Love this place! The staff are friendly and the food is incredible! Great pricing and large…read moreportions. The restaurant is clean and tidy as well :)

My first time at Tokyo even when I used in the apartments right next door for years. What an…read moreexperience and the food is second to none. I've never been a big fish person but the way the food was presented and the flavours were not what I was expecting. This is now one of my new favourite places. The decor really makes you feel as if you're in Tokyo! The staff are super attentive and always available which is great. If you've never been here this is a destination you HAVE to try. Will be coming back for sure!!

Totoya is one of those Japanese restaurants that you go to and all the customers are Japanese - to…read moreme that is a good sign. I work nearby so I visit for lunch quite frequently and have always been happy with the quality of the food. The sashimi is delicious, if you like your fish raw! While the atmosphere isn't amazing by our kiwi standards, it's actually pretty authentic in terms of Japanese eateries. The friendly staff will give you a big welcome when you come in and serve hot tea to drink while you're deciding what to order and for your food to arrive. At $14-15 for a dish it's pretty good value. There is a lot of stuff on the menu that can be a bit difficult to know what it is so you might find yourself sticking to the well-known classics. That's what I do, but I'm sure the staff can help out with explanations if need be.

I have no words to say about this place during dinner…read more The lady just looked at me and ignore me for 30-40 mins and didn't sit us down or ask us to wait... She didn't even clear out the plates. One thing I'm disappointed about as I have heard good things about this place For now 1 star

Gorgeous food. Love the fanfare during the cooking process. Ex-Daikoku chef who certainly knows his…read morestuff. Enjoy it every time. Give it try. It deserves a lot more recognition than it's getting. Even an 8 month old baby being fed at the table and loving It!

Try and make it for the 6pm special! Prices are way cheaper if you can get there in time. But even…read moreif you can't it's definitely still worth it! It's Teppanyaki so they cook the food right in front of you. I always think this is great as it's entertainment while you wait and because the food comes in instalments (probably not the right word but you get what I mean... they give it to you as each part is cooked). I always get the chicken special. You get Miso soup, a salad, rice, chicken and veges! And they are all superb. I think the thing that keeps me coming back for more is the delicious gingery Japanese sauce they give you! I could probably eat dirt if it was lathered in this stuff! YUM!

Wide range of Japanese food including traditional, fresh and clean with great service. This is the…read morekind of Japanese we were looking for and finally found. Highly recommend :)

I like the concept of conveyer sushi. Most offerings are appealing, and is actually best to go when…read morebusy as food is really fresh. Grab what you want off belt, Plates have a cost, and are tallied at the end of the meal. Order a soup or tea to round off the meal. Less busy times you can see the same plate go around a few times. Kids have a menu too, or can help you pick and choose.

The sushi were not that tasty and the balance of meat and rice are not fair. The amount of fish was…read moreso little. The price is not equally to the quality of the food. Especially the ramen noodle was a ripe off.

I shared a Kyo-ya Special between two, which was fresh, tasty and nicely presented…read more With a shortage of excellent Japanese restaurants on the Shore I would probably come here again if I was looking for a casual dining experience close to home. There is just a lack of atmosphere and "wow" factor with the food however it is a lovely place with good service and very handy to the beautiful Takapuna beach. Even on a busy night such as a Friday Kyo-ya is popular but you can probably still get a walk-in table, another bonus opposed to facing the crowds in town.

I love this place, one of my favorite Japanese places to eat at in New Zealand…read more The food is amazing and fresh The staff is wonderful....Konichi-wa Ai-san I tried most things on their menu but my favorite is beef tataki, shrimp tempura and all of their sashimi Beautiful presentation, all food is soooo fresh...its not that cheap but this place makes me happy...give it a try, it is real Japanese , delicious

