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.

Come here for the Vietnamese food and not the fish and chips!…read more I had the Lemongrass and ginger sautéed lamb with thick rice noodle and it was very nicely flavored and it had a good amount of meat. My partner had the fish and chips meal but it was not good. The fish was more breading than fish and fries weren't great either. Service was nice and quick and it got very busy during lunch time with all the office workers in the area. From looking around, everyone order the Viet food as well.

Ordered the rare beef pho and shrimp rolls. The rolls tasted just like back home in california. The…read morepho on the other hand was a bit different. Maybe this is how the locals wanted it to taste? I also noticed that the hot sauce/chili sauce is not sriracha. Maybe it's an imitation? I always try different pho restaurants in different countries. This place was not necessarily bad, but was not my taste. Also, it seems like they added bacon to the peanut dipping sauce. It gave it a nice saltiness to the flavor.

Ordered a Tom yum soup and it tasted great. I requested chili's on the side and out them in the…read moresoup and wow, they gave it a great flavor. Service was amazing. Dude even provided several things and attractions to do/visit.

This is my favourite Asian eating house in Wellington even after 20 years!!!…read more And always their food quality and fast service has always been consistent. My favourite dish is always number 19 Spicy Red fish Vermicelli Noodle Soup

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.

Pretty great location for those of us having a hard time with city streets and driving. Loved the…read moreHot and Sour Dumpling Soup!! So good!! Service was polite, appreciative and pretty fast too. Looks like it's a little hole in the wall, old school (from American coffee shop) appeal and color tones. Clean and fairly comfortable seating. Kitchen looks clean and you can see the cooks hard at work. We had soup, spring rolls, sweet and sour pork, black bean beef, mixed combo noodle. And a pot of tea!! So good!! Sweet-and-sour pork wasn't overly sweet like you'd find in America. It was sweet without being excessive. Everything was super fresh and well prepared.

My wife and I are visiting from the US. She is chinese from Wuhan and loves her noodles and…read moredumplings. We found this place and the reviews were very good. We ordered spicy dumplings and pork rib noodle soup. I have to say that the food was delicious and very filling. The staff was very friendly. The atmosphere is plain but comfortable. We left feeling very full and satisfied with our cravings fulfilled. Thank you very much

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.

Came here with friends who recommended this place. There weren't any dining tables left so we were…read moreseated at a table by the bar which we didn't mind. Service was a tad slow here but picked up as more people started sitting at the bar. We ordered the following: -combo platter (summer rolls, peppered squid, krishna pakhora, three cheese naan, and SFC) - all items were pretty good and my favorite was the krishna pakhora vegetables and SFC chicken which is surprising since these are usually not my favorite meats/veggies -firecracker slider - friends said it was very spicy and I had to try it. This was the right amount of spicy for me and I wish I had ordered it as my main -nasi goreng - good amount of meat but not really extraordinary -lamb curry - good, doesn't come with rice but my partner just ate it as is since he's allergic -krakatoa fire bowl - love the fire element to the drink and it was tasty and didn't taste very alcoholic (even though it's made of a lot of liquors) but it's pricey -bartender's choice - THIS is what I would 100% come back for and surprisingly very affordable. I told them that I like whiskey/bourbon and love yuzu citrus (the more citrusy the better) and they made me a drink that tasted amazing! According to my friends, the food has less spice now compared to when they've had it previously. Overall, I would come back here at least for the drinks and the firecracker chicken.

This place was a surprise since I was expecting much less in terms of flavour profile but the food…read moreturned out to be amazing! The service was quick and efficient and we arrived for an early dinner. The ambience is good enough but a felt a little dingy to me. We tried multiple dishes and they were all very flavourful, especially the beef main dish on the menu. Would definitely recommend trying this spot in Wally!

Solid dim sum. Duck and sesame balls was very good. Har how was nicely done. Rice in lotus leaf…read morewas a little sweet.

The star rating is predicated on the fact that Wellington just doesn't have much selection of…read morereally good dim sum/yum cha restaurants. On the one hand you have Grand Century, which is mediocre at best with not much variety. There are also the other Asian-fusion type places like Ancestral where there's just as much SE Asian influences. For variety, freshness and taste I'd give Majestic 4 stars. I wish there were more traditional items like braised chicken feet or steamed/braised mixed offal or sticky rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaves or even jellyfish salad. However, this place does a good job to satisfy the dim sum craving whenever I have them (and I have them a lot).