This restaurant is not fancy but it is authentic Japanese…read more We had a rather large lunch so we both opted for a bowl of ramen for a lighter dinner. Both included delicious slices of char siu, half a boiled egg, sliced green onions and seaweed. Our server was a very sweet girl from Japan who speaks English very well. We spent an enjoyable evening here speaking with other patrons too.

The best donkotsu ramen with the best chashu in Auckland!! If you love chashu/pork and ramen noodle…read moreit's definately worth trying.

Fanatics and genuine Japanese Ramen makes me feel like home. Lovely smiles always on the staffs'…read morefaces. The chief is super great and cook with heart! I believe that's the sprite of a chief should be.

This was an interesting experience. I dropped in for an impromptu dinner with some friends who had…read morejust arrived in Auckland on a Sunday night. My partner, myself, and our two friends made four people. We were given a booth in the enclosed backyard-style area, which was really cute, but the booths were SO FREAKING SMALL. I'm a small person, and my friends aren't exceptionally large. We were all squished into this booth, but it didn't seem like there were any larger tables there, so we didn't ask for anything bigger. Instead we just played footsies and tried to adjust our knees to not jam into each other. We ordered some ramen (I got the vegetarian ramen which the server said he "thinks" is vegan ) and my friends ordered a variety of seafood/ chicken ramen. My ramen came and had a really buttery taste (?!) which I'm hoping was just a ton of oil. It was alright, but I didn't finish it and I wouldn't order it again. One of my friends just didn't like his at all - he had a few bites and just gave up. My boyfriend ate all of his but we both agreed after that we wouldn't go back. I was sad about that as I had heard about this place and really wanted to like it. If you are looking for ramen in Auckland, just head to Zool Zool in Mt Eden - it's the best by far!

Ramen Takara is one of the few Auckland eateries that first set up shop on the Shore (Brown's Bay)…read moreand then expanded to the other side rather than vice versa. As far as I can tell, the menu is pretty much same - big bowls of steaming hot, freshly made noodles in flavoursome broth with plenty of sides/additions. There's other dishes too but it would be criminal not to try a variation of their namesake dish on your first visit. I was recommended the miso ramen on my first visit to their new location so went with that. It was a-ok - the noodles were al dente and the broth, punchy but it didn't knock my socks off. I think in part it was my fault as I rushed my order and didn't get in on the condiment action. I think next time I'll stick with my usual Brown's Bay order of tonkatsu. Other than that wins all round. The space is small but they've utilized it well with a full covered courtyard outback with heaters so that it's even bearable in winter. The service is a little inexperience but friendly. We were asked about 5 times by two different waitresses if we were ready to order late on a Sat arvo when the joint was pretty empty. All in all a great place for a cheap(ish) dinner out with friends in central Ponsonby!

Friends and family who have been in Auckland recently all recommended that we dine at Hello Beasty,…read moreand the place lived up to expectation. We made a lunch reservation for today, and enjoyed our meal so much -- slow-cooked lamb, Korean Fried Cauliflower, sashimi selection, and the astonishingly good creme brulee (not really a cheesecake as described on the menu) that we begged our way into a dinner reservation as well -- where we loved the Neko Ginger cocktail, cucumber green goddess, burrata, and stir-fried steak fillet. if only we had another day in Auckland to try more of this wonderful menu

This place is really delicious. They have a lot of small plates which you can share with your table…read moreand lots of different things you can try and at this place really has a cool vibe.

I had the chicken bowl and it was very flavorful. The service was quick too. It was comfort food…read morewhen getting off the plane.

I don't think I have the right words to describe how amazing this food is. Cheeseburger bao, just…read moreto start, is amazing. The beef brisket ramen was otherworldly. Note if you go: it's down that hall on the right side, not directly on the street.

Food and service was excellent. Our best meal in Auckland. I…read morewish I had found it sooner

Decent food, great service. We came in after a day of touring and quite hungry. Ordered the spider…read moreroll, beef tongue and steak, and Fuga bento set, plus dessert and drinks. The quality is above average but nothing spectacular, what I expected from a Japanese causal restaurant. A bit on the pricey side for what you get.

