Domo Japanese Country Food Restaurant

Domo has the best ramen in Denver, and a beautiful outdoor garden for summer dining.

Sadly, Covid broke a lot of great places to eat and that appears to be the case with DOMO in Denver. Pre-COVID I had taken family and clients to DOMO and it had been a fun an unique experience in Denver.

The DOMO that exists now is nothing like the DOMO from back in the day. Came on a Sunday before a Broncos game to have lunch with family and friends and the experience might be the worst restaurant experience I've had in my life.

We arrived, DOMO was about half full, 3 large tables available. Our party was a party of 8. The first experience was telling the hostess and him giving a big sigh, absolutely did not want to serve us.

After about 15 minutes we were sat and after another 15 or so our waitress came over to take our order. This is where things went from meh service to bad.

DOMO is running a hotpot seasonal entree, a few different types of broth and a few different proteins. Most of the table, including my wife who is Korean, ordered some form of the Hotpot and a couple appetizers.

Entrees came out first, one at a time, and the waitresses were putting plates to the wrong people (mix ups happen), its fine, so we correct or pass plates around. We receive 7 of 8 entrees, my wife not receiving hers. At this point the we're trying to explain to the waitress that we're missing an entree. There is some mix up between two of the hot pots and another person in out party apparently had my wife's and had taken a few bites before realizing that the order was wrong.

Not a big deal, but we're trying to get the 8th entree. The waitress takes one of the entrees from a party member and is going to have the kitchen correct. Then after a few minutes she brings back the entree she took, unfixed, and says that because one or more bites was taken she can't take it back and to get the right entree we'd be double charged.

Weird, and not very customer service oriented. But we are trying to explain we're still missing an entree. There are 8 people, 7 entrees.

At this point, I think the owner, Gaku Homma, comes out and starts yelling at our table, saying its our fault that the entrees ended up with the wrong people and that he wasn't going to remove any charges.

No one at our table had asked to be comped, we never asked to speak to the chef, we're only trying to get our final entree.

The owner continues to aggressively talk down to the table and the begins to berate my wife that its "our mistake".

Finally, I tell the owner this conversation is over and ask him to leave the table. My wife, feeling discriminated against and verbally abused, leaves the restaurant, won't come back in. We never get the 7th entree.

It was the the most shocking restaurant experience I've ever had. I don't know if the owner was having a bad day, really doesn't like Koreans, or something else but to verbally attack a table of patrons in a fairly crowded restaurant is just mind blowing.

This new DOMO since Gaku Homma reopened is a shell of its former self. Not only did this situation occur but the food was lackluster, nothing like the old DOMO food. Hotpot and soup broths were bland and watery, meat was over cooked.

Food: 2/10

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- A note about this service. My wife is Korean, my children are half Korean. I don't know if the owner/chef was having a bad day or what, but I would never expose my family to the gross behavior that was presented.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The service is amazing, the food is excellent, and the hotpot is very good! ! Curry plums are flavorful and very sweet! ! ! My family members are in tears! Ice tea is so delicious! ! !

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 2

Like walking into Japan, minus the Japanese people and with larger portion sizes. Food was excellent! Wait staff could have been more attentive with water and the check. Great atmosphere, love the decorations.
Thank you very much, Mr. Honma, for taking the trouble to bring a part of Japan to Denver! ! It was the first time I had such delicious Japanese food in Japan!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 3

Recommended dishes: Chicken Katsu, Beef Sukiyaki Ramen, Takoyaki, Gyoza

The place was a beautiful escape from the city, the best indoor and outdoor environment of any restaurant I have ever been to. The food was delicious and fast!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

A family tradition to visit- we are blessed for the reopening of a restaurant unlike any other

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Kara-Age Ramen, Chicken Katsu, Tsukemen, Nabeyaki Udon with Chicken

This place is an absolute gem. The moment you step through the doors, you are transported to a special place. The decor, the menu, the food all make you feel like you made a quick trip to Japan. But not to a big city to eat sushi, but to a smaller town and being invited into someone's home. We had the kiritanpo, sukiyaki, dipping noodles, and onion tempura. Everything was delicious, fresh, and homey. In an area where there is not a large Asian population, most restaurants don't stick to one specific culture and it drives me crazy. So it was an absolute delight to discover this purely Japanese restaurant.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Beef Sukiyaki Ramen, Tempura

At least for my experience, the only good things about this place was the restaurant look and atmosphere, and the friendly lady who checked us in and helped us pay our bill up front. Otherwise, the experience and food were not good.

To start things off, the service is very very slow. And even then after raising our hand so many times the staff themselves are pretty cold to you, at least the ones who helped us with our order and when asking for the check. The only thing that was colder was their food: I ordered a pork cutlet curry and it came with two side dishes, one being some kind of green bean tempura, and it was both cold and soggy. Tempura should be warm and crispy.

The curry itself was so sweet almost like a candy, and the rice was so mushy almost like congee but the potatoes were almost firm. This may be personal preference but in my opinion a good curry should not be sweet and the potato should melt in your mouth and the rice should not be a porridge. Take this review how you will if you like your curry sweet or tempura cold and soggy then great, otherwise I would not recommend this place.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

I am not one to make a review but based on our experience, one was needed. The service and food was poor. Be prepared to wait once seated for a long time and then if you come with a group, expect your food to not all come out at the same time. The server forgot my order and I had to go up to him and ask what happened. Once my food arrived, the food wasn’t even that good. The place was cute but do not recommend.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Amazing and great food, but they’re ALWAYS OUT OF THAI TEA. Ridiculous. It’s TWO INGREDIENTS.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

First of all, the atmosphere is great and traditional ! Great for pictures. My impression from the atmosphere was that the food would be traditional and at least decent. Indeed, you can’t expect much of asian food in Denver but if your decoration is so traditional I expect the food to be as-well. Im guessing the owner has been changed since its been open for so long..

Basically if you’re expecting real Japanese food and ending your day off with a nice drink find somewhere else. I learned to check the lowest ratings next time as this was not worth my calorie intake..

The service is nonexistent. They never asked how the food was ? One didnt know their own menu ? Least you could do is smile..

They have nice crispy water!

有来旅行的宝宝们可以来这拍照喝水 😝

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 1

If you’ve never heard about Japanese country food, as I didn’t, you must go try.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Edit: Was actually able to come here and it was good! Solid price for everything. The specialty food was pretty great, but I thought the curry and oyakodon was just okay.

Hours are still wrong as of this update which is pretty frustrating.

Original review below:
Hours are wrong. They close at 7pm on weekends. Super sad. Have the correct hours please

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 4

Their karage is perfection! The rest of the cuisine turned out to be food I didn't enjoy that much but my fiance LOVED the food.
The atmosphere here is absolutely magical. It truly felt like stepping into a new world. It was peaceful and authentic. The gardens outside were lovely, even though we went during the winter. There are even some adorable cats out there! And they have a museum! It's just an incredibe place.

Wheelchair accessibility: I believe it is fairly accessible. The gardens may be a bit difficult to traverse.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Gyoza

Very beautiful atmosphere traditional Japanese restaurant with garden patio seating for good weather to seat outdoor. Pretty good traditional Japanese food and most entrees come with a few side dishes.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4