Jesse Mulligan Auckland Restaurant Recommendations: Where To Find Japanese Food You’ll Love & What To Do About The Bill

In this fortnightly series, Viva’s resident dining-out editor shares advice on where and what to eat.

Do you have any restaurant-related questions or dining-out dilemmas? Jesse Mulligan is here to help.

Email Jesse at Viva@nzherald.co.nz and tell him what you need. Where and what do you like to eat? How much do you want to spend? If you’re just visiting, where are you staying while you’re in town? Who are you eating with? Does anybody have access issues?

Here are some questions he’s been asked lately and his answers.

Hey Jesse!

Just needing some good restaurant recommendations, more sort of an occasion restaurant.

We need it to be pet-friendly to accommodate our French bulldog. It would be a group of six plus our dog and any location that’s central Auckland would be great. We don’t have any preference of cuisine but no Italian food please.

Ranjiv

Ranjiv thanks for your message!

Thank you.

I’ve written about dog-friendly restaurants before here, in which I recommended Baduzzi and Cibo – two of my favourite places to eat dogless as well. The team at Vivace are also dog-crazy and you may even have a staff member volunteer to take your beautiful bulldog for a walk.

I’m also going to add Hotel Ponsonby to my list of recommendations. They have a courtyard which is very pet friendly and last time I was in there was some sort of poodle-cross wandering about as if he owned the place – the staff and customers seemed happy as, and the restaurant confirmed:

“Yes, well-behaved dogs welcome at HP in all areas!”

Hi Jesse,

We love Japanese food and have been very happy with Cocoro when in town but would love your suggestions for alternatives.

Rod

Kazuya at the very top end does Italian by way of Tokyo – try it for a special occasion.

Gion in Parnell flies under the radar but is great: more traditional than Cocoro but very authentic.

Wakuwaku has connections to the Cocoro crowd and is in an appealing new space in Remuera – sit at the bar next to the sushi master if you fancy something different to the usual face-to-face dining.

Katsu Katsu is a much more casual Japanese restaurant that specialises in pork katsu – I love that they do this one thing perfectly in the same way you’d find in Tokyo, though they do have other options if one of your party fancies something different.

Kome in Commercial Bay offers great eating in a nice environment; they also have a sister restaurant Yume near Victoria Park which has a lot of happy regulars.

This is not an exhaustive list but hopefully enough to get you started!

Question, Jesse. Why on Earth do you have to get up from your table to pay your bill in New Zealand? Shouldn’t that be part of the service to finalise the transaction at the dining table as normal? Also, why do bars per se not have chairs to sit and drink at the bar; would like to hear your insight into these queries.

Kind regards,

Richard Bourke

Thanks, Richard, it’s a decent question. I personally find receiving the bill at the table an obstruction to my “get up and go” attitude once the food is over and the final sip of wine has been slurped. The car park’s running, the babysitter’s waiting, the wife wants to get an episode of TV in – no matter how good the meal has been, we can’t wait to get out of there.

By contrast, there’s nothing worse than being in Europe, popping in somewhere for a quick beer then having to wait for the server to come back in his own time, go away and prepare the bill like it’s a special poem, return to take your card, go study that at the counter for half an hour … honestly Frenchies, a fast game is a good game.

For a more nuanced answer, I put your question to Michael Dearth, an American-born restaurateur who has worked both sides of the Pacific. He told me it was a culture shock for him too, working his first Auckland shift at fine dining haunt Otto’s and trying to work out why a suited businessman was wandering around at the point of sale. He’s gotten used to it but at The Grove he warns staff that if they have Americans in, they should bring the bill to them or the diners will wonder what’s going on.

Michael’s not sure why New Zealand has ended up this way, suggesting it’s perhaps cafe culture or a different system of debit cards and pin numbers that meant for a long time the only way to pay was at the terminal. He doesn’t see things changing any time soon, but notes that at his other restaurant Baduzzi they’ll sometimes bring the bill to a table out of necessity – when they have a room full of theatregoers who all want to leave and pay at once. Paying at the table removes a choke point at the front door.

“At the end of the day, it’s our job at front-of-house to read the situation and read the room.”

If you’re dining at The Grove and you want the bill brought to you Richard, try leaning into your American accent.

Previously recommended by Jesse Mulligan

What you’ve asked, and what he’s shared.

Where to take a vegetarian and accessible eateries. Get out of the city centre to find some of the best accessible eateries.

Great Chinese food and where to go to impress a chef. A restaurant packed with heart, soul and a lifetime of experience that is surprisingly fun too.

Where to go for an after-work drink; the strangest things I’ve found in my food. Plus, news from a beloved bar on Karangahape Rd.

Auckland’s top Thai spots; where to go for a quiet, romantic dinner. From big menus and a sublime satay sauce to lovely lighting and good acoustics.

Where to go for good gnocchi; a drink in Mt Eden. Try three different styles of gnocchi cooked traditionally, and Jesse’s current favourite.

Where to go for the best Vietnamese food in Auckland; dinner before a show. Plus, one reader asks where to find some of the city’s hottest new openings.