Tokyo Bay Japanese — Restaurant in Devonport-Takapuna

Nigiri and sashimi platter for two: 1/5. They looked fresh but way too much wasabi was smeared between the fish and the rice that all we could taste was wasabi… salmon sashimi was terribly sliced- it was so thin and ripped. Not professional. There was no salmon nigiri which we didn’t expect. We started the meal with a huge disappointment. Aburi nigiri: 1.5/5. Again, waaaay too much wasabi between the fish and the rice that we felt tortured eating them. We couldn’t enjoy the taste of the fish.

We have a lot of sushi from sushi takeouts to proper Japanese restaurants and we like wasabi but this was too overpowering. Chef should have known that with more oily fish like salmon and tuna, more wasabi is okay but with white fish, scallops and prawns, a little wasabi can go a long way.

The salmon aburi nigiri was good but everything else… well, we don’t know. We were too busy trying not to cry.

Teriyaki duck breast was good- 5/5

Tokyo mixed Grill-3/5 it just didn’t taste good. Chicken was dry, sauces didn’t go well with the meats. Pickles tasted weird….

Miso eggplant- 3/5 too salty but other than that it was nicely grilled.

Vege tempura -5/5 it was delicious.

Drinks were good

Service- the lady taking our orders and serving our food was nice and friendly. But at the end we were over charged by $95. My husband being the kinda guy he is, just paid and walked off. He wasn’t going to tell me how much it costed because we were disappointed with the experience and he didn’t want to add to it by telling me how expensive it was. Thankfully I persisted and thought it was ridiculous that this meal costed us almost $270. We did calculations with the online menu and found out that we were over charged $95. Apparently they put a bottle of alcohol someone else ordered on our bill. He had to go back to the restaurant. This was our anniversary dinner. We enjoyed ourselves but we would never go back and will not recommend this place to...

The most horrible service ever. We (4 adult and 4 children) went for lunch but the manager didn’t want to seat us at all. Although most tables were empty at that time, he was only talking about where we can’t sit rather than where we can. With his unpleasant face and attitude, we can tell we were not welcomed and had to leave. Wasted our time earlier waiting outside for it to open.

I just read its one star googles reviews and found that the restaurant has a history of being picky on its customers. If you go there with child, or just for a drink, or have difficulty in mobility, or have some special request, get ready for an unpleasant service.

—————————————— To reply to the owner:

Thank you for your eye opening response. It just proves the attitude you showed us the other day. If you don’t accept walk in customer, please put a sign or politely make it clear when we arrived. You can’t simply tell us to split table and disappear. And we suddenly became ‘demanding’ because we asked another staff if we can seat together at the deck table? Besides we can’t sit here and there, did you ever show us where we can sit? To refresh your memory, there were only two tables occupied when we were there. It’s surprising that you and your team don’t know how to deal with the ‘busy’ situation. What a ‘successful’ restaurant! Maybe you can learn from your next door. They arranged us a table immediately and friendly when we walked in, while they were nearly full of customers at that time. Oh right, before that, you probable need to learn how to speak like a human first.

You’re definitely the worst restaurant in NZ. What’s more ironic is that you’re running a Japanese restaurant in such an absurd way while Japan is famous of its incredible and thoughtful customer service. Shame on you.

—————————————— Check on what you have done from the old comments, and your creative response. You do know how to humiliate your customers, uh? I’m so glad that more people get...

I Ordered Chicken Karaage, Ginger Pork Belly and The Bluewater Bento box. Whilst the service was amicable and the staff were friendly. When the Chicken Karaage came out it looked overdone and when I bit into it, it was extremely dry. There was a dollop of mayo the size of a 50cent piece on the side of the dish which barely was enough for 1 of the 5 burnt pieces of chicken. To add insult to injury when the waiter asked if the food was ok. I mentioned it was dry so she offered more mayo, only for it to be again the size of a peanut and ended up on the bill as an extra $1 charge. I also ordered a "High Ball" cocktail which might as well have been fizzy water. I know the cost of living is tough, but being this tight certainly does not encourage repeat business. The whole experience left me dissatisfied and I will not be returning. The last time I had Tokyo Bay was around 3 years ago and it was pretty damn good, but unfortunately they have gone down hill. Its sad to see another once good place drop the ball. I definitely would not recommend Tokyo Bay Takapuna to anyone as there are much better options for Japanese at this price point within 5km. Nippon sake bar Takapuna and Musashi in Milford are far better...