Very good Authentic Japanese Food. Food was great…read morePrices reasonable Service was great Family run restaurant. We enjoyed our dinner here very much Thank You Arigato

Good food. Looks like a mom and pop owned business. Chef worked hard to cook as well as prepare…read moresushi and sashimi. All of the food was decent and tasty. The only issue was service. Expect food to be served over a longer period of time since wait help was limited. But we all know the difficulty of labor shortages so just be patient with this homely restaurant.

I've been to Samurai Sizzle several times with my husband for date night dinners out. We haven't…read morebrought the kids, but I think it would be fine to bring older children. The restaurant is in a spot on Victoria Street that looks like it could be a bit shady (from the outside), but the interior is new and comfortable. There is a large teppanyaki cook-top in the restaurant with probably close to 20 seats that can sit around it. Unlike some other places, the chef cooks here consistently (there is some entertaining as with other teppanyaki places, but there is no waiting for a table to fill up). You can also order from the teppanyaki menu even if you are not seated around the table. Every time I've gone I've ended up getting the teppanyaki venison. I was intrigued by the offering of venison the first time and it's been awesome each time I've ordered it. My husband always gets beef and he's always been happy with his food as well. We like to supplement the usual teppanyaki sides (soup, salad, rice) with seaweed salad (we just love it). They do take reservations and if you have a large group (or you want to sit around the cook top) it would be worthwhile to call ahead.

Booked a few days a head for me and my girlfriend, when we got there they had given our table away…read more We got there on time, the grill was vacant, but as soon as I got in I said my name and they just got us to sit in possibly the worst seat, a tiny table against a wall. Not in a corner. I got up a few minutes later to say we had booked for the grill, and that it was OK when I had booked a few nights earlier but she told me that it was now full. Secondly, the restaurant has no atmosphere. It's basically as quiet as it is awkward, and they play modern pop music in the background instead of a Japanese themed music. Thirdly, with the all you can eat, they take SO LONG to bring you more plates that it really isn't all you can eat! We were waiting up to 20 minutes in between plates, and when it would come, it would be 5-10 small bits of chicken on a plate. As soon as a new plate would get here, we would order another, which wouldn't be out for another 20 minutes. The service was bad. The food was alright, but you got it in such little portions that it wasn't worth it. Even if we had got the table we had booked, there was nothing at all worth returning for. Especially at that price range, there are a hundred better places to go. I had been looking forward to eating here all week. Just go somewhere else.

Chef's skill was a little lacklustre, not exaclty suited for the performance aspect of a tepanyakki…read morechef either... New restaurant, could use some improvement

Theoretically in my opinion I don't need to have to write a whole review about here....one word…read moresums it up...FANTASTIC!!! ( or any other similar large words of praise one can think of ) But I should mention a bit more about this Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant which has recently opened in the middle of the city. For a start the interior looks good and as one would expect of somewhere not long opened very clean. The service standard as I have found in most japanese restaurants is very good. With a smile and efficiently. As for the food ...it was delicious. We went at lunchtime and had the teppanyaki. The chef was very good at setting fire alight on the hot plate, so lots of photo opportunities there. I started with Japanese Garden Salad with the chefs salad dressing ...very nice. Of course there was miso soup. Prawns followed with yum yum sauce which was definitely yum yum. I know I may say it a lot.....but it was so delicious. Then beef with seasonal vegetables and rice. Oh, don't forget I washed it all down with an Asahi beer. Nice...Overall top marks and hope it stays that way.

Perfect evening with our magnificent chef (Daehee)....our guests had a marvelous time, they enjoyed…read moreDaehee's warm personality, his great charm and humor, his entertainment skills and his out going and friendly attitude. We rate Daehee and Shin's Teppanyaki 10/10.....Thank You....a night we will never forget and highly recommend to all. ありがとうございました Arigatōgozaimashita

if you want to get friends over but can't be bothered to cook then this is the perfect option! They…read morebring everything to you-table, food, cutlery, plates, napkins all you need to do is worry about what to drink on the night. The chef is very entertaining and cooked us yummy food-9 courses for$50 per head-way cheaper than a night out at a restaurant and it was a great team building experience especially when we had to catch the egg in our mouths! Definitely recommend, it's a great concept

Came here for our last meal in Auckland before heading back to the US. We were fortunate to be…read morestaying in the Rendezvous Hotel, so our commute to the restaurant was delightful! Here's the breakdown: Food: So, so, so GOOD! We ordered: Bento Box with scotch beef, salmon avocado roll, edamame, and kingfish sashimi, miso soup, and rice- Everything in the box was great, except the scotch beef. It was slimy and smothered in sauce. We couldn't eat it. The sashimi and roll were absolutely incredible. By far the best and freshest fish I have ever had in my life. I will be dreaming abut this fish for the rest of my life. 5 course chef's tasting menu: Tuna, kingfish, and salmon sashimi- again, all phenomenal Jumbo prawn tempura- So juicy and delicious! Chef tasting sampler- I cannot recall everything that was included in the sampler, but I remember it all tasting wonderful. Salmon- Fresh and delicious. Trio of desserts- meh. The sake creme brûlée was pretty good, but the others were not very good at all. Seaweed salad- YUM! Really, really delicious and fresh! Service: We had the best servers. The ladies who assisted us were just so kind, sweet, and attentive. They made the evening lovely. Atmosphere: Cool and sleek. Prices: A little pricey, but considering it is located within a hotel and the food was as good as it was we were good with the overall cost of the meal. So why not a 5 start rating?? Well, I will tell you. As I mentioned above, the scotch beef in the bento box was inedible. We asked the server if it would be possible to order something else in substitute for the beef. The server went and spoke with the chef and came back to inform us that the chef said we could have something else, but would have to pay for it. Now, in all of my past experiences if I have ever had to send something back to the kitchen it was always taken off the bill and I was urged to order something else that would also be free of charge. I do not believe I should be charged for something I do not eat because it tastes awful and I do not believe I should be charged to order something else. Alas, we did not end up ordering a substitute for the beef and were very disappointed to see the beef on our bill. Overall, the fish is fresh and the service is lovely. I would recommend this place; however, be careful because if you don't like what you're eating- too bad, so sad for you and your wallet.

