SORA
Cuisine: Japanese
Address: 474 Mt Eden Rd, Mount Eden
Phone: (09) 520 2288
Drinks: Fully licensed
Reservations: Accepted
From the menu: Salmon nigiri $8.80 for two; miso cucumber $8.80, yakitori chicken thigh $8.80, agedashi tofu $8.80, grilled mussels $15 for five; tempura $28.80
Rating: 14/20
Score: 0-7 Steer clear.
Sora is one of the most chaotic restaurants I’ve ever been to. Waiters are either moving fast, bumping into one another, dropping crockery on the floor, or they’re standing motionless at the counter, apparently paralysed by the thought of what to do next. I’m not sure whether they have a system, but if they do it isn’t working.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.“Hello, can I help you?” asked a nice man at the front when we arrived.
“Yes,” I said. “We have a reservation for 6.45.”
“Ah,” he said, looking around and spotting an empty table containing the remnants of somebody’s dinner. “Let me clean this one up for you.”
He hurried off somewhere, and a young woman stepped forward.
“Hello,” she said. “Can I help you?”
“Um, I think the other guy is getting that table ready for us?”
“Ah,” she said, and wandered off.
From behind her, a third man stepped forward.
“Hello,” he said. “Can I help you?”
You get the drift. Everyone is trying to do everything, and lots of things are getting missed. If it’s like this before 7pm on a Thursday with empty tables, God knows what the weekend rush hour is like. Apparently you can’t get in unless you book. And that’s because although service is quirky bordering on anarchic, the food is very decent.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
They call this a sake bar but that’s a term thrown around very loosely in Auckland. In Tokyo it’d mean a bank of dozens of different sake options, charging about NZ$3 per serving. Our licensing and excise laws make that a bit of a fantasy but local operators could make more of an effort to live up to the name - a flight of different sakes for a fixed price, for example. There are a few options here but they don’t feel like a priority - I chose an excellent “milky” sake that I imagined would be cloudy like a hazy beer but poured more like Oil of Ulan. It tasted intriguingly good and made me glad I’d chosen it.
They don’t do the usual shouted acknowledgment when you arrive and depart, which I have to say I missed a little. Nor is there the usual, over-the-top deference that tends to characterise Japanese service. I got the feeling the waiters were using every ounce of positive energy they had to hold back stress-crying.
The Tokyo dish I most often dream about is salmon nigiri - really just a lump of good sushi rice with a sliver of fatty fish on top. They do a really great version of it here at Sora and I recommend it - the salmon laid delicately over the rice like a thin blanket over a sleeping baby.
While we’re on starters, try the cucumber salad - cut two ways and served in miso, it’s even more of a flavour bomb than those vinegary ones you get in Chinese restaurants, and it comes with multi-pickles so it’s a nice little crunchy appetiser while you’re gulping your first drink.
After those first couple of snacks we were able to relax a bit and enjoy the pandemonium. A chef dinged his bell and a waiter came scurrying over. He picked up a tray containing dry ice, and a serving dish in the shape of an ancient wagon, laden with sashimi. I watched him carry the smoking platter swiftly but carefully through the restaurant, knowing that if he bumped into somebody this time they would both go home with acute frostbite. He disappeared into the large seating area out back but a few seconds later was back, still holding the tray. Something had gone wrong, I dare not guess what. The fish and the ice were returned to the kitchen. Throughout this a plain-clothes staff member I presume to be the owner stood below the heat pump in the main dining room, studying the remote control.
Our food kept coming, and kept delighting. I missed the salt and the little pile of daikon that usually comes with tempura but the battered veges themselves were perfectly done - what a treat eggplant is in particular when done this way. There is a full yakitori section from which we randomly chose the greenshell mussels, well suited to a cheesy grill, and I feel you should always order an agedashi tofu if it’s available - their one arrives piping hot from the fryer but came apart satisfyingly with a bit of prodding, and is served with an unusual number of condiments including mushrooms and beans. It’d be a great small dish for a vegetarian.
Something raw, something pickled, something grilled, something fried. It’s easy to create a banquet here and the prices seemed mostly reasonable (I thought $8.80 for two nigiri sushi was a bit steep but perhaps I’ve been radicalised by St Pierre’s).
“Please check your bill” said the woman at the counter with the insistent tone of someone very used to fixing things up manually. But the bill was exactly right. At the heart of this charismatic, bumbling operation, there are signs that they’ll eventually get things under control.
More restaurant reviews
From dining out editor Jesse Mulligan.
Koji in Wellington has the service and vibe nailed. The food is Asian fusion in a controlled and visionary way.
A Waterfront Napier Restaurant With Big City Ambitions. The dining out editor follows recommendations from the NZ Hospitality Awards.
San Ray Brings Hospitality With Heart To Ponsonby Road. Dariush Lolaiy and Rebecca Smidt of Cazador’s new all-day dining spot is easy to love.
Bianca In Ellerslie Is The Hottest Ticket In Town. Brave the queues for dishes that can’t be missed.
Rahi Is Ponsonby’s Sleek New Indian Restaurant. It does a fantastic feast.
