Excellent ramen We ordered the Tan Tan ramen and it was…read morefantastic. The broth was rich and tasty and the noodles were perfectly cooked - firm and chewy!

Day 6 of our NZ trip. Craving little warmth due to periodically cool sprinkling rain. We stopped at…read morethis place. A girl with a weird eye makeup took our order. She was NOT pleasant at all. We might as well been better off using venting machine to order. She never made an eye contact with her mono tone voice and zero facial expression. Scary huh. Nonetheless ramen were decent. I would have given 5 stars for the taste of food alone but service makes a big portion on restaurant business in my humble opinion even though there is no tip system in NZ.

I have a thing for ramen. Here I came all the way to New Zealand, and I have been looking for ramen…read morejust so I can compare it with ramen back home, ramen in Tokyo, ramen in Toranto, etc. I passed by a ramen shop on my last day in Auckland while going to the airport. I just wasn't hungry at the time, so I had to let it go. On my first day in Wellington, I passed by Hey Sushi on the way to my hotel. I noticed its sign says "ramen." The place is mostly for take out (take away as they say in NZ). It has 5 stools and 2 small bars against the windows for people who want to dine in. I just wasn't sure, so I took a quick look and moved on. For the next 2 days, I walked all over town looking for ramen and all I found was udon. Udon just isn't the same, and I have no special feelings for it. Finally I went back to Hey Sushi and ordered a spicy beef ramen. I was pleasantly surprised. It's not tonkotsu ramen, but it was good.It came with many slices of beef, half a stewed egg, spinach, and a bunch of other toppings. I was so happy and couldn't believe I didn't go there earlier. Today, it started to rain like a real winter day, which gave me the perfect excuse to have ramen again! I went back there after coming back from a long hike (tramp, they call it here). I ordered shoyu ramen with chashu (bbq pork) this time. It looked great! It came with so many slices of chashu not just 2 or 3. I also picked a combination of sushi as appetizers (not that I needed anything to make me hungrier). They were good, too! The prices are also very reasonable. If you go there after 4:30, you can get boxed combination sushi for $7 a box (closing sale). These pieces are much bigger and better than the ones St Pierre's Sushi. Before I left, I picked a $7 pre-boxed sushi so I can eat later as snack. Oh, I also like that it has a flat screen TV that constantly plays Japanese rock concerts. When I walked in today, Mika Nakashima was performing Glamorous Sky. I love that song.

Food was fantastic, so much variety and you can order donburi or curry meals as well! I'm a…read morevegetarian and was spoilt for choice with options, not something I'm used to, but I loved it. The sushi itself was really good, could tell it was fresh, and flavoursome. You have the option of seating or takeaway which is super. Even though they were busy at lunchtime they still had plenty of each item, which was very impressive. Best sushi I've had in wellington. The prices were also very good.

If I ever come back to Wellington, THIS IS THE PLACE! I still dream about their salmon sashimi, to…read morethe point I Googled if Wellington is supposed to have the best salmon sashimi in the world. Their portions are tiny and moderate but the quality is worth it. I also didn't expect their fried squid to melt in my mouth. The food here is better than what I've tried in Japan unfortunately. Never thought I'd find a gem from a little place tucked behind my hotel.

Authentic sushi joint, limited menu and an assortment of the features fish for the sashimi plate…read more Extremely long wait for service, and they forgot my Miso soup. Staff was kind but seemed overwhelmed on a Wednesday night. Authentic in the way that there are only a few basic actual rolls on the menu, the rest is sashimi and nigiri. Good food, but wasn't overly impressed. Likely great for New Zealand, but coming from Vancouver (likely my bad for expecting sushi like you can get there) - I would have preferred some interesting rolls instead of straight sashimi as it was not super tasty and also still nearly frozen. Great ambiance and drinks.

