Best Japanese Restaurants in Shadyside

From start to finish—wow! We had an amazing dinner at Golden Gai at the counter. Dishes we tried: - spicy cucumber salad - ginger salad - scallop roll - rickrolld roll - salmon nigiri - toro nigiri - fried soba noodles (mushrooms were insane!) - yuzu tart for dessert Everything was stellar with unexpected flavor twists at every turn. We also loved the unique stoneware and glassware! All staff we interacted with were warm, friendly, and personable. We’ll be back!

My partner and I went here in hopes to have delicious sushi, as I used to live and Seattle and here in Pittsburgh it’s a rarity to find quality fish understandably. However that was not the case here. We loved everything we ordered. We had the tartar, the sashimi treasure box and the beef udon. The treasure box was a fun way to see what all Otaru had to offer. Our service was excellent. Angela was our waiter and she was warm, knowledgeable and very approachable. Highly recommend!

Delicious food and great service. We liked the decor, but would appreciate real chairs with backs rather than square cubes. Our backs were sore when we left.

We have been here several times before and have never been disappointed. We cannot resist the fried tofu. We also love the shrimp tempura but we skipped it this time as we wanted to also get a “large plate” entree. My wife enjoyed her teriyaki salmon. My tuna was great. We shared the salad and the pretzel dessert. I am disappointed that the miso Halibut is no longer on the menu…. We will be back though! Thank you Alec - our server.

If you’ve never been to an omakase before and you are with someone who is new to raw fish, this is a good decent intro spot.