The free bar snacks sold me on this place; OMG – Wasabi Tempura Nori?!?! Amazing! Asked for 2 helpings which was met with no hesitation (I know I was pushing my luck) so bless the awesome waiter!

Meal: Dinner
Food: We all shared the soft shell crab, and the large mixed sashimi for starters – the sashimi was so fresh (tuna, salmon, snapper)! Then we had a duck main served with pear which was delicious. Also had the pork belly which I normally love but this particular serving was way too rich for me. Even though it was very tasty, I could only stomach one piece. Meal sizes were ok – Japanese servings are small anyhow, but I left feeling like I’d had enough.
Service: Fantastic. Ebisu doesn’t take bookings for small tables, so we walked in at peak hour (7:30pm on a Saturday) and were told we had an hour wait to be seated, but if we wanted to go somewhere else in Britomart for a drink first they would call me when the table was ready – which they did within the hour. During our meal, we had 2 waiters doting on us. Great service.
Cost: $180 for 3 people including drinks which I didn’t think was too bad at all considering the calibre of the place. Did I mention Ali Williams was sitting at the next table?
Stand out features: They took my coat when I walked in, which was nice Plus they didn’t shy away from decent servings of the mayonnaise NOM!
Will I go back? Most definitely.

With a low-key entrance and minimalistic décor Ebisu is all class. The Ebisu no Osashimi, a modern sashimi platter was certainly the highlight of the evening for me. And the yuzu brulee was comfortingly creamy with zesty citrus overtones although it came in miniature proportions. Service was swift. Not cheap but worth it. Read full review at http://notanotherquart…

Fantastic food & excellent service but due to all the hard surfaces is quite noisy.

Just got back from Ebisu tonight and I enjoyed it. I wasn’t absolutely blown away by the flavours or ‘wow’ factor of the dishes (Cafe Hanoi and MooChowChow have more of the wow factor) but I had put Ebisu on a bit of a pedestal through reviews from friends.

Had the scotch fillet (blue), soft shell crab, the seared beef with black truffle sushi, the karaage chicken and the mixed veges. The soft shell crab was the stand out, followed by the sushi. The scotch fillet unfortunately had a lot of fatty gristle in it, which is where it was let down. The karaage chicken was also good though tasted pretty much exactly like the soft shell crab.

Service was great – very attentive staff, and friendly. Came to $140 for two, with 2 tap Kirins and 1 shiraz – not bad really.

I’m a fan, and would head back. Perhaps not til after I did second rounds at some of the other places around Auckland though

Disappointed by our second visit here. Rude and chaotic service. Two drinks knocked over by the waiter, yet we were still charged for them (yes, I know we should have kicked up a fuss but I just wanted to leave). Dish after dish of other people’s dinner arrived at our table. Restaurant was half empty on a Friday night, yet they seemed to have difficulty finding us a table and seated us in a breezy conservatory which lacked the atmosphere we had hoped for. Maître d’ is certainly in the wrong job, not welcoming at all and seemed to be trying to create problems. Not sure we’d rush back..

Nom nom nom.
I’ve been to most Japanese restaurants and I rate this one one of Auckland’s best. Good for a date or a fancy occasion; not everyday Japanese.
Great atmosphere and the food is delicious. Try the a selection of “small platters” between a few of you, they’re not that small at all!

Went last night, outstanding food from beginning to end, the only slightly off dish was the soft shell crab, it was a little greasy. Sahsimi was fantastic as was the tofu dish. Not too pricy, and good staff.

Ended up here with friends one night. We were at a charity event fund raising for cancer kids so had a set menu. Lack of choice was no bad thing. Had soft shelled crab for the first time. Divine! Service was excellent, all of the staff took great care of us. The selection of food was delicious. Looking forward to going back.

Went to Ebisu on Saturday night, loved it. Its a large area that was almost full by 7pm – great service and fantastic food. Loved the scotch fillet with 3 sauces.
There is a DJ in the corner for the music, which i really enjoyed – totally added to the atmosphere – especially since it wasn’t too loud to stop conversation.