Eccentric but awesome dining evening!!…read more We booked the day before, online over Facebook, explaining that one of our diners was soy intolerant (but still loved Japanese food.) The owner was cool about it and we organised to be there at 6pm. We arrived at the venu, just a doorway with an unassuming sign between two shops. This instantly reminded me of some of the places we ate when we were in Japan in 09. Walking upstairs it opens up to a two table dining room with a small kitchen at one end. The decor is quirky, with Japanese memorabilia adorning the walls and mismatched Japanese cutlery on the table. There is a Japanese cooking gameshow on the TV in the corner. The elderly Japanese cook greets you from behind the kitchen and motions for you to sit. Since we are the only table to book, Ochiai San is all the staff tonight. There is no menu. We sat down and ordered some Asahi super dry and prepared ourselves. Degustation/ omakase style, heaps of small plates with delicious Japanese food start appearing. The chef was quiet at first, busy behind the grilles, but warmed up with jokes and banter as the night went on. Food was fresh and delicious, made from whatever could be sourced locally and turned into savory creations. 12 different "dishes" served over about 10 plates ranging from Japanese pickles to brothy soups to dumplings to wagyu beef to choco-nanas. All very tasty. I don't normally like degustation style dining but I was happily full at the end of it all. After dinner Ochiai San came and chatted with us about all sorts of stuff, Japanese dining etiquette, what we liked about the meal, took goofy photos with us with some pre prepared photo frames, he really does feel like he runs the place because he genuinely loves cooking. Really great experience, looking forward to going back there again.

We had been planning to visit Sakura Kitchen for ages. We stumbled upon it years ago when going to…read morethe adjacent supermarket and called in to ask about a booking. However, from memory they were booked up weeks in advance at the time so we put it on the back burner. Since then we've heard so many good reports that we made a date to go with some old mates. The unassuming entrance to this restaurant is sandwiched between a pizza shop and a butchery and is actually easy to miss if you are focussed on the pizza or the meat shopping. There is no menu. The Japanese owner cooks for you, seemingly whatever takes his fancy on the day. It's a small and intimate setting and you can chat to the chef from your table while he cooks. There were only three people working there: the chef, and two others who helped prep in the kitchen and wait on the table. We were a group of 12 and we were the only customers, all seated at one table which filled the whole restaurant. The chef will also open the restaurant and cook for just one couple, as he did for some friends' anniversary recently. I don't think the waiting staff were there so he just served them himself. If you are a fussy or picky eater, don't bother going to Sakura because you won't enjoy or appreciate the effort that goes into the food. If you must go, please be well-mannered and don't pout or turn up your nose at things you don't recognise. It's really immature and insulting to the chef. And don't announce to your fellow diners why you don't want to eat it - they don't want to know! But really... just don't go. We had about 10 courses I think. Each course comes on small serving plates, like a Japanese degustation without the wine to match. There's everything from vegetable to meat (Wagu), chicken and seafoods. It's all very good. Not being Japanese and not having a menu to refer to I don't know what the dishes were called but everything was delicious and presented beautifully with accompanying dipping sauces and condiments. There was so much food that we were all struggling at the end, but had room for the unusual green tea ice cream at the end. They are fully licensed but the selection is very small. I was offered a red or a white wine! They also do sake which some of our party imbibed a little too freely.. A trip to the bathroom is amusing, there is a heated Japanese toilet seat which does other things, (see photo). Our bill came to approximately $70 per head but would be less without alcohol. It was a great experience, unique and special and we'll be going back again.

Always great food. Service isn't the best. Atmosphere is typical 1990s Japanese, but great foodread more

Quite surprised with the quality of food , although I'm not a fan with Japanese food opened by…read moreKorean( most of Japanese restaurants here in Browns bay seems operated by Korean) I'm not against that however would prefer the authentic way. Having said that two Japanese restaurants operated by Japanese also disappointed me one is just crossed road. I must say I'm impressed by this one. I ordered Yaruki bento out of my expectation! Fresh tasty I must come back again! Worth the money as well just 15.9 I think.

One of the best japanese restaurants on the North Shore. Super welcoming staff & their green tea is…read morereally really yummy. The food always comes out super quickly and is always fresh and delicious. Try their other restaurant in Glenfield - it's just as good!!!

The ambiance is fun, feels like Japan and I appreciate the all Japanese staff, but best to stick to…read morecooked food here. As a former sushi chef apprentice I was frankly offended by the sushi and sashimi. We ordered a 6 piece hamachi sashimi and it came with 5 decent pieces, but the 6th was a pile of chopped "lesser quality" fish. We also ordered two rolls, a spider and a rainbow. The centers were sparse at best and there was SO much rice around the roll it was like kindergarten sushi. The fish on the outside of the rainbow roll was weak in multiple ways. Our salmon misodare and chicken karage bowls were a bit better. If you want good sushi, look elsewhere, sorry.

Wouldn't have found this one without Yelp. It is a small little restaurant in the CBD with…read moreauthentic Japanese food. Service was excellent, friendly and fast. This could have been right in Tokyo as everything was perfect. Thanks.