Khu Khu Eatery - Ponsonby Branch — Restaurant in Waitematā

Food is exceptional. Presentation is awesome too. We had both the starters. Spring rolls are good but the daikon is comfort food to the max. Highly recommend. We also had sweet and sour "chicken" and the thai basil "duck". Both dishes were flavorful and good sized portions.

My reasoning for the 3 stars is because of the service. Just little things that don't fit the vibe and expectations you'd have of a restaurant in Ponsonby. Tables were incredibly sticky, perhaps because they were new? Unsure, but didn't feel pleasant on the forearms at all. Our food order was taken before our drinks order. We had to ask for drinks after our food arrived. Some comment was made about not ordering a cocktail from the new menu, when I chose to have an RTD instead. (I have to say, the person who served us, assuming manager, was super friendly but was also very proud of his new cocktail menu.) When we asked for water, we were instructed to get up and get our own from the counter.

It has great potential, especially given that it is a completely vegan restaurant, which is hard to come by. Despite the service, (which can be changed) they've hit the nail on the head with the most important bit, the food. I still recommend going and trying the delicious and...

I would like to update my review to reflect the subsequent conversation I had with the founder. He reached out to me, genuinely apologized, and provided me with an opportunity to express my concerns regarding what went wrong. I appreciate that the owner took the time to address my concerns and apologize for the inconvenience caused. While the experience itself was disappointing, the subsequent conversation with the owner has shown me that they value their customers' feedback.

We made a reservation for a group of four, but two of us arrived 20 minutes late. The other two were already there, and when the latecomers arrived, the waitress told us we had to give up the table in one hour. We agreed, but then she kept coming over to remind us three to four times during that hour. It was beyond annoying because we had already agreed to leave on time.

Honestly, it was frustrating as hell. We had already worked it out, and her constant reminders just ruined the whole dining experience. We wanted to enjoy our meal without feeling rushed, but she made sure to interrupt us every chance she got.

When you've already agreed to a time restriction, you shouldn't have to put up with someone constantly reminding you. So...

We were so excited to try out this new all-vegan spot, so we went there for a special date night. Unfortunately by the end of our date we were still hungry and very disappointed.

We ordered the crispy daikon, duck drunken noodles, penang curry and a side of rice.

The crispy daikon came first and was delicious. The duck drunken noodles came next, they were good, quite a small portion for the price though. Next came the penang curry, which essentially was a small bowl with a couple wet veggies tossed in, a few bits of broccoli and a couple bits of cauliflower...that's it. No crispy tofu as advertised, and they forgot the side of rice. The curry was pathetic.

The waiter asked how our meals were so we mentioned the curry was underwhelming. They offered us a free slice of cheesecake for our troubles. Some substantial food would have been better, but we weren't going to turn down free vegan cheesecake. Alas, we should have turned it down because it was completely frozen.

They were friendly and apologetic but still managed charge us extra for the rice that never came. We won't...