’t miss all-day happy hour on Tuesdays- the sake on tap is...