Azabu Mission Bay — Restaurant in Ōrākei

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...

Food: 6/10 Service: 2/10

The food was decent, but the service from the manager, Rose, was very disappointing and ruined what was supposed to be a special occasion.

My partner booked a table via call three weeks in advance for my birthday, specifically requesting one with a good view. He gave another call a week later to highlight that we wanted a table for two with a good view. However, when we arrived, we were seated at a table in the middle of the hall next to a large family.

When we asked about a better table, explaining the prior calls and that it was for my birthday, Rose dismissed us, saying tables are never guaranteed and that birthdays are very common, as if that wasn’t a good enough reason to honor our request. (Her response alone gave me enough reason not to choose Azabu Mission Bay for any special occasions in the future.) While we understand the restaurant can’t guarantee the “best” table, her dismissive attitude and lack of empathy made the experience unpleasant.

This made us question our choice of Azabu Mission Bay for a special occasion, especially since I’ve had such great experiences with the service and food at Azabu Ponsonby. Moving forward, I won’t choose Azabu Mission Bay for any special occasions and wouldn’t recommend it to others either.

That said, our waiter was excellent, and the food was ok overall, but starting the evening with such poor service from the manager was a major letdown. A little understanding and better communication from the team could have made all...

Food tasted good except for the steak which was a bit tough. But the flavours were amazing! We ordered the Omakase set menu, beef tostada, sashimi, and a sangria! The set menu was a good experience since we wouldn't normally order some of it. The salmon was one of the best in the bunch, the tostada is a staple, and the dessert was a pleasant ending to the savoury goodness we had that evening.

The person who served us was really nice and lovely. He explained the menu well and was patient with us when we were deciding our order. Our water glasses were always topped up and plates were cleared in a timely manner. We also appreciated that they would mention how many pieces each of us will get from the sharing plates. Everything was divided perfectly so that everyone will have a fair piece.

The reason why I gave a low score to the service was the person at the til who was a bit rude. Quite impatient and frowning when showing us our table which at first I didn't mind as I understand people can have bad days. But what made me upset was when that person embarrassed my dad in front of other guests when we were paying our bill. I already submitted my feedback to their survey so I won't go into the details but that incident kind of overshadowed the deliciousness of the food as it was the last thing that happened that night. Definitely not the best ending for my dad's and brother's birthday celebrations!

We will still come back for the food and just try and keep our interactions with that person...