New Zealand Herald

Reviews for Daikoku on Quay (Teppan-Yaki)

by Gayeon L.
16th November 2012

Now the price can be a little bit expensive for students to go and have their dinner in this restaurant. However I definitely reckon it worth going and trying nice Japanese dishes in Daikoku. I really enjoyed their service, great manner with yummy food!
I personally liked the beef dish the meat was so fresh and chewy..! I’m definitely going back for another dinner

by Siobhan F.
1st September 2012

This place is soo run down and could really do with a clean (especially the dirty fish tank). Service was ok but a but hard to communicate. Our chef was inexperienced so we didnt see any exciting tricks. Yum yum sauce was delicious! Portions were small (half a chicken thigh portion for the chicken orders) and the place needs better ventilation. Had an entertaining evening but definitely couldve been better.

by Mylie G.
21st August 2012

Don’t go here!
The food was delicious and the chef’s friendly and awesome!
But the female host was horrible! I’ve never met someone so rude. I called 3 weeks ahead to book a group of 25 for a birthday and was told to call back a week prior to confirm numbers. I confirmed our numbers, how many kids attending plus a few more guests and a time extension by 30mins. The message wasn’t passed on (not my problem) and the chic lost the plot, because another group was also around the same time, which was understandable but no need for the attitude. I had a go at her and she said we had to be out in 30mins, I told her were she can put that as most the group travelled from Whangarei to attend. We were all seated and then she came out to argue with me in front of my family and said one table will have to wait because of the other group who hadn’t even rocked up yet. I’m the customer and I had to ask her if we could take this out in the foyer away from everyone to settle. Then at the end she tried to charge me for 2 extra people that never existed!!! We go here for my cousins birthday nearly every year as its her favourite, so its not like we are first timers. I absolutely love Japanese food, been to Japan a few times and love the people and culture. This chic is obviously so western its not funny she needs to go home more often and check herself. Unfortunately because of the service I will never go here again.

by Linda
27th February 2011

Went for a friend’s birthday recently. Staff were pretty friendly but service was a bit slow. Since there was only four of us, we had to share a table with another group. Started off with miso soup, was too salty for my liking and then with a Japanese Salad. Vegies were fresh, but lacked dressing. The prawns that we had with sauce were the best. Nice and tender, and that sauce was super tasty. We ordered beef and chicken. Both cooked nicely, and had great flavour. Portions are really small, and the four of us were pretty hungry as we didn’t eat beforehand. The chef we had was pretty entertaining, did some pretty neat tricks, but after the meal we were all still hungry afterwards. Pretty expensive for what you are getting.

by Janine B.
6th September 2010

I have dined Teppan Yaki style many times and really enjoy it. We were last at this Daikoku many years ago. We usually dine at the Botany version however they couldn’t fit us in until later.
We went for Father’s Day dinner last night with another family – 4 adults, 5 kids in total and had the best Teppan Yaki experience to date.
We were seated and served promptly. The service throughout the night was attentive and fast.
The food was as delicious as always – I’d even suggest that the yum yum sauce at this restaurant was better than I’ve had in a long time.
The restaurant was clean and the floor wasn’t sticky (something we have found at Botany which is a little off-putting).
What absolutely made our night was the fantastic chef. I’m not sure if we were just lucky or whether we were assigned one who was particularly good with kids but it doesn’t matter – he was sensational. He made a onion train for our daughter, complete with tooting. He teased the kids with lollipops hiding in his hat. He made the salt disappear, appeared to be shaking into the eldest drink and even tricked our son into believing he had caught a bowl of fried rice with his eyes shut.
I would absolutely recommend this Daikoku for family dining – our children ranged in age from 2 to 13 and they all enjoyed it.
The prices seem high however when you consider that they include soup, rice, appetizer, salad, veges and ice cream they are very affordable. And we never have issues with feeling underfed – it’s sometimes the opposite.

by amanda1986
30th July 2010

Great and attentive service. Good prices for what you get and the chef was very talented and entertaining. We ordered the combination set each with tempura on the side, we could not finish all that we ordered and left very satisfied. Plum was only five dollars and was reeeeal good! Even though we had to sit with strangers it was a great night. Would definitely go again.

by Kelly267
17th July 2010

I loved this restaurant…It was fun, and energetic, and I left stuffed! They were creative and threw food into our mouths and did some fantastic tricks and I would go back there anytime and spend double what I paid the first time…considering how much fun it is and in a group of people you know and are comfortable with…there will be no worries…try and book with exactly 8 people so you can have the same table with no strangers

by georgie
18th May 2010

Nice meal. great chef, very good sense of humour. good value for money.

by LukoiWhim
10th May 2010

My friend booked 20 of us in for her Birthday a few weeks in advance. She was told she could only get a table at 8.30, which was fine (we went and had drinks first) but when we got there at 8.30 for our booking, we waited around for 15 minutes before having to ask what was going on. The waiter kind of shrugged and said he would go see, and never came back, so my friend sought him out again 15 minutes later (this made it nine o’clock approximately) He still seemed nonplussed and told us a table would be ready shortly. My friend waited a few more minutes and then grabbed the waiter again asking what the heck was going on, we had booked and had 20 starving people. He said, well, we have a table ready in a room around the corner or you could keep waiting and we will eventually seat you in the main restaurant. (the restaurant closes at ten, as well, and it was already nine!) So we chose the room around the corner, which was a total hole. We sat down (with several seats short, too!) and waited… and waited… and waited. We talked to other diners who said they had been waiting to be fed since seven! We waited about half an hour, with no one giving us any answers on when we could order. The staff were rude, uncaring, standing around talking to each other but not taking orders. Eventually we just gave up and rang another restuarant who were wonderful, fit us all in and delivered exceptional service and food. Daikoku not only ruined my friends Birthday, but treated us like crap, wasted our time and were utterly unprofessional. And they just didn’t care. I would like to tell anyone who wanted to go – don’t! It’s not worth it! You will never get any food and the whole experience was one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had! Scratch that, it WAS the worst. Be warned.

by Roger Cheeseman
22nd June 2009

It pains me to do this… but im going to set the record straight. I have been to Daikoku about 4 times throughout my youth and everytime it has let me down. I cant remember every occasion clearly but I can remember the last time all too well. It was my sisters birthday not too long ago and we had to decide on a venue at the last minute. We left it to my sister (who is extremely picky) to decide on a restaurant and after a whole day scouring the internet she came to no conclusion. My younger brother and I returned home, asked where we were going to go for dinner and the reply was simply “we couldnt decide on a place, so were just gonna go to Daikoku”. My brother and I looked at each other in horror, “Daikoku!?!?! what? and pay $500 just to leave hungry???” = Basically every time we had ever gone to Daikoku we were fed F**K all. We were assured we’d get enough for everyone but we were convinced we would be dissapointed. And we were. We had a party of about 7, and paid a good $300-$400 on food – then went home and had steak to fill the void. The truth is, is the food is absolutely fantastic, with probably the best prawns ive ever been served in my life, but the food is just far too overpriced for what you get. The quality of the food definately deserves a 5star and thats what I would have given the place – if my stomach was the size of a mouses.

by Felicity
29th December 2008

Food is yummy I can’t complain there, but the portion is not much at all, kiwi’s do eat a lot, and well Japanese do not, they eat light and in small portions, had to wait a while for our booked table though, and service took a while too. 3 stars for the food but that’s about it.

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