I love this place, they make hands down the best miso soup in AKL, the food is great, the atmosphere is really authentic, the staff is awesome and they have good sake too! I have been there a million times and keep going back
Top quality Yakitori in a cosy classic bar. Be adventurous and try their chicken skin and organ skewers. Everything is done with precision and you can tell they know their stuff. My only complaint is.. What was I supposed to do with the cabbage hahahaha. They give you free cabbage but I need instructions please haha.
The food is always very good. But the seating is uncomfortable as it is bench seating and always seems to be full of people. I guess that comes from the popularity of the place though and am willing to revisit!
Oh my gowd, this is very good and decent Yakitori bar, I jst wish they are open one in Melbourne , Australia. We used to live in Auckland 8 years ago and we went visiting Auckland again. Definitely one of Auckland’s institution, their food is stil have the same quality and they are surely still very good Yakitori. We always go and eat in Ken Yakitori whenever we are in Auckland
Best karage chicken in Auckland (possibly even in Nz?!) always a special treat coming here. Very popular so book in advance for more than two people. Extremely delicious food and good drinks selection!
I always order their special combination skewers, which comes with a variety of popular skewers. I love their prawn wrapped in pork belly and beef tongue skewers. Goes well with sake. I've tried their iced sake and the alcohol actually goes straight to your head.
I enjoy their half mayo half miso dips to go with the complementary cabbage.
All their food is decent! The hearty miso soup is a very cheap but surprising dish, agedashi tofu is a nice light dish. They also have great chefs specials and fresh fish, and sometimes provide everyone a round of complementary tasting of new dishes.
Service is friendly and efficient.
Be prepared to come out smelling like yakitori, and it gets warm inside!
If you have anything going on at Vector Arena thats a great place to start your evening with beer on tab and good japanese food. The beer brand and some of the food is different as in Ken‘s at K’Road so its worth to try both places.
We loved our dinner here. Nothing new or special just good yakitori and beer in a cute little yakitori bar. The staff were friendly and they had actual negi, so I was over the moon. Would reco. Mend and return myself too
My favourite Ken Yakitori branch. My girlfriend and I got beef tataki, a 5 piece mixed skewer and japanese curry. The beef tataki was so so good! I 100% recommend getting that to anyone. For 2 people the food we got was perfect to fill us up and was also at a very reasonable price. The service was warm and friendly and overall was a very enjoyable dining experience.
K-E-N, Ken, Ken, KEN!!! Never disappointed by this place. Absolute number 1 go to for a cheeky little date. This place vibes, vibes, vibes. Have been going here for years since I was a teen and it remains top spot for me.
Ken Yakitori is my favourite restaurant in Auckland. I have been coming here for 20 years and it is always a great time. The food is delicious and the atmosphere is very cool and lively. They have a big selection of skewers and smaller dishes designed to be shared and also some larger dishes. Good selection of Japanese drinks too. Beer, whisky, sake etc…
We had read about this place before coming to Auckland for the World Cup and it did not disappoint. The portions are perfect and allow you to try multiple without getting full quickly. Definitely come here! Staff is all very friendly and attentive and made the experience pleasant along with the food. Worthy mentions: chicken with spring onion, okra wrapped with pork.
Great little Yakitori Bar. Couldn’t stop ordering! The beef tongue and chicken hearts and hearty miso soup my favourite!
An old favourite from even 15 years ago. Every time we come here we have a protein galore.
Special mentions: beef tongue, pork belly, chicken mince.
Very good food although somewhat expensive. The yakitori combo is enjoyable in order to figure out what you like before ordering more. The small plates are good for sharing.
I had the agedashi tofu on the side. It was very tasty as well with an excellent broth. Among the skewers, I really enjoyed the chicken meatballs, chicken thighs and chicken and cheese. As for drinks, the Oolong shochu was just okay. I wish they had the plum Zenkuro sake made on the South Island.
As others have commented, the welcome you get is not as warm as it would be in Japan, especially from the owner. The staff are nice and prompt in service, which I appreciated. I also wish the chopsticks were real ones instead of disposable ones, to match the beautiful plates used.
All foods are perfect. The chicken skin is good, and i like unlimited cabbage. Sashimi is delicious but expensive. Highball is bland.Draft beer is fine. The food here is perfect. sometimes its added twice (Check the receipt carefully when paying)
This is the best yakitori place I've been to in Auckland. Ken is legit. The offering is real and reflective of a typical yakitori bar in Japan. The service could be better but I'll get over it. It's mainly if I compared it to Japan.. otherwise fine.
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The best & authentic Yakitori joint I have ever been to in my life!!! Not only all the foods and drinks were great and authentic but also service provided was the one that made me really enjoy the whole experience while I was dining there. Its decors and atmosphere reminded me of good & traditional Yakitori venues in Japan as well. I found this place by accident. I went to a ramen joint nearby there and had a ramen and dumplings. I also wanted to have fried rice since I was super hungry without having lunch today. But that ramen joint don’t have it tonight (they had run out of it), so I checked if there was any other Japanese restaurant nearby. Ken Yakitori was just a minute away from there, so I went to check it out. They were full but there was a table open which was the smallest one they had. I took it since I was by myself and had no issue with it. Maybe after 30 minutes or so passed, 2 ladies at the counter left. Soon after that, 2 new customers arrived, so I thought they would give that space to these 2 new customers. To my big and pleasant surprise, one of the servers came up to me offering to move to that counter since it was more comfortable and I was at their venue before these new customers. He got me there! It was totally unexpected him to ask me if I wanted to move at all. What a caring person he was! I obviously declined since my table was too small for 2 people. 10 minutes or so passed and he came by asking me if I wanted to order more food or drink. Instead of ordering foods/drinks, I told him how much I appreciated his thoughtfulness and great hospitality. He then just said it was a natural thing for him to ask!!! What a great person he is and hospitality it was!!!
With all that being said, I highly recommend this venue to everyone. I’ll definitely go back there next time when I’m in town without a doubt. FYI, all foods there were awesome but their Gyu tan (beef tongue) was my most favorite & AMAZING and the BEST I had ever had❤️❤️❤️
Really nice food, been here for couple times
Nice food for late night dinner, been here last decade. The ox tongue in the combo was always overcooked, otherwise everything was good. I noticed the hearty beef soup was more like a stew, it was tasty not too salty. Their chicken wings were one of favorite nicely grilled.
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