The world according to yelp: 1 STAR=Eek! Methinks not…read more 2 STAR=Meh. I've experienced better. I'm being generous when I award this business 2 stars!!! My personal rating would be 1 star...I will not return. The waitstaff here has zero concept of customer satisfaction or accommodation, or how to promote a positive experience for their diners. The chef prepares a reasonably good quality assortment of food, which garners a food rating of 3 (4 stars tops) stars. Thus, the complete dining experience, which someone seeks when they dine, is relegated the below average of 2 stars (and as I said...I'm being generous). Another couple walked in ahead of us by 10 seconds at 5:35pm. The two couples were waiting to be attended to by the waitstaff member, who was busy making telephone calls to confirm upcoming reservations, and couldn't have the decency to welcome waiting guests. After completing a few more calls, about 5 minutes, he then turned to first address the guests. Not a welcoming intro. Though the restaurant was deserted at opening, we were seated next to the bar, where the barman was busy grinding ice. This barstaff activity persisted for 10 minutes. Normally this sort of prep work is done in advance of opening, so as not to disturb diners. We remarked to the "host/waiter" who greeted and seated us, and he replied "it'll only be another 4, 5 or 6 minutes...thanks for your understanding". We could have walked out with that attitude and what we encountered previously. A long wait before anyone came to our table to take any orders. Finally I got up and went to the barman who had brought beers out to some patio diners and asked him to take our orders. We ordered drinks and our food, and he promptly went back to his bar station and kept grinding more ice. I then got up again and asked him for our drinks. He stopped grinding the ice and only then prepared our beer and wine. The host/waiter brought our food and served up the three sauces into a tray for our table. He squirted a fair amount of the mayonnaise sauce onto the floor. Did he ever clean it up??? NO!!! I had to remark to him about it some 20 minutes later, and he then remedied his own mess. But enough about the lack of service and the inattentiveness to customers. The food.... It was good, but not anything special, or what one wouldn't expect from any decent Japanese restaurant.

The Sushi pieces are really big! Was so happy to find a Japanese restaurant in town. Very nice…read moreservice. My friend loved this place and went back several times.

Service was friendly, ramen was very good. Gyoza was terrible, burned and tasted charred. I was…read moreonly offered a token apology.

Kiraku is a tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It's filled with native Japanese and those in the…read moreknow. Almost everyone inside was speaking Japanese. Unlike most ramen places that specialize in one style, they offer different ramen from various parts of Japan. I went with a Kyushu ramen, which had a tonkotsu broth, bokchoy, boiled egg, corn, prawn, and green onions. The soup was flavorful, the noodles were cooked well, and the portions were perfect. Made me feel like I was in Japan again.

One of the worst I've ever had, and this is supposed to be one of the best in Auckland???? They…read moremight look okay, but that's where the good things stop. As a ramen lover I decided to google around and see if I can find somewhere I haven't tried before, one of the websites called this place one of Auckland's best, and since the other recommendations seemed legit, I thought I'd heck it out. I sat down on benches along the wall that are clearly broken, half of my butt hanging. Deep breaths, we're here for the ramen, I thought to myself. I ordered Genzui Ramen, which is named after the place. The supposed chicken and pork soya broth cafe with an overwhelming seafood smell (and not the good kind, more like age old dead seaweed), BBQ pork is definitely not BBQ pork by any standard, and cut long the grain??? I'm pretty sure its cooking 101 to cut meat across the grain, their meat was extremely hard to chew and impossible to bite. I had to shove a huge piece into my mouth and chew on its rubbery texture. Everything is overwhelmingly salty with a definite lack of flavour. Proper ramen is salty but with strong umami, this... I just cannot handle... Stay far far away from this place if you have any respect for your palette at all.

Don't look for Genzui through the mall (it only goes up to the third floor via escalators). If…read moreyou're in the mall, your best bet is to go find an elevator to get up to the 4th floor. Genzui is actually located inside the Crowne Plaza hotel, so it's way easier to navigate from the hotel instead. There weren't many places open for dinner on a Sunday night, so we found ourselves getting ramen here. The ramen is actually not really ramen, but more like Korean noodles and soup where the noodle is thicker and chewier. We had the miso corn butter ramen and the ramen chicken salad. The ramen chicken salad was kind of watered down in sauce and was 3 small pieces of chicken on a bed of cabbage with an even larger bed of cold noodles. I can see the appeal if you're looking for a cheap eat, since almost all of the dishes were under 10NZD. However, if you're looking for tasty or authentic or fast ramen (surprisingly took 20+ minutes for the food to come out), this is not the place.

Recently opened in mid-September 2013, Tanoshimu is a Yakinuku (Japanese BBQ) restaurant. A range…read moreof meats and seafood are available. It was my first time dining at a Yakinuku restaurant so the server was very handy at helping us cook some of the meats as well as explaining the condiments that go with each dish. Because the server helped us cook and compliment the meats with a range of condiments, including sauces and powders, the food was absolutely great. I was a great fan of the beef tongue, although not so much of the pork selection. The interior decor is simple, with japanese themed paintings on the wall. From the outside it looked very dark that we almost drove right past thinking that it was already closed for the day. The room gets quiet smokey if there are many others dining (especially those who aren't good at cooking the food) and it becomes visible in the room as well as noticeable when breathing, hopefully they figure out some better ventilation system. Currently open 6pm-12pm Everyday except Tuesdays and they say will open for lunch when business picks up!