The very best Japanese Restaurant in Auckland. Exquisitely presented range of delightful cuisine in a delightful warm and ambient restaurant. The service is impeccable. We have been to this establishment many times, both before and after the change in branding, and it still surpasses anything else in Auckland.

Best Japanese food I have ever eaten to date. Honestly, each dish was incredible…We chose 5 small plates to share between the two of us.
Starting with the Shrimp Olive Edamame: Pan-fried shrimps and the most perfectly flavoured and cooked edamame, with big juicy Kalamata olives, and crispy little garlic ‘chips’.

Then, came the Salmon belly. Wow. Honestly, it was only $6.50… and is the best $6.50 I’ve spent all year. Incredible. I wish I had a better vocab to explain how the salmon just melted in the mouth, and the sweetness and saltiness of the sauce (what was that amazing sauce?!) hit all the right ‘high notes’ and ‘bass notes’ and really… I want to go and have that Salmon belly every weekend for the rest of my life.

Just when we thought food couldn’t get any better, along came the Pan-fried eggplant with sweet miso sauce. Heaven. It was so succulent and juicy, I wished I had a spoon to scoop it up with… but we both managed to get the thing loaded onto chopsticks.

By comparison to everything else, the tempura battered vegetables had the least ‘Wow’ factor – maybe because we already know how much we love Japanese tempura veges, and they were very good. Though personally I liked the kumara ones least, and lusted after the sole courgette which my partner woffed down before we realised there was only one of each vege (then we started splitting each vege in half – tricky with chopsticks… and a bit uncouth & European with our fingers. LOL! But we managed it.)

And then came the Wasabi flavored teriyaki chicken and avocado. So delicious. Again… hitting all those different tastebuds in my mouth. I’m supposed to be a vegetarian now. But it knocked me off the wagon, I’m afraid. It had a garlic vinegar soy dipping sauce. And I’ve NEVER tasted avocado done like that.

What a magnificent meal.
Staff were attentive, friendly & helpful. Only thing missing was our Japanese shout-out from the kitchen when we arrived (they must have all been looking the other way at that moment), as they did the welcome shout in unison for every other guest who arrived after us. I love that.

Oh, and I must mention I was impressed that our waiter mentioned to us not to eat the pods around the edamame beans, and they also gave us a wee slip of paper warning us about bones in the salmon belly. Very thoughtful.

A couple of beers, a wine, and five dishes came to about $80. Not bad at all, considering the top notch food.

I like the red-brick wall interior. The space was warm & warmly-lit. And oh Lord, when we walked in the door, the aromas were devine.

Look, honestly, we’ll have to get more date-nights out, because I can’t stay away from this food for long.

Simply put…Not good. Service was not good, sushi and sashimi was not good and the atmosphere was not good. Extremely overpriced as well. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone! I eat a lot of Japanese food and this is the worst I have had since I have lived in Auckland.

We visited this local last night after hearing great things, well i am sorry but we have to disagree, the food was average, more like what you would expect from a sake bar than a restaurant.The sushimi was not as fresh as it should be and the sushi that the waitress cooked at the table with a butane torch tasted of butane, not such a great idea, neither was the use of surimi.What made it all the worse was the lack of cleaning, the fabric squabs on the chairs were so filthy they felt alive, and the whole place looked tired and in need of a good scrub up.The staff were friendly if not a bit like a Japanese version of faulty towers.

We enjoyed the Winter Special Set Menu and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. The food was well cooked, well presented, and really tasty.. Good service, and child-friendly (we had my two year old son with us, and they provided colouring in, as well as felts). Would highly recommend dining here..

after re-branding, the menu has been totally changed and less to choose. but food was still fabulous. ive went for lunch i had teriyaki chicken on heat pot bento and my friend had salmon shabu shaby set. it was really yummy and their service is still 5star quality! their dessert is bulee has been deliciously caramalized. i would recommend to everyone!