Sumi City Works Depot — Restaurant in Waitematā

I was really looking forward to trying Sumi. We eat a lot of Japanese and I had read a good review. Unfortunately our experience was so bad I feel compelled to write about it, and my recommendation would be to go elsewhere. The service was incredibly poor. We sat there for 15 mins at least with no acknowledgment and had to flag down a staff member to order drinks which then took another extended period to arrive, little by little, not sure why as we only ordered wine and beer and the restaurant was not full. Our server didn't seem to speak English so it took a long time to order, with us reduced to holding up our fingers to indicate numbers and pointing to menu items, which she obviously couldn't read either. The wine list I think was the worst part - it really is quite terrible. There was no rose and only 2 reds on the list but the pinot turned out to be unavailable, so we had no option but to order the other red, a very heavy Bordeaux, which turned out to be the most awful red wine I can remember having in forever, and so poorly suited to Japanese food. Like drinking red wine mixed with dirt. The prawn shumai were ok but not what we were expecting - deep fried so the exterior was hard and crunchy and not like a normal dumpling. The squid tempura was not good - really quite chewy and the squid pieces were too big and really needed to be cut up but we were only given chopsticks. The chicken karaage pieces were also huge and hard to eat with chopsticks. The tuna nigiri sushi were pleasant enough and the tofu salad and vege tempura were too, but not enough to save the evening. We then got told, a measly 1 hour after being seated and after waiting so long to even be served, that we only had 30 mins left at our table. In other words, please leave now that you've stopped eating. Overall, sadly a 1/5. Would...

There’s something off in this place, food is mediocre. Sukiyaki was salty. Lunch menu was a bit on the high side. There’s also awkwardness when the chef shouted and embarrassed the server (they were speaking in japanese but you can tell from their body language).

Service by the staff on the ground was good until I asked why the pickle wasn’t served when it was clearly stated in their menu. I’ve asked 3 female servers and they all never came back for an answer even a simple yes or no. Then dessert order came and was served by a seemingly higher position from the kitchen. He apologised and explained what happened and added mochi in our matcha pancake, which we are grateful for.

All I was asking was a simple yes or no, and I’d gladly move on because maybe that pickle side dish is really expensive, but they all just went away after speaking...

Went on Sunday night, so it wasn't extremely busy. Still nearly full between 6 and 7:30pm.

Great service. The waiters were attentive without being intrusive.

The food was amazing! The sashimi was excellent, not just different kind of fish, but the best cut too. The wasabi was great ;) The grilled hokke was 10/10 too just like in Japan and it was so big. The eel was real, super delish. The prawn was so perfectly cooked, but a bit hard to peel the shell. Couple of Specials weren't available (burdock fries and grilled mackerel), but it was Sunday night. Good green tea and miso. I'll be back to try more

Cool music. We sat at the counter watching the chefs. They were very friendly and answered all our questions about the dishes and general.

Absolutely loved it. Real authentic Japanese place with like-in-Jaoan-food. Total...