Alex S.

Dancerobot is great at special food and drinks but falls short on more common Japanese food. The nasu dengaku fried eggplant with miso glaze was absolutely delightful, I wish I had a plate to myself. The ebi chili gyoza was tasty but not as crispy as I'd expect. I wish the katsu curry didn't have extra curry poured on top as it quickly made the dish soggy. The ambiance is classy and the drinks are tasty.

Kinjal S.

Came here for brunch cause the pancakes looked so good but it was only ok. The service was fantastic! We also got the cabbage bao which was so good especially the sauce that it comes with. The cinnamon roll was so good and you can control the amount of icing. The pancake was so dense and as it cooled it was tough to eat. We also got black sesame martinis but I didn't really get the black sesame flavor.

Nancy N.

Decided to try this out for our anniversary dinner. We got a same day reservation but it was 5pm so it was easy. Vibes are cute but we were super casually dressed. Staff was wonderful, our server was super knowledgeable and gave us complimentary champs & ice cream for our anniversary. Kudos to our server! I wish I remembered her name. Here's everything we ordered: KOBACHI 8/10 Black sesame espresso martini 10/10 NA SU DENGAKU (fried Japanese eggplant with sweet miso glaze) 10/10 French Onion Soup 8/10 MENTAIKO CREAM PASTA 7/10 (delicious but not worth $20 IMO) Pork Katsu Curry 5/10 (I didn't like it personally) Overall, 7/10 meal. 10/10 service.

Chi C.

Jesse Ito strikes again with his new location, featuring elevated takes on common Japanese street and comfort foods. The front door looks intimidating, but behind it spotlights a welcoming indoor with bar and table seating. Reservations are relatively hot with its opening still recent, but I'd say it's worth the stop. Service was great, with our waitress providing a breakdown of the menu and how the many cocktail options complement certain items. My partner and I ordered a number of dishes to try between their veggie, meat, and fish selections. This is a location where sharing is encouraged! My favorite surprisingly was the Saba Shioyaki, I think mackerel is a criminally underrated fish and it was grilled to perfection. I'm not a ginger person, but putting it together made for an excellent (and very filling) bite. The Hamburg Steak was also a favorite between us. Detractors might call it a glorified meatball, but the quality was excellent and also great to share. Our Kanpachi also had a good kick, which was a pleasant starter along with the veggie that was served banchan-style. I had higher expectations for the Katsu Curry, where it's worth it to try but the additional $9 for the pork didn't push it to become my favorite of the evening. I'd say newer restaurants will always be under more scrutiny, but this was a definite "Yes" in terms of a visit to try. I think some dishes are much more worth the price (i.e., that mackerel will be in my mind for a while), but the overall atmosphere made for a great dinner.

Morgan M.

Vibes were really great and the food was pretty tasty. There were some standouts, but overall I think I was a little underwhelmed. The table loved the kanpachi, the omelette, and the curry. I thought the drinks were decent enough. I liked the kosho matador, but the second one I tried, the miso boulevardier was NOT for me. I don't mind whiskey cocktails but this one was undrinkable. I thought the portion sizes were perfect for our table of 3. I was anticipating the dishes to be on the more fresh and light side, but everything was really heavy. Heavy on the Japanese COMFORT food.

Brian L.

Super fun and super tasty option in Philadelphia. Came here while on a work trip with some coworkers. Everyone enjoyed every dish. Honestly, everything was great. Would HIGHLY recommend trying the small eggplant dish- unexpected star of the night. I also really enjoyed the katsu curry- cooked perfectly tender, very flavorful. Def check this spot out if you're in town.

Janet S.

