Sake Bar icco — Restaurant in Albert-Eden

I had an early lunch here on Friday and ordered the lunch box with three choices for $34 - I picked sashimi, karaage chicken and soft shell crab tempura. There was a sign on the door when I arrived saying that due to a staff shortage they had only one chef and there might be some delay, but my food came quickly, no problem there (I'm sure it helped to be there early, it might be different at a busier time of day). The presentation of the food was beautiful and it was all delicious - my favourite part was the crab. If you see the little ceramic dish shaped like a persimmon in the photo, that was filled with a lovely vanilla custard-like dessert with a little dab of red berry sauce on top, to finish the meal, and I thought it was extremely pretty. The staff were helpful, polite and friendly, and as a sidebar, the ladies' toilet here has character and charm, with a beautiful mural of a cherry tree painted on the wall (as well as all the important practical stuff like being clean and tidy with good soap and hand towels). I just had a lovely time and would happily go there again. If I could suggest any improvement, it would be to cut the karaage chicken pieces a little bit smaller - they were quite large, which was generous but meant they were a bit difficult to handle with chopsticks compared with the other, more bite-size pieces of food. It was a very satisfying meal, it felt like a treat, and it was good value...

Exceptional food and service!!

The staff at Sake Bar Icco are sooooooo friendly and kind, I haven’t seen such friendly hosts in a while!!

The food was incredibly delicious, fresh, flavourful and quality and quality wasn’t compromised.

The menu has the right amount of options, so you’re not overwhelmed or struggling!!

For entrees I ordered a 6pc sashimi platter, which was so delicious and the quality of the fish was exceptional. Nicely cut up pieces and the sauce complimented the sashimi really well.

We also ordered the prawn tempura avocado sushi rolls, which was my favourite meal of the night!! The sushi rolls were so light, packed with so much flavour and was so fresh!!! Definitely recommend ordering this.

For mains we ordered the teriyaki chicken and chicken katsu on rice. Both excellent and classic dishes, you can’t go wrong with this. The katsu had a sauce that was a bit strong, however it did compliment the chicken. Out of the two, the teriyaki chicken was my favourite, it was a balanced plate with salad and kumara chips also. We ordered rice on the side.

Overall a very beautiful and delicious experience!

Cute little gesture from the team was my personalised name tag for...

This is a Japanese food lovers dream, only discovered this place a couple months ago and have been back many times since! The lunch menu bento box (pictured) is always the one I get, but with different items you can swap out for including the specials of the day it’s always kept interesting and delicious! Well priced and extremely well presented, this meal is a delight not only for the tastebuds but also for the eyes. The bento box comes with miso, rice, pickled vegetables, sushi, small salad, a choice of two mains and also a desert of the day! This place is an absolute dream with the most friendly staff. With a small restaurant with delicious food however, seating may not be available straight away but more often then not it won’t take long and the waitress is super attentive. This place is in the top few that I will always recommend to friends and family,...