Japanese Kitchen SAKURA — Restaurant in Franklin

This is a very weird restaurant from the location to the chef to arrangement and everything. I don't have much experience with Japanese fine dining but overall seems alright.

I went with my parents for dinner Omakase style. I will tell you the whole experience from the beginning.

First, I booked a table. I let the chef know in advance what time we were coming by text. He answered well and explained that it is Omakase, which means chef will pick for you. It will be a course of 12 small dishes made fresh while we were at he restaurant. I agreed and confirmed the time.

We went there. The entrance was tiny and hidden in between the butcher shop and Domino's pizza. The inside was small and a bit cluttered with tables and other Japanese stuff that the chef brought to NZ to feel like Japan although there was not much of interior design skills from him. It just looks like someone's house rather than a restaurant.

We arrived 10 minutes before our allocated time which is very important in Japanese culture to not be late. The chef was behind his counter and kind of ignored us. We, as Asians were quite polite and unconfrontational so we just said hi and sat down and waited for him.

He eventually came with some plates for each person. One at the time, Then another few without talking much. We did feel quite awkward for sure but we had each other's company so it was alright.

Then the chef started asking us a few questions about where we were from, what we do. After that , he started opening up and ...

To be continued, the phone is not typing very well, this is gonna be a long story. This place is really wired and it i does not deserve either 5 or 0 stars for sure.

TLDR Extremely good food mixed with other less than stellar food, wired interactions with chef but that's from cultural differences. Price is very expensive but it is...

Wow, what a dining experience! Looking at some of the reviews I think some people just don't get the Chef's sense of humour, he's hilarious! Yes he took photos, yes he grabbed a glass of wine from our bottle and sat down to chat with us. We didn't get upset with it? It was my wife's birthday, arrived and there was a big happy birthday sign and banner in the restaurant. Two groups had cancelled on the poor guy but he remained open just for us. The food is pricier than some less ""niche" restaurants because it's fresh, organic and prepared on the spot. So what happens to all that food when clowns cancel at the last minute? Bloody rude, he should take a deposit but his humble Japanese ways won't allow him to do that. He trusts people. The food was served like a degustation or tapas setting. Lots of beautifully prepared incredible small dishes that tasted incredible. Every dish was extraordinary Japanese cuisine prepared by a master of his craft. The soup was out of this world, as was the Wagu beef dish..oh, and the sashimi! The sake was wonderful too. Masa is an incredible Chef and a fantastic, fascinating human being. If you haven't been to this place, you are missing out, but do take your sense of humour and don't be too damn precious as some sound in their whinge riddled 1 star reviews. His English isn't great, perhaps that's what others misinterpreted as arrogant or rude, that's certainly not the case. Highly recommended experience..and it's just that,...

I DO NOT recommend this place to anyone. Absolutely revolting customer service.

My family and I went there to try the chef's special, Omakase and although I had seen some mixed reviews about the restaurant on Google I figured there was no harm in going along... I was incredibly wrong.

When we walked into the restaurant, the chef/owner glanced at us, then ignored us. I asked if we can take a sit as we made a booking but he didn't respond. We stood there for few minutes until he decided to give us a table. The only word he said was, 'Sit'. He was terribly rude.

We had 12 course menu yet throughout the entire evening he didn't explain to us anything about the food we had ordered. Every meal he served we had to ask what it was. He seemed very angry the whole time we were dining.

What disgusted us the most was when he asked "Why did you come to a Japanese restaurant when you are Korean". This is blatant discrimination.

We paid $75 a person to only leave feeling hurt, discriminated and offended by this restaurant. This isn't the service any one should...