Instantly when you walk up to the door, it gives off an exclusive dining vibe, but walking in you're welcomed by a wall of nostalgic posters and retro tv behind the host stand (very fun!) Staff were friendly and swift to get us to our table and gave us a run through of the menu. Our server was knowledgeable and answered all our questions before giving us some time to review the menu. We went with another couple to try a wider range of items. The suggested amount to order was about 2-3 plates per person as the serving sizes are small and meant to be shared amongst your table. The 4 of us ordered kobachi, 2 kare pan, kanpachi, age takoyaki, cheesy mentaiko omlette, mentaiko cream pasta, 2 menchi katsu sando, and hamburg steak. The 4 of us have dined at Jesse Ito's Royal Izakaya and came with some high standards and were very excited to try DanceRobot. The food was delicious, but to our surprise, we felt the overall flavors were more mild than they could've been. Certain elements of each dish were packed with flavor but the rest of the dish didnt stand out quite as much. Additionally, we felt the hamburg steak could've come with something on the side considering the price we paid. And we thought the katsu sando would be more similar to traditional sando instead of a sandwich. The food was still good and worth the visit, but we weren't as wowed as we were hoping to be. We look forward to the menu options in the works and will be back to try new items.

Phylicia H.

Finally checked this place out, and it did not disappoint! I came without a reservation and easily found a seat at the bar around 6pm -- by 7pm, it was packed with no seats left! The bartender, Athan, was super friendly and patient as I was being indecisive. Loved the overall vibe here and can't wait to return next month. The head chef even came out to greet us and offered a taste of their simple yet refreshing and delicious salad. Jaida, one of the waitresses, was also exceptional and really made the experience even more memorable. We ordered the kobachi, cheesy mentaiko omelette, kissaten green salad, hamburg steak, and the black sesame brownie with vanilla ice cream and miso caramel. Everything was delicious, but my favorite was definitely the omelette -- cooked to perfection! Pro tip: order a side of rice and enjoy the omelette with the hamburg steak for the perfect bite. Can't wait to come back!

Yash V.

Walked into this upscale 80s themed Japanese restaurant with high expectations. Did not have a reservation, but we were able to be seated quickly. The restaurant has fantastic decor and ambience. Servers were very kind and attentive. However, the restaurants seem to fall flat on the food. Vegetarian options were limited, which is not unexpected in a Japanese restaurant. Ordered a few appetizers, including their eggplant with miso and sesame, as well as their cabbage bao. Both seemed to be lacking and seasoning. The bao was also very thick and tough. Overall, while I loved the decor, not sure that this is a restaurant I would be returning to quickly unless the food is elevated.

Kam C.

Unfortunately a bit of a letdown! Service was amazing and I have no complaints about that but the food was really average. Apologies for the low quality pictures but the food quality didn't warrant flash photography. Tsukemono (3x pickled veg)- for $10 I expected a lot more food. For the amount you get it should just be complimentary or offer free refills. I did enjoy the flavors but it was impossible to split between two people. It's basically one piece of celery, MAYBE 1/4 of a pear, and 3 shishito peppers. Gyoza - I enjoyed the shrimp filling but it was nothing outstanding. I didn't like that the gyoza was basically marinating in chili oil, I wanted a paper towel to dry off my gyoza. The oil should be served on the side. Kare pan - this was a highlight for me, would order again. It's decadent and rich in flavor and very crispy on the outside. Takoyaki - they were good but not better than any other takoyaki I've had. If you have more than 2 people you'll want 2 orders of this. Cabbage Bao - this one was a miss for me but my husband's favorite dish. The texture was weird and I wasn't a huge fan of the fried bao bun. Wagyu roast beef - this really solidified my disappointment in the meal. It could've been what redeemed our experience but it was so bad. It's literally 2 bites of meat each and our mashed potatoes were so runny I thought it was a sauce on the side. I can't believe it was $34 because it was less food than some of the appetizers. Do not order this. Cocktails - matcha spritz is refreshing but not much matcha flavor in my opinion. The Negroni sour and espresso martini are both great. Our waitress recommended 2-3 dishes each and if we had ordered 2 each we would've been starving. Ambiance was fine but didn't feel like it matched the vibe of the menu or description of what the restaurant is supposed to be. My husband agreed that it was a bit all over the place. $200 for this meal was very frustrating!!

Quinn H.