I found origimi through google reviews because I was craving some vegetarian friendly ramen. When…read morewe arrived it was me and my husband and one other couple, we were given water and menus. I ordered the Aubergine vegetarian ramen with green curry- the menu was a bit confusing so I double checked which was vegan or vegetarian. They also had what they call Dry Ramen which is seemed interesting to be but I wanted regular ramen. When my Dish arrived it was big! Had a half eggplant in the whole thing but it was delicious!! I really enjoyed the flavor, it was creamy, spicy, and warm! I just wished I had a microwave so I could warm up leftovers because I wasn't able to finish the whole meal. The staff were very kind and on our way out we decided to get one of their pastries- which was also delicious. They also had sushi which my husband got and enjoyed. I'd recommend this spot if you're vegetarian and in need of some ramen in addition to the Japanese pastries!!

We took one look at the menu and knew this would be a perfect spot for a nice dinner in the city…read more Our high expectations were met! We started with an order of Takoyaki (always happy to see those rare octopus balls on a menu outside of Japan). They weren't as good as the ones in Japan but that's to be expected. But they were still very tasty. We also ordered the yellow noodles with beef and their version of fried chicken and rice. I oversimplified the menu. The names were all Japanese so it was hard to remember but basically look for the ingredients I mentioned. Plus they cook the food with egg and onions and their sauces so it all comes out incredibly delicious! I ended up mixing the rice with the noodle dish and that made an excellent combination. We wanted to find dessert somewhere else but the ones at the restaurant looked amazing! And the people around us ordered some and they seemed to enjoy them very much. Maybe next time for us!

We came down for the food and wine festival and spent 3 nights out of the 4 dining here. The owner…read more(Luigi) was amazing - such a great host. The food was great too. Would definitely recommend.

Unpretentious fare with a French flare. Bistro set up with very good wine selection…read more We had the burrata and the mushroom Parmesan with polenta to start. Both delicious. Then we shared the lamb shank. Excellent! It was plenty to eat. Dinner complimented with an excellent New Zealand red.

My husband and I lived in Japan for a couple years. When we travelled to NZ at the beginning of…read morethis year we stumbled upon Kazu when we were looking for a place to have dinner. This was the last leg of our trip and for the most part we had done things pretty well on the cheap. A visit to Kazu cost us three times as much as any other meal we'd had for the simple fact that everything was so good and we were on nostalgia overload. When we stepped into the izakaya, we were immediately greeted with the familiar "irrashaimase!" The decor was definitely authentic. Most of the restaurant was Western-style seating with tables and chairs, but there was a raised platform section covered in tatami where you remove your shoes to sit cross-legged on a zaisu (legless chair). The walls were decorated with Japanese calligraphy and ukiyo-e prints as well as some Japanese beer advertisements which are always a little hilarious. We were seated by a friendly young Japanese woman and given the menus. So many pictures of delicious foods! And the alcohol menu was one of the best parts: a double-sided A4 page full of Japanese beer (including Orion from Okinawa, which we've never seen in Melbourne), sake, shochu, umeshu, chuhai and red and white wine!!! There was even ramune for the non-drinkers! Our eyes popped out of our heads. I had a few chuhais and my husband loved the Orion. We ordered edamame, spicy soft shell crab, chicken kamameshi rice, a sushi roll, and a few other things. For dessert they had my number one favorite Japanese sweet of all times: taiyaki! I hadn't had a yummy fish-shaped pancake filled with red bean paste in far too long. After dinner we had a little chat to the owner in Japanese and told him how much we loved the meal. He was friendly and we loved the chat. This was, hands down, the best meal we had across 10 days on the North Island. The only sad part was leaving knowing that we wouldn't be back for a while. We didn't even mind that we spent around $150 between the two of us just pigging out and indulging on food we rarely get. It was a feast and I highly recommend this place to everyone.

