Azabu - Mount Wellington

The food? Delicious! But the wait? It felt like I had time to learn a new languages. Thankfully, they caught on and took one dish off the bill to apologize. All in all, killer location, decent dishes, top-notch service. We went for the two person sets plus two extra dishes, and let's just say, our wallets felt like they went on a diet. It's like aiming for a feast and ending up with more of an appetizer party – satisfying, but not the best bang for your buck!

I recently dined at the waterfront restaurant, and I must say, the ambiance was truly enchanting, thanks to the captivating lights and stunning location. The romantic atmosphere created by the lights added a magical touch to the evening. Despite the bustling crowd, the staff graciously allowed us to walk in and accommodated our request for speedy service, especially for our daughter. The service exceeded our expectations, making it a memorable and delightful experience.

Colorful, tasty, well presented but small portion. Every food was good. I enjoyed octopus the most and that grill flavour on octopus was over the moon: soft shell crab was crispy. But very small portion. Good vibe on Mission Bay. Highly recommend for sunny day

Update Dec 2, 2023: Azabu Mission Bay is still one of my favourite restaurants in Auckland and definitely my favourite in my Central East neighbourhood. But I have to update my review for some issues experienced recently. The food is still amazing. Lunch today of tempura, gyoza and sushi was even better than usual. However, on seating we were left with a drinks menu but no food menus. This is the third time this has happened in as many recent visits. We waited so long, without even an opportunity to ask a staff member that, finally, one of our party got our own menus from a shelf nearby. This makes no sense as our orders are taken quickly, our food arrives sometimes too fast so it seems they want to turn the tables. And the bussing service was too diligent! We were still eating or barely finished when a young staff member was trying to whisk our plates away. Sometimes I still want to dip my finger in that yummy sauce even when there is no obvious food on the plate ; . Also the bathrooms were shocking! Filthy, rubbish bins overflowing, definitely not cleaned often enough. Who wants to eat in a place with filthy bathrooms?! I have downgraded my review for these reasons. I still love the food so the kitchen continues in their stellar performance. But the management needs to take a hard look at the rest of the staff to bring the whole experience back up to the perfection it had previously achieved. Original review, food still great: Can I give 10 stars! I certainly would if I could for a flawless, incredibly delicious dinner last night. Absolutely every dish was perfect. We opted for lots of small plates. We had perfect, fresh, delicious sushi. The best gyoza I’ve ever had, with the surprise addition of an aji amarillo based sauce. Tiger prawn dumplings and tiger prawn tempura perfect, especially the addition of a spicy aioli to pair with the standard tempura dipping sauce. Tuna tostada, as to die for as I remember from previous visits.. And a cabbage side in a mustard sauce which was a revelation. And service was outstanding, no long waits as we experienced in the past. No wonder they are booked solid every night!

Food... Fantastic Service... Great Atmosphere... Lovely There is a bit of a wait on some dishes, but personally, its worth the wait, and if you choose wisely, you can graze on the dishes that come out quicker, like the volcano sushi roll, or the sashimi. Try the Japanese inspired cocktails. Anything with Roku Gin by Suntory is a winner