Katsura was one of my favourite Japanese places in Auckland growing up. They were infamous for…read moretheir decadent Friday buffets, and all-round great service and authentic cuisine. Recently, it appears like the restaurant has undergone new management. Lined with new decoration and completely new faces, the charm that's brought us here previously is now gone. We came for a set lunch on a weekday, and it remains well-patronized but quiet. As a rundown of our experience: Our host tried to upsell us to a premium green tea when we requested tea. She made no effort to explain what or why, but it came at a cost of $5 per person. Usually their complimentary green tea is great, and was what we wanted; and it came at a bit of a "haggle". After our sushi and salad appetizer, immediately came our mains - a shrunken portion of what used to be a generous portion of beef or chicken. We were told that our rice and miso soup were right on its way: this came 20 minutes after. By then, most of us had either finished our mains, or had waited patiently until they were cold. The wait staff made no attempt to see that our table was cluttered and stacked with plates and did not clear them as they came by countless times! Lastly, our tempura dishes came about a 15 minute wait after we had finished our mains. Don't these usually come before the main dish? Our sauce was served together with our sushi and sat at our table the entire time. It came cold, the batter was not drained, and definitely not the standard it once was. Katsura, being an above-average and luxurious restaurant, was loved by our family for years because of its impeccable hospitality and food. It appears as if that charm is gone. How unfortunate!

Immediately you know there is no air conditioning because fans are running and it's way too humid…read morein there for any restaurant, let along a sushi boat restaurant where you can select a la carte items from a conveyor belt circling the eating area. Ummm... no thanks if you're putting raw food in that high temperature of a room. Fix the temperature, please! Because of that, it was an uphill climb the entire experience. Given that, we ordered off the menu: Yellowtail - gorgeous and full bodied. Wasabi and ginger are annoying per packet. Toro - fatty tuna, and I mean really fatty. It's expensive so really gotta know if you like this (similar to Wagyu) sacrificing meat for fat flavor. Note that for twice the price you only get one fish piece. Shrimp nigiri - on the thin side. Okay flavor. Udon bowl - small personal sized bowl which makes it convenient if you aren't super hungry. That's all...

Different, Sushi on a conveyor belt (train). Staff was a little slow but very nice. Food was good…read morefor type of business, not classy but cute to bring a date. Dishes do all up and next thing a snack was +NZ$100. But overall I would come back for a quick meal.

Great sushi. Fresh Salmon! Yum. Lack lustre customer service, but the sushi made up for it. Plus,…read morethey offer a 'help yourself miso soup and green tea' service for free which is good, made even better by the fact that the miso soup was prepared perfectly & was delicious. Definitely recommend for a quick & satisfying TAKEAWAY sushi meal.

I think it's going to be a tough sell for a gal from Vancouver to rate a sushi place here in…read moreHamilton as much better than 3 stars - but let's just say this place was reasonable :) It's your standard "grab a plate, grab some tongs and pick random stuff" place - except the food items are pretty well labeled here. If you like lots of cooked bits of meat (and some fish) on rice (which appear to be referred to as rolls) - I'd say try this place. It was pretty filling for less than $10 at lunch time. A nice bonus is the table options on the street. Oh and they offer a wakame (bits of seaweed salad) as one of their "on top of the rice" options, which many places I've tried here don't. Recommend trying the tamago as well! A strange thing for me to see is that you can come in for what I can only presume is breakfast sushi (each little roll bit is only $1 each before 10am). Suspect? Maybe. But I bet if you stick to the cooked stuff - you should be good to go.

This is a newer sushi restaurant in Waihi beach. They have a wide variety of ready made sushi that…read moreyou can grab and go or you can order something made to order. The orders come with free miso soup ( yay free) and it's pretty good too, which is a super bonus. There are also a lot of hot asian foods available that are on offer like spicy ramen, udon, and teriyaki and rice dishes. We ordered the chicken teriyaki bento and pork katsu bento boxes and then also got a couple of one off rolls like the avocado and salmon, katsu roll, shrimp tempura roll and a couple more. All of them were really satisfying and the bento boxes were really generously portioned and good. It was big enough to share with my husband and we really enjoyed them. The bentos included a variety of foods like rice, the teriyaki, a veggie fritter, some sushi rolls, among some other foods we were able to try. The manager told us that the bentos change seasonally and in the summer they have fresh fruit and salads too. The owners were really friendly and had great service. I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in the area or even a bit away. We drove by from Tauranga and it was worth the drive.

The food was barely OK...below average quality sushi. The service was really poor. Like he was…read morebored l, had no knowledge about sush, and just didn't care about his job. The place is dirty, the counter was sticky; the windows are dirty. I would not come here again.