First, the overall atmosphere for the restaurant other than the entry way did not match the theme nor the vibes that the menu and the name and the entry way convey. This in itself didn't bother me and did not factor into my review. Perhaps I expected to much from this restaurant after hearing that it's supposedly from someone who is behind the supposedly best Japanese restaurant in Philadelphia. I expected it to not be the standard they have in Japan, but not meh, bad, or uninspiring with tiny portion especially for the price they are charging. We got there early for our 9:15 reservation and they were out of two things (Hamburg and the pork katsu for the curry were out. We knew the portion wasn't enough after a couple of dish, something we were worried about and communicated with our server about. She was great and let us know that she can do one last call for us so we ended up getting two curry b/c the menchi katsu was out. Overall we tried 11 items and I got the Kosho Matador which was very middle of the road. Kobachi ($20) & Tsukemono ($10) - ordered at the recommendation of the server and it was a bunch of small plates. For the price I just expected bigger portion or better or just more interesting. I felt like these were pretty standard taste wise. I've have much better kobachi at chain restaurant (albeit famous chains). The Great Cheesey Mentaiko Omelette - Actually excellent! Egg was super soft and the cheesey sauce was original and went well with it Kanpachi - Good crudo esque dish, acidity and salinity is well balanced The Good Kare pan - crispy, filling on the sweeter side but not offensively so. The Solid Menchi Katsu Sando (best portion wise) - didn't stand out for me but left a good impression overall. Bread was good. The Meh Kobachi - meh Tsukemono - meh Nasu Dengaku - so unassuming. I forgot we had this dish at all until I was going through photos. Bad Age Takoyaki - literally I've had better at takoyaki parties Pizza Toast - can make at home but I wouldn't, taste like frozen pizza but on shokupan. Wagyu Roast Beef - $34 for six slices of meat that does not taste like wagyu (which is fine) but is tasteless and bad. Offensive Katsu Curry - the dish that dropped this restaurant to 1 star for me They ran out of the tonkatsu which honestly I was fine with by the end because i don't expect that to be good at all so there's no more disappointment there. It is also the item that is highlighted on the menu. The portion of the curry is smaller than JAPAN, which is insane to me especially considering how there is absolutely nothing special or good about the sauce. I don't understand how you can serve a curry sauce that is watery, tasteless other than sourness that had neither richness, freshness, complexity that is literally worse than box curry and chain curry (and completely incomparable to actually curry speciality restaurant in Japan). The rice was so bad it was offensive. I use koshihikari rice for my own cooking and the rice here was so undercooked and that's literally the basics. I can taste the uncooked hardened bit in every grain of the rice and rice is literally the most basic thing. Seriously a waste of koshihikari rice. You're literally charging $26 (base price not including protein) FOR FLAVORLESS WATERY CURRY AND UNDERCOOKED RICE. Coming from the people behind supposedly one of the best Japanese restaurant in Philadelphia is insane when literally any random store in Japan has better rice because at least it was cooked PROPERLY.

Sophea S.

Dance Robot just opened at Rittenhouse Square and is part of Royal Sushi & Izakaya, my favorite Japanese spot in Philly. I walked in right after they opened and only waited about 10 minutes for a bar seat (walk-ins only, tables need a reservation). The food is fresh and high quality, though portions are a bit small and prices on the higher side. I loved the dark, cozy vibes and the bar area. Staff are friendly and helpful, and their cocktail selection is amazing! my favorite is the Black Sesame Espresso Martini, so good. Drinks are reasonably priced. Overall, food was great but not mind-blowing. I'll definitely be back for the drinks and atmosphere!

Matt L.

Best dinner in ages. So unique and flavorful. Late to make a reservation we chose, on purpose, 4pm on a Saturday and it was perfect. Service was impeccable and helpful. Drinks were tasty goodness. Ordered the amberjack - OMG, the flavors were unbelievable. I wrapped the fish around the spices to create a flavor bomb. Next up the Beef Cheek doughnut. Like nothing I have eaten before. The curry is creamy and cannot be described. It is a perfect accompaniment. Next up the shrimp gyoza, very well done. We experimented with the Octopus balls, wow, fried together with some creamy sauce and flavors. My wife doe not like octopus but had three of these balls. The soft serve run raisin was like none I had before with plump raisins and nuts, perfection. And our waitress brought us a free monkey ball as well for dessert as it was my bday. Need to come back to try more on the menu.