New Zealand Herald

Reviews for French Japanese Restaurant Morita

by Tony M.
12th March 2013

This business is a MenuMania SponsorOne of the Business' Favourite Reviews

If you want to experience a fine dining restaurant, with reasonable prices, this is the place to be. Their degustation menu is superb, and with a glass of wine you will never walk away still wanting to eat something else.

Their main’s are great, all the food mixes perfectly and nothing I have experienced does not work. It fits together in a beautiful blend, great for dates and somewhere discrete

Suitable for all occasions, parties, dates, and more

by Alex A.
30th April 2013

This place is a gem and totally underrated in Auckland. The food is streets ahead of many more expensive places – generous and creative. The staff are warm and discrete at the same time but the big star is the food. The sauces are fantastic and have had work put in, the duck is straight out of the 20th in Paris- and this is a Japanese restaurant. Clever and friendly!

by Andrew C.
8th February 2013

The Setting: elegant, restrained and intimate. It has a formal air but not in the overpowering way that some classier restaurants do – there was nothing intimidating about the setting or the service.

The Service: Excellent. The staff were watchful and attentive, filling glasses and answering questions cheerfully. Very professional, relaxed and friendly.

The Food: Amazing, really amazing. While booking for dinner we were asked what we might like. We requested a seafood based menu (there were four of us – one Japanese and three Kiwis) and asked the chef to prepare it however he liked. The chef went out specially earlier in the day to select the fish. He came to our table and decided on the menu after meeting us. There were five courses and they were each fantastic. The blend of French and Japanese was one I’ve never encountered before and I wouldn’t call it ‘fusion’ because all the elements were both traditional yet innovative, rather than the more usual hotchpotch of fusion. The French elements were mainly in the sauces while the Japanese aspects were more in the food and presentation. The food was exquisite. Subtle flavours and delicious flavours. Two courses were degustation sized: a fermented roe dish and the best mussel dish I’ve ever tasted; and two courses were generous, a sushi-sashimi combo that was really innovative and a whole snapper baked in a bread/pastry case (which was like an oven for the fish, we didn’t eat that part). The sauce with this was magnificent. The creme brulée was the best I’ve tasted.

I’ve eaten at many top restaurants that would charge hundreds of dollars a head for this sort of meal and it was only a fraction of that. This chef was trained at the very top restaurants in both Japan and France (hence the blend of flavours).

The staff lined up to see us off with huge smiles as we left. This was not a meal it was an experience. This restaurant is a gem—can’t recommend it highly enough!

by mab
14th November 2012

Some of the best food we’ve had in Auckland in a long time, both the Japanese food and the French food.

Service was fantastic.

Our new favourite.

by Sara
30th October 2012

My boyfriend and I took advantage of their $50 6 course dinner for two to try out this restaurant. We both enjoyed a full dinner complete with a fantastic dessert plate. We had great service and enjoyed the elegant atmosphere of this fine French-Japanese fusion restaurant. My boyfriend is a fussy eater especially with steak and he was very pleased with what he got. Definitely recommend it for a nice romantic night, especially for a special occasion

by Kristy L.
11th October 2012

This is such a gem of a restaurant. The decor is classy and cozy, and the food is absolutely incredible. Their lunch menu is great value and generous, and their dinner degustation menu is so creative. Everything is always well presented and the service is so friendly and fast. I’ve been to Morita many times, and never get tired of it. Highly recommended!

by Jay S.
4th September 2012

I went in for lunch for the first time. The staff wasn’t so attentive, waited for food over 25min which is understandable but my friend got served his meal while I still wait for mine. After I saw two other tables who ordered after me got served, I walked out of there after telling the staff. It is meant to be French Japanese? There is nothing French Japanse about the menu or the place. Never going back prob.

by Mar H.
26th June 2012

The meal here was absolutely delicious.
I have never been here for dinner as it is a bit too expensive for me, but the price at lunch is more than reasonable and very generous.
I would like to come here more often.

by NomNomPanda
25th May 2012

Have not yet had the pleasure of eating here for dinner, but lunch at Morita is not just delicious, but great value, with many options around $10. In addition to being well presented and tasty, I like the fact that these meals are always balanced with a portion of salad. Highly recommended!

by M
1st March 2012

It is a strange location for a restaurant – but when the food is this good, does it really matter?
We went on Valentine’s day (repeat visit) because the food experience is so fantastic that it makes it special, and we wanted a long romantic dinner. We got that and again, the food was exquisite. For me, it’s the best I’ve had in NZ…and when I think back to when I ate at Tetsuya in Sydney – I actually prefer the degustation menu at Morita. Every mouthful was heavenly and I have wonderful memories of both nights (so far) we’ve been there.

by ryan
24th April 2011

We went for a birthday dinner and initially I thought it was a rather sophisticated stuffy affair by the decor, however the service was hilarious and fun and very engaging. The wait team had us laughing evry time they visited and the good thing was they didn’t visit ever 2 seconds, just enough to ensure we were served and looked after.

French and Japanese fusion… WTF??? Yeah well that was what I thought til I tried the dishes… A+ for amazing.

While it was possibly a little slow towards the end, we were talking and enjoying a celebration so we didn’t care as the discussion flowed and the experience was a culinary delight and full of suprises.

I was certainly a good experience and I highly reccommend the service, the flavours and overall experience.

by Sakiko W.
13th March 2011

We enjoyed the well presented delicious food and also the informative chat very much with the floor staff, young chef as well as the chef-owner.
The eight course dinner was similar to that of a love letter (as the chef-owner told us himself), which comes from the heart of the chefs when they make our meals for us. Each course is really an art form.
We recommend this restaurant for people who are in the mood for enjoying fine dining for the night.
They are still on the way to change the decor to their best style so looking forward to see the finish.

by Emma M.
13th March 2011

Unfortunately, we were very disappointed.
First of all, the decor is far too depressed – everything black. Low ceiling with no window, black wall has no a single painting just a mirror hanging on the end of the black wall. I felt this place is for someone to have his last meal before execution. Very sad atmosphere.
8-course came with very small portion and extremely long timing, but taste good.
Service is good however we don’t like the way the waiter push us to do 8-course set menu. After all we just want to have diner which supposed to finish in an hour, we don’t want to waste 3 hour there particularly when environment is bad.
So pricey unless you go with the time consuming set menu.
Excellent chef but cannot make this restaurant successful.

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