Kazaguruma Japanese Dining

It was wonderful to have a kaiseki/omakase dining experience in Wellington! Every dish we tried was outstanding and they were able to accommodate our dietary needs. I particularly enjoyed the sashimi, while my husband couldn't get enough of the tempura and potato salad. The service was excellent and the experience was worth every penny. We will definitely return in the future!

Tl;dr, the best Japanese cuisine in Wellington I've had, but I wanted a bit more. Great selection of drinks ranging from regular wines to more niche Japanese liquor. Going through the meal, we started with some oysters, not sure where they came from and not super fresh but still nice. Sashimi and Nigiri tasted great and had an interesting selection of sauces and dips. Beef Tataki, hard to go wrong, very nice. Tempura was ok, I loved the seaweed salt but the dipping sauce was quite weak and I don't think you need the mayo for the prawn. Agedashi Tofu I didn't like. It wasn't crispy on the outside and the coating? Was just a bit gummy. The tofu itself was well made though. Kaarage Chicken was very well cooked, nice and juicy but the bowl it came in was just a bit silly. The lamb, so juicy, well sauced, great way to end the set menu. I got the Yuzu sorbet for dessert which was nice and refreshing. Overall I think it's catering a bit more to western tastes rather than being super authentic which isn't a bad thing, but a bit disappointing for me. Still great food and would go again.

We had the UMAMI premium seafood “omakase” four course dinner $90). The service was efficient, courteous and thoughtful. The seafood was so fresh! I enjoyed all courses, particularly the fresh and quality ingredients in the chirashi sushi salad, which featured sea urchin, fresh wasabi and the most tender sashimi slices. The Ora king salmon was so soft and flavourful, the perfect note on which to end a delicious degustation. The amount was perfect, and I left feeling satisfied, tastebuds stimulated but not heavy.

Delicious from start to finish. And we did the saki pairing to make it even better. If you love the food of Japan this is the best place to go. We did the introductory set menu and there wasn’t a dish we didn’t like there were four of us. Delicate sashimi and sushi. Lovely karage chicken. Great piece of beefNext time (and there will be a next time) we’ll do the whole hog (it’s not called that). You have to book.

What a lovely dining experience... everything was just so excellent. To the polite informative service, beautifully presented food, tasty dishes, all in a gentle atmosphere. We ordered the $74. special set menu... which consists of 6 servings of different foods... absolutely all delicious. My favourites were the first 2 dishes, of which I photographed... the raw fish yummo!!! Other dishes... Tempura prawn, and cauliflower, Rare beef, Katsu chicken, and lamb cutlet. Admittedly there was just one negative, the beef, and lamb dish, I felt there was too much sauce on the meat, which for me ruined it. We would definitely go back though, very enjoyable dining.