Authentic Japanese cuisine cooked and served by Japanese staff with excellent service and food…read more Well impressed. These days wherever you go (except Japan) it's hard to find a Japanese that's authentic, they're usually fusions or with Chinese influence. Kazu's menu has a great selection of food and drinks, many types of soju to choose from as well as chu-hais etc. The decor was simple and cosy, they also had an elevated tatami seating area at the front of the restaurant where customers remove their shoes and sit crosslegged at a low table. The food was banging!! We were an interesting party of four with one pregnant and one gluten free and found the menu to be accommodating for all. The sashi platter was amazing, super fresh raw seafood. The dumplings three ways was also delicious. In fact, everything we ordered was delicious. Would definitely come back again.

Food is authentic Japanese. Environment is great and service was amazing. The price is reasonable…read more Highly recommended.

Looks to be a chain of small Japanese food shops. They had a decent selection of pre-made sushi…read morethat looked pretty fresh, and an a la carte menu. My wife had the chicken udon bowl and I had the katsu don. Both were good. Reasonably priced.

Arashi was a nice surprise when it comes to authentic Japanese food in Wellington. I recommend the…read moresalmon nigiri. The salmon that we had seemed fresh and was buttery. I ordered the tempura set and was satisfied. The tempura wasn't cooked too oily and the rice portion was perfect. The salad and miso soup were also good. Shredded daikon and wasabi would have been a nice added touch but it was good for what it was. The tempura portion was also pretty generous. We ordered Otokayama sake also with our meal and to my surprise it came out hot. I prefer Otakayama sake chilled, so I was surprised when it was served hot to us. I wish they offered to enjoy it both ways. The service was at least good. Our waitress was helpful and friendly. The ambiance also felt like being in a traditional Japanese restaurant sans the bidets in the restroom, but all good :)

Good skewers. Nice veggie tempura. The ramen was good also but you probably normally wouldn't…read morenotice it on the menu because it is at the very bottom of the noodles section. Needs a better menu layout. Nice restaurant atmosphere. Good sake selection.

Awesome Japanese food. The bento boxes and 2 for 1 Tuesdays are excellent value. Entrees, mains,…read moredesserts and drinks are all authentic with courteous staff providing highest quality service. The agadashi tofu is highly recommended. Family friendly with a relaxed atmosphere.

Have had dinner here a couple of times now and the food and service is always really good - pricing…read moreis pretty sharp too for the amount of food. Well suited to taking a larger group of people with three quite large tables in the rear of the restaurant, however; don't expect to hold intimate conversations here - it's loud! Great as a pre night out destination with friends.

Really lacklustre food here. I feel like it's more like an OK Japanese bar that happens to serve…read morefood, as a side thing. If you want good Japanese food there are far superior options around town.

This place is pretty small, and can be a bit of a trick to find the first time you go. When you…read morefind the sign on Courtney head up the narrow stairs, and hope there's a table open. Every time I've been it's been pretty busy. If you don't mind sharing you can grab a spot at one of the bigger tables. The service has been good most of the time, though a bit spotty. We've sometime had to wait a while for an order to be taken, or to order more sake, and if the kitchen is busy food can be a little slow. But other nights food comes out wicked fast and they're really on top of things. Food wise the Yakitori is pretty great. You can order a combination plate or just pick a bunch of skewers to split with people. I definitely recommend the pork belly with spicy miso. The gyoza, both spicy and regular are great as well. What I wouldn't bother with here is the sushi, unless you want the rice for filler. The sushi tends to have too much rice that is under seasoned, and the fish just isn't quite there. The salmon sashimi is decent though. I will admit to being a bit of a sushi snob and find it hard to find really good sushi in Wellington as a whole, but aside from salmon, much of the fish served in sushi restaurants is hard to come by fresh daily in NZ and that's a really important factor in good sushi. Over all though the yakitori is good, sake plentiful, and the atmosphere pretty fun so I do recommend eating here. Just keep in mind you'll probably rack up a pretty hefty bill with all those skewers you're going to order and they don't like to split bills at all if they can help it. Have cash or awesome friends and you'll be good though.