Yuki of Tokyo is tucked away in a small plaza on Hartz Avenue, just off the main street in downtown Danville (across the street from the popular hangout Pete’s Brass Rail). The ambiance is quiet and cozy and occasionally exciting. When you sit at the sushi bar you can engage in joking banter with the owner Frank, who originally hails from Hong Kong and is quite a character. The dinner crowd is comprised of younger to middle aged couples, small groups of friends, and some families. During the Hot Summer Nights where downtown Hartz Avenue shuts down for a energetic vintage-car display, dinner at Yuki (aka “Frank’s”) can be either dull and quiet or occasionally rowdy, with the odd bachelorette party or so.

You can’t go wrong with anything on Yuki of Tokyo’s menu. It has an extensive sushi menu, both hand roll, nigiri and the regular 6 or 8-piece roll. There is a whole page of tempura (fried) sushi rolls, as well as several inventive rolls such as the Swamp Roll, which is a spicy tuna roll covered in seaweed salad. With names like Crazy Monkey, Fireman’s Roll, Godzilla, and the like, it is hard not to just go into a sushi ordering frenzy. Frank will also make you any roll you can invent, or there is always the “surprise me” roll.

For those who are not partial to sushi Yuki of Tokyo also has very tasty Japanese fare such as Udon, teriyaki, tempura, Soba and sukiyaki. Yuki of Tokyo has a good selection of Japanese beer, sake and plum wine.

Service is always friendly. When I went I started with the miso soup, which was hearty and had lots of chunks of fresh tofu. Next I tried the poke salad, which is a Hawaiian-style sashimi salad of red tuna, sesame oil and sometimes seaweed and/or cucumber. Frank serves his on a bed of seaweed salad with a kick of Sriracha hot sauce. To truly elevate this dish, ask for half white tuna, half red tuna. Yuki of Tokyo also has an excellent white tuna tataki. The salmon salad is also very good: sashimi salmon mixed with soft avocado, cucumber and roe.

I next ordered my two favorite rolls: spicy tuna and Rainbow Roll. Yuki of Tokyo’s spicy tuna is fresh and excellent, with the right combination of rice and spiciness. The Rainbow Roll has crab salad with avocado and cucumber on the inside, covered with fresh slices of red tuna, salmon and hamachi sashimi. It was also excellent. I next sampled a Spider Roll, which is a tempura-fried soft shell crab with burdock, cucumber and radish sprout, and a Philadelphia Roll, which is smoked salmon, cucumber, and cream cheese. Like most folks who eat at Yuki of Tokyo, I am now a passionate loyal customer.