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Just Open: Daniel San, Manly

Callan Boys
Callan Boys

Big, bright and loud: The inside of Japanese rock den Daniel San.
Big, bright and loud: The inside of Japanese rock den Daniel San. Supplied

Manly has a brand new playground. Japanese street food joint Daniel San has opened and it's big, bright and bloody loud.

Daniel San, named after the lead character from 1984's box-office hit The Karate Kid, can be found underneath the Manly Pacific Novotel (although it's not in direct partnership with the beachside hotel). Owner Fraser Short and executive chef Ben Orpwood (Toko, Rainford Street Social) are keen to show Manly a rock'n'roll good time, and at 350 seats, this is not your intimate sushi bar.

"We're doing really fun food," says Orpwood. "The kind of things we eat when we go to Japan - yakitori meat skewers and simple stuff. We don't want it to be too complicated."

The deluxe sashimi boat at Daniel San.
The deluxe sashimi boat at Daniel San. Supplied
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Orpwood says about 80 per cent of restaurants in Japan have no formality to them. "But when you go to a Japanese restaurant anywhere else in the world there's always this added formality to things," he says. "We just wanted to get rid of that and make it a place you could drop in have a couple of maki rolls and a bit of yakitori, or maybe some more refined dishes if you feel like it"

Orpwood and Short know there are few better ways to show people a good time than serving meat on sticks and Daniel San has fired up a shiny new robata grill to facilitate. It will pump out juicy yakitori skewers of things like chicken skin, pork belly, beef fillet, and prawns for $8-$10.50 for three pieces.

"We want to make the grill the hero the of the restaurant," says Orpwood. "Aesthetically it's really cool see the barbecue smoking and you'll be able to smell it all down the street."

Seared and glazed tuna. One of the fun and uncomplicated dishes from chef Ben Orpwood at Daniel San.
Seared and glazed tuna. One of the fun and uncomplicated dishes from chef Ben Orpwood at Daniel San.Supplied

He says the plan is to have three robata grills in operation. "We have two now which are solely for yakitori and then we've got another coming in a couple of weeks time that we'll use for larger steaks."

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The rest of the menu is also no-brainer, all-flavour food. There's oysters, sashimi, and sushi (although the sushi's filed under 'Rock N Rolls') plus small share plates like fried cuttlefish with rice cracker, lemon and ponzu ($12) and soft-shell crab with kimchi mayo. Larger plates include Cone Bay barramundi with Japanese pesto and tomato salad ($26) and sticky lamb ribs with pomegranate and soy glaze ($26).

"We've also got an amazing private dining room above the restaurant that looks straight over the beach," says Orpwood. "We've done a few refined dishes especially for the private dining menu. One of them is a honey bug sashimi, which is like a small Moreton Bay bug served with a little bit of foie gras, some truffle oil and teriyaki sauce."

The music at Daniel San is as loud as the colour scheme (neon-haters beware) but that's the whole point. It's just your everyday neo-Japanese punk rock diner with a Metallica pinball machine and 17 types of sake, isn't it?

55 North Steyne, Manly, danielsan.com.au

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Callan BoysCallan Boys is editor of SMH Good Food Guide, restaurant critic for Good Weekend and Good Food writer.

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