KAZAGURUMA Japanese Dining — Restaurant in North Island

My partner and I recently went here to celebrate our anniversary. We rarely treat ourselves to a fancy night out, so this was a special treat for us and we were very excited.

I made our booking well in advance and chose the $90 set menu since it was a special occasion. It was very clear in the booking process that I had chosen this menu, and it was also confirmed via email, multiple times.

The day of our booking, I received a call just to confirm that yes, we did want the $90 set menu, because they would need to start preparing it before we got there. I confirmed that yes, that's what we wanted, and we were really looking forward to it. However, they thought I had booked for four guests (no, my email booking confirmation definitely said two) but we were able to quickly sort that out--however, that should have been my first clue!

We arrived on time for our booking, and I told the host that the booking was under my name and was for the $90 set menu. Boy, was she confused! After disappearing for a bit, she came back and told us that they were just sorting out our table and it wouldn't be long. After a little wait, we were finally seated upstairs.

Our server provided us with water and what was supposed to be a "hot" towel. It was cold on the outside and lukewarm at best in the middle. This restaurant was supposed to be very nice, so we were pretty put off by this. She then confirmed that we had preordered some dishes off the a la carte menu beforehand---uhhh what?? I definitely hadn't done that, and neither had my partner.

I then explained AGAIN that we had prebooked the $90 set menu. She had no idea what I was talking about. I then started explaining what was on the menu and she got a look of panic, and said she needed to check with the kitchen--it was at this point that we realized that despite confirming the menu multiple times (including an actual phone call from the restaurant), they had clearly gotten confused and there was the possibility that we wouldn't be getting our food.

After a nervous wait by us, our server comes back, says they have our food, but we're seated at the wrong table. She proceeds to move us into the next room, to a different table that looks EXACTLY THE SAME, but at least isn't situated by the toilets or the drink station. By now, we are very hungry and confused.

We finally got our food--the first course was amazing, especially the sashimi and oyster. The second was honestly very disappointing--it was wagyu beef, tofu, and vegetables in a soy milk broth--the beef itself was delicious, but the broth was absolutely underwhelming and in desperate need of some seasoning. The third course was salmon that was both visually stunning and beautifully cooked and balanced. We also ordered two dishes off of the a la carte menu--we really enjoyed the beef tataki, and the karaage chicken was pretty good, but not worth the price tag.

We were left with very mixed feelings about our night--they were very nice and friendly, but I've never seen such confusion by waitstaff. You could maybe MAYBE give them the benefit of the doubt in a huge restaurant that's doing lots of covers, but there were literally seven tables in the entire restaurant. SEVEN! And with all the confirmation beforehand about me choosing the set menu, it's pretty unforgiveable.

As for the food, some of it was phenomenal, and some of it was absolutely average. For the price that we were paying (which we expected going in, and were prepared to pay because this was a special occasion) I would expect consistently good food.

If we were to go back (which unfortunately, we will not, because there are a lot of other restaurants in Wellington who I know will give us consistently good food and service) I would stick to the a la carte menu. The sashimi in particular was very good.

I really do hate to leave a bad review, but our experience was just so bizarre--instead of waking up the next day thinking about what a fantastic experience we had, I've spent it stewing about how much of our hard-earned...

Excellent food and service ! We had Umami set menu and sake pairing menu. Very very pleased with out selection. The Umami menu included 4 different dishes. It began with a beautifully served tempura oyster. The oyster was divine. It had white tobiko looking like little pearls! Very pretty and yummy. The second dish was Chirashi sushi salad. It was a total explosion of flavors ! Soooo delicious 🤤 !!! It was my favorite out of 4! The salad has different kind of fish, scallops, prawn, and roe . Gorgeous representation and well chosen name « Sea Jewels » 💎 ! Next 2 dishes were crayfish and salmon. By the third dish, i started feeling full but couldn’t resist not to finish the salmon. Very delicious sauce! Not sure what it was. Honestly, you cannot stop eating and waiting for the arrival of the next dish even if you are already full ! Sake pairing was excellent. The waiting stuff did a great job of representing each sake. Ah ! You get to choose your own sake cup! That was very cute and thoughtful! I was impressed all the way ! Our table was tacked away in the corner and it was an excellent spot. I loved cushions on the chair ans they really make me comfortable to enjoy beautiful food selection. I cannot wait to go back there one day again!

There are some steep stairs going up but they also have sitting downstairs, so they can accommodate.

Thank you for a very enjoyable...

3/22 - Beautiful food and wine. (Seafood set menu and sake matches) Great genuine service. Will be back to try more. Updated 6/23 Did not live up to previous experience in any way. I booked later sitting so that we could take our time but restaurant had other ideas. No time to savour anything. Plates were whipped off the table while we were still eating and then the next course appeared immediately or even before we'd finished the previous one. I had to grab my glass of wine back as waitress tried to clear it before I was finished. Same with my partner's sake matches. All five courses came out in less than 40 minutes. Not to be driven out as we had planned on a leisurely experience rather than a fast feed we stayed on chatting despite the fact that the room (upstairs front) was freezing cold and the waitress kept peering round to see whether we were leaving! Once we'd finished eating no more water was offered even though we all had empty glasses. ... Less food than previously, not even any rice and very small portions. Sashimi was beautiful the rest ok. I wished we'd gone for the a la carte menu as we could have had a lot more for the money instead of leaving somewhat hungry. Not sure if I would go back - but definitely not in...