New Zealand Herald

Reviews for KIZUNA Japanese Restaurant

by Narumi T.
18th May 2013

We went for dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The staff was all very pleasant, polite and helpful.

We tried two different kinds of set menu. They were very generously served, each dish was nicely presented, they were all tasty.

We thought there were many deep fried dishes to choose from, but no non-fried main dishes in the set course menus

The taste was good, we ended up taking our left-over home as there was so much food on the main dish! If you are a big eater and a fan of Japanese food, this restaurant is a good value!

by Gerard M.
11th December 2012

Ever seen the Monty Python Cheese Shop skit. Well Kizuna is a bit like that!

We went with a party of 12 which seemed to confuse them, even with the restaurant being only half full. The young waitress was good but the young waiter confused. The manager lady confused everyone! Everyone gets a drink menu, but only 3 food menus are distributed!

We live locally so finally decided to try it for a birthday. Found the decor and design quite neat. The menu looked good and generally food was excellent.

Problems were…..out of my own choices of small dishes the first 3 were unavailable….very, very sorry! But not unavailable instantly on order, but unavailable one at a time after a trip each time to the kitchen. In all, for our party six of the dishes were unavailable in this manner.

The pork belly sounded great, slow cooked for 48 hours – wow! Well they should have stopped after maybe 24 hours as it had lost most of its flavour, all of the tasty fat and was tough and tiny!

But the biggie is that at 8.00pm on Saturday they ran out of rice. Yes a Japanese restaurant running out of rice! Well get in the car drive five minutes to Pak’n'Save and get some, or go next door to the Chinese and borrow some. Worst of all the rice we did receive earlier in small bowls – less than a cup each was $5.00 per bowl – daylight robbery.

Will we go again??? Maybe because it is close and apart from the outrageous rice price it came to around $27 each for food. Also the food they did have was good! But we would only go as a couple or maybe a table for 4 and ring them first to see if they have been to the supermarket!

by Peter H.
5th December 2012

I live about 500m from this restaurant and was excited about it opening but I have only been once and would not go back.
Where do I start?
Concrete and glass decor is uninviting. Zero atmosphere. Like eating in someone’s garage.
Male Waiter was downright rude.
Slow service.
Food was ok.
Has a definite “suburban restaurant” feel about it (read amateur).

by Glenn P.
3rd September 2012

Went back for our wedding anniversary because the previous experience had been so good. We were not disappointed.

Our only complaint would be that it was dimly lit which made reading the menu difficult.

They had more than enough staff and the service was excellent. Dishes (a la carte) arrived in good time but not so fast that we were rushed or hadn’t finished the last one. The food quality was excellent in both flavour and preparation.

Dish sizes are small but then that is the appeal; you get to try many different types of food and there are so many varieties to choose. This could be expensive, but we walked away for $88 for 2 including a beer and some sake. Their alcohol beverage prices are possibly the cheapest in Auckland.

So, we will certainly be going back as this is in our opinion the most value for money AUTHENTIC Japanese restaurant in Auckland.

by Mark
31st August 2012

After reading a couple of reveiws I had no expectation for this restaurant.
We were very pleasatly surprised with our experience. Good fresh authentic Japanese food at a good price.

The staff were warm, friendly and efficient. Our voucher deal I thought was good value. All in all a great dining experience.
We will be back.

by Maia
27th July 2012

Their service was “weird”.

The first surprise: I booked 2 days before we had dinner. When we arrived, our choices were a big table in the middle of the restaurant to share with their other customers or a table next to steps leaded to the kitchen which was not quiet and quite cold.
It was the middle of the week not even Friday or Saturday.
I’ve never got that bad table if I had booked in advance.

The second surprise: My boyfriend kept getting water drops from the ceiling and he had a vintage suede jacket on.
I told the Japanese waitress (Manager?) about it when we were leaving.
She smiled and said “Yes, I know.”
I lost my words…. and shocked as she was not rude at all and was very friendly while we were dining.

My boyfriend said “weird” service and I do agree.
I’ve never had such a experience in Japanese restaurants here and in Japan.
As a Japanese who knows “real” Japanese service , I hope they improve their service! It’s embarrassing!!
Of course, we are not going back again.

by Glenn P.
25th July 2012

A peculiar location, and very unusual interior/decoration. Nevertheless, we were there to eat and it was excellent.

Having lived in Japan and still visiting regularly, I am usually disappointed at the westernised fare offered in Auckland (e.g. california roll sushi etc), usually overpriced, and frequently served in order of European meal etiquette.

Not Kizuna.

The menu was not extensive, but it certainly offered many unique dishes that were simply delicious. Portions were small, but they were well priced to enable us to sample many of them. Even the sake was well priced !

This place must be tried because of it’s authenticity and uniqueness and it doesn’t kill the wallet !!!

by Rodney
8th July 2012

The set menu has been ‘adjusted’ to suit $49 for 2 deal voucher, not worth any more. Food was tasty, but service especially from ‘Indian”male waiter was poor to the point of being rude. This type of Japanese dining was new to us but it was reluctantly explained by him amongst other less than professional mannerisms. We’ve been to a few Japanese restaurants before, but will give Kizuna a miss.

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