GAJA - Korean Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Waitematā

We dined as a party of six, and first and foremost, I have to say the food was fantastic—everything we had was flavorful and well-prepared. However, some fresh vegetables or lighter options to balance the richness of the dishes would have been appreciated.

That said, the order in which the dishes arrived felt a bit off. For example, the fish crudo (raw fish) came out last, after heavier dishes like the spicy chicken (which was amazing, by the way). Serving the crudo earlier would have allowed us to better appreciate its delicate flavors. Additionally, receiving the rice towards the end of the meal felt pointless, as many of the dishes that paired well with it had already been eaten.

Unfortunately, the service really let the experience down. Apart from being shown to our table, we had very little interaction with the staff. Two members of our group arrived first and could have benefited from some guidance on the menu—particularly how much to order. But that was not conveyed to the remaining 4 guests. The restaurant uses a phone-based ordering app, which might work for regulars, but as new customers, we found it unclear and unhelpful. While the app offers a suggestion for groups of 2-4, it didn’t suit a party of our size.

I also have a nut allergy, which was noted in the booking, but it wasn’t acknowledged when we were seated or when we placed our order. I had to flag down a staff member to ensure my allergy was considered, which felt disorganized and the last thing I wanted, was to get sick or for them having to deal with an ambulance or such.

The lack of attention to detail continued throughout the evening. Ordering a bottle of wine led to unnecessary back-and-forth: the bottle was brought out, followed by a delay in getting glasses. An unopened beer bottle was also left at the table without a bottle opener, leaving us to fend for ourselves.

If the idea behind the app is to streamline the ordering process, there needs to be a balance with attentive floor staff to ensure customers feel cared for. Unfortunately, the minimal interaction we experienced left us disappointed and detracted from what could have been an excellent dining experience.

This feedback is shared in the hope it helps improve the overall experience for future guests. I would have rather emailed the business directly, but with no opportunity to do so and a cavalier “call us if you have feedback” in the post dining email, to me was just lazy. I genuinely believe they could have smashed this out of the park with some personable service and better support systems around the app ordering if they persist with...

Came here with a friend for a casual dinner after a handful of recommendations. There are lots of good options in Ponsonby Central but this is a step above the rest.

On arrival, I instantly felt welcome and cared for. The servers were very friendly and attentive without being annoying.

Kicked things off with some drinks - the peachy cocktail and a grape soda. Both very refreshing and yummy.

They recommend one dish from each section of the menu so we did exactly that. We got the menbosha (prawn toast), tiger pumpkin, eggplant, and the softshell crab. This was just a hint too much for two so we doggy bagged the leftovers for work lunch the following day.

Highlight of the meal was definitely the eggplant. Cooked to be crunchy and super well sauced with gochujang.

I also really enjoyed the prawn toast, albeit very rich and oily (but that's to be expected from the deep frying). The pumpkin dish was also very delicately plated and tasty.

Let down was the softshell crab. Very tasty but unfortunately the batter overwhelmed the delicate texture and flavour of the meat. Wish we'd gotten the drunken noods instead but can come back for that again!

Overall, a great choice at Ponsonby Central and does offer online bookings to make life a...

First point. You would think if a waiter didnt write down the order they'd be confident to get it right? Guess not. We ordered two drinks and I slowly and clearly asked for no ice. My drink arrived in a pint, half of it filled with ice, i kindly told her I asked for no ice. The audacity she had to reply "I didn't hear you". I would strongly suggest to write orders down and repeat it back to ensure time for everyone is not wasted. My drink returned in a ridiculously short glass with no ice. So you're implying the only reason why I got the pint was to accommodate all the ice? It really annoyed me at this point so I asked for the pint back with no ice and I'd pay for whatever the difference was. Point two. A few weeks ago I was at gaja, a side of plain rice was shared between 3 people. This time I ordered the same bowl of rice and it could barely feed one, it came in a much smaller bowl. For the love of god, can regular customers that choose to come back because they had a previous good experience get some consistency? Other than that, thankfully the food made up for the terrible table service and...