Tanoshi Christchurch — Restaurant in Christchurch

The food was very bland and not at all authentic it was overpriced. The staff didn’t come to check on how the food was. I pointed out that the pancake was very bad and that I didn’t eat it at all, They didn’t care to Acknowledge it. I even paid extra to add pork belly to the pancake and they just added litterlay 2g of streaky bacon and not pork belliy. JUST 2 grams. When I gave my feed back both to the waitress and then the lady at the counter , she just ignored didn’t even apologise, just asked if we want to pay together or seperately. Katsu pork was overcooked. The meat was dry, possibly because it was poorly defrosted prior to cooking. The dumpling was very average. The sauces were bland. Waste of money. Staff also didn’t let us sit in one of the 3 booths which were all empty at 9pm when arrived. The male waiter said the booths are for bigger groups. They were closing at 10pm and no group came to those booths. It was surprising to see poor standard of customer service from not just one but all three front staff members and also the poor cooking skills of the chef who was available. I wonder if they treated us like this because it was a Monday and we went there at 9pm. It is sad to see a great Brand/franchise go to waste because of staff members with poor attitudes. I really hope the owner doesn’t comment on this review saying “as you can see we get a lot of 5 star ratings for this dish and that dish and I will tell all the executives in Japan n NZ about this” what the owner should do is actually be at the restaurant and closely supervise the staff members who were working on Monday the 02nd September 2024 and make sure they succeed in their roles. It’s is normal but unacceptable for staff members to slack during quite nights. It would have been nice no to be charged for the pancake which was...

Not worth at all.. trusted the chef and got betrayed..

We went for a birthday dinner as a group of four. We all got the regular omakase trust the chef set and a few drinks. I feel a bit of regret to have booked here instead of somewhere else as everyone said it was not worth the price. Everything tastes good and was plated up really beautifully but we left no where near full and disappointed.

For 55pp you get “7courses” but in reality what each person gets is a decent amount of edamame, 5 pieces sashimi, 3 pieces beef tataki, 2 pieces gyoza which was probably the highlight as it was very juicy inside, 3 pieces fried chicken which was a bit dry and the sauce was too spicy, half of a small okonomiyaki (cabbage pancake) and 2 pieces seared scallop which probably the most expensive course of the night? There is no way you charge 55 for that

They seem to be signature for their ramen so it was weird that it was not included in this set even like a smaller bowl. We were surprised there was no miso soup, sushi, tempura or dessert included, which we definitely thought we would get to eat in an omakase. In conclusion, the set should come with 2 or 3 more dishes as mentioned or like maybe a chawanmushi steam egg.

There was also a pescatarian version trust the chef which was a few bucks more and I wonder what is in that set maybe it will have better value?

The table was also a bit small for four of us and with drinks it’s really crowded on the table. However the staff was very nice and friendly.

They do offer first table which is 50% the bill and maybe that’s the only time it’s worth...

I will say based off the number of 5-star reviews this seems to be a bit of an outlier, but it is an honest review of a not so good experience...

The atmosphere and decor are brilliant, and I think the restaurant is tucked into a really cool spot (try to get a window seat if you can).

However, with high expectations of a warm soulful bowl of ramen, the two of us were left disappointed with the quality of the food. I ordered the Spicy Prawn Tonkatsu Ramen and it really just tasted like noodles in water. The Okonomiyaki also felt like there was not much flavour to it, however the Scallops were extremely rich and buttery (very nice dish in comparison).

The waiter was very nice... however extremely pushy with wanting us to order drinks and more food (upselling I assume) but got a bit much after a while.

The moment I decided to write the review was when I was asked to tip at the end and being from America (but now living in New Zealand) this wouldn't normally be a shocking moment to me, but the price of the food was so high that I was disappointed that a tip was expected on top of it.

Staff were friendly, very nice atmosphere I think they can do well but I just wasn't thrilled about our first experience. Definitely don't write it off, but we will give it some time...