Restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan
Da-Wan
310Pearl PointsOAD-ranked Wagyu grill, book ahead.
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About Da-Wan
Da-Wan is Taipei's most credentialed yakiniku option at the $$$ price tier, ranked by Opinionated About Dining among the top restaurants in Asia every year from 2023 to 2025. The focus is Miyazaki Wagyu grilled tableside by skilled servers, with thick-cut ox tongue as the standout. A solid choice when you want an awarded, format-driven beef experience without the full tasting-menu commitment.
Verdict
Da-Wan is the right call if you want premium yakiniku grilled tableside in Taipei, with a track record to back it up. Opinionated About Dining has ranked it among the leading restaurants in Asia every year from 2023 through 2025, landing at #408 in 2024 and #419 in 2025. The focus is Wagyu from Miyazaki prefecture, executed with the kind of tableside precision that separates a serious yakiniku house from a mid-tier grill. At $$$ per head, it is a price point below most of its fine-dining peers in the city, which makes it easier to justify as a regular rather than a once-a-year splurge.
The Space
Da-Wan relocated to the shopping district of Dazhi in late 2021, the new room is a deliberate departure from what came before. The dining room runs a hip, faux-industrial aesthetic: exposed textures, dramatic overhead lighting, full-height windows that face out toward the glow of the surrounding department stores after dark. The effect at night is cinematic without being theatrical. The layout feels designed for groups or couples settling in for a long session rather than a quick meal. If you have been once, the room is worth reassessing on a return visit at night, when the ambient light from outside becomes part of the atmosphere in a way it simply does not during the day.
What the Kitchen Does Well
The technical strength here is in the sourcing and the service. Wagyu from Miyazaki prefecture drives the menu, with cuts including oyster blade, chuck eye roll, flat iron. These are not the obvious or generic cuts you find at lower-tier yakiniku spots. Miyazaki Wagyu has won the Japanese National Wagyu Competition multiple times, which means the sourcing decisions at Da-Wan are deliberate and credentialed, not just marketing. The thick-cut ox tongue is the standout: springy, deeply beefy, handled with enough confidence to suggest it has been on the menu since long before the Dazhi move. Skilled servers manage the grilling, which removes the guesswork that can make yakiniku stressful for first-timers and keeps the quality consistent across a long meal. Chef Dahon Huang oversees the kitchen, the consistency across multiple OAD rankings suggests the standard has held across different environments and years.
If you have already visited once and worked through the obvious entry points, the ox tongue and the lesser-known Wagyu cuts are worth prioritising on a return. The chuck eye roll and flat iron cuts offer different textural experiences than the more familiar ribeye-style options, at this price tier the value in doing a deeper exploration of the beef menu is real.
Who It Is For
Da-Wan works well for small groups of two to four who want a structured, quality-focused grill session in a room that feels considered. It is a reasonable choice for a special dinner that does not require the full ceremony of a tasting menu format, the $$$ price point makes it accessible compared to the $$$$ tiers that dominate Taipei's awarded dining scene. Solo diners can make it work, though the tableside grill format and the group-oriented seating arrangement means you will get more from the experience with at least one other person.
How It Compares
Da-Wan competes in a different format from most of Taipei's highly ranked restaurants. logy and Taïrroir are tasting menu experiences at $$$$ that require more commitment in both time and budget. Le Palais sits in the formal Cantonese register, again at $$$$ and with a more ceremonial pace. Da-Wan at $$$ offers an OAD-ranked experience without the full tasting menu overhead, which is a meaningful practical distinction. Within the yakiniku category, Vanne Yakiniku is the most direct local comparison. For a different register of barbecue altogether, Baho (Da'an) offers a contrast worth knowing about. If you are building a broader Taiwan itinerary, JL Studio in Taichung and GEN in Kaohsiung round out the high-end picture beyond Taipei. For the full picture of where Da-Wan sits in the city, see our full Taipei restaurants guide.
Booking and Practical Details
Da-Wan sits at moderate booking difficulty. The OAD recognition and consistent crowd-drawing location in Dazhi mean walk-ins are unlikely to be reliable for prime evening slots, particularly on weekends. Booking ahead by at least a week or two is the sensible approach for dinner. The address is 199, Jingye 2nd Road, 5th Floor, Zhongshan District, Taipei. The fifth-floor location means you will need to account for lift access from street level. Hours and direct booking contact are not confirmed in current data, so checking directly via a search or the restaurant's own channels before visiting is advised. For hotels and logistics during your stay, our full Taipei hotels guide and Taipei bars guide cover the rest of the trip.
Quick reference: Da-Wan, Jingye 2nd Rd, Dazhi, Taipei — $$$ — Wagyu yakiniku, OAD Leading Asia 2023–2025, book at least one week ahead for evening slots.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Da-Wan good for a special occasion?
Yes, with the right group size. Da-Wan's $$$ price point, Miyazaki Wagyu sourcing, consecutive OAD Top Restaurants in Asia rankings (2023, 2024, 2025) give it enough credentials to justify a birthday or a celebratory dinner. It works best for two to four people who want tableside grilling in a considered room rather than a tasting menu format. If you want a multi-course chef's table experience for a milestone event, logy or Taïrroir are better fits.
What should I order at Da-Wan?
The menu centres on Wagyu from Miyazaki prefecture, with cuts including oyster blade, chuck eye roll, flat iron. The thick-cut ox tongue is specifically noted by OAD reviewers as a standout: springy, beefy, grilled tableside by the servers. Prioritise the Wagyu cuts that are graded and sourced from Miyazaki — that's the kitchen's clearest strength.
Is Da-Wan good for solo dining?
Probably not the optimal format. Yakiniku is structured around ordering across multiple cuts, the per-head cost at $$$ climbs quickly when you're not spreading across a table. The faux-industrial dining room and tableside grilling service both favour small groups over solo guests. If you're eating alone in Taipei, a ramen counter or a single-seat omakase will give you a better solo experience for the money.
What are alternatives to Da-Wan in Taipei?
For tasting menus at a higher price tier, logy and Taïrroir are the go-to alternatives — both OAD-ranked and running chef-driven tasting formats that Da-Wan doesn't attempt. Mudan Tempura is worth considering if precision frying interests you more than grilling. de nuit offers a different evening format. Da-Wan's specific case is Wagyu yakiniku at $$$, and there's no direct peer in Taipei at the same OAD recognition level in that format.
What should I wear to Da-Wan?
The dining room in Dazhi is described as hip and faux-industrial, set in a shopping district surrounded by department stores. That context points toward neat casual — clean, put-together clothes without formal dress requirements. Keep in mind that open-flame grilling can leave a smoke scent, so avoid wearing anything you'd be unhappy to air out afterward.
Can I eat at the bar at Da-Wan?
There is no bar seating documented for Da-Wan. The format is tableside Wagyu grilling, which requires a full table setup rather than counter seating. Walk-ins at a table are possible in principle but unreliable given the OAD recognition and the consistent Dazhi foot traffic — a reservation is the safer move.
Location
104, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongshan District, Jingye 2nd Rd, 199號5樓
Taipei, Taiwan
Compare Da-Wan
Also Consider
- logy, Modern European, Asian Contemporary, $$$$
- Le Palais, Cantonese, $$$$
- Taïrroir, Taiwanese/French, Taiwanese contemporary, $$$$
- Mudan Tempura, Tempura, $$$$
- de nuit, French Contemporary, $$$$
Da-Wan operates at $$$ while most of its OAD-ranked peers in Taipei sit at $$$$. That price gap matters when you are comparing like for like. logy and Taïrroir are tasting menu formats that demand two to three hours and a significantly higher per-head spend. If the goal is an awarded meal in a room that feels deliberate but not ceremonial, Da-Wan delivers that at a lower cost of entry. Le Palais at $$$$ is the choice if formal Cantonese is the priority, but it is a different occasion entirely.
Within the interactive grill category, Da-Wan's tableside service model separates it from self-grill yakiniku options in the city. The Miyazaki Wagyu sourcing gives it a credentialed edge in the beef-focused segment. Mudan Tempura and de nuit are both at $$$$ and serve entirely different formats, so they are not direct substitutes, but they represent the alternative if you want a tasting-menu or chef-driven progression rather than a self-directed grill session.
The practical recommendation: choose Da-Wan over its $$$$ peers when you want a high-quality, protein-focused dinner that you can pace yourself, with flexibility on what you order and in what quantity. Choose logy or Taïrroir when you want a structured, chef-led progression and are willing to pay and commit the time. Da-Wan is also the easier booking of the group, which matters if your Taipei schedule is already tight.
Recognized By
Explore Taipei
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