Review Ken Yakitori Bar K'rd - Auckland Central

Superb ambiance and staff. It took quite a while for our vegetable tempura to be served but other than that, everything was perfect. The dishes that we ordered were delicious. I'll definitely comeback!

Japanese style delicate flavours the skewers are absolutely yummy deep fry Camembert with a side pineapple jam broccoli with sesame sauce are my favourites but anything you could find in this menus will satisfy your taste bud the only bad in this restaurant is the charcoal burnt smell will be like a second parfumerie in your clothes but it worth!!

I am always keen to try new yaki tori bars anywhere I go. This one was a pleasant experience, ordered three types of yaki tori and the one I mostly enjoyed was shrimp wrapped with bacon, awesome combo. The onigiri was also very good, loved the sauce the chef ducked in. I sat by the bar, so time flies when you see things being make at your sight. Lovely place!

It's like stepping into a little pocket of Japan. I really enjoy the slower pace of this place. And ordering a few things at a time. They have a top 5 recommended skewers list, and I'd have to second it. The only other thing I'd add is the beef tongue and the grilled rice balls. The latter has such an interesting texture when grilled. The karaage is also a classic must have, as well as the beef tataki. I've also tried the gingko nuts and it's quite the interesting flavour and texture - worth trying once. Though Google tells me I shouldn't eat more than 7 of these nuts in a day... Great sake and classic Japanese beer options. And a very cosy ambience. If you're not a big group, would recommend sitting by the kitchen. Always fun to watch them grill.

Good food. The tataki was slightly spicy making it better than usual. Would recommend for a chilled night out

I liked the table that sits down on the floor designed for a group of about 8-10. Music playing in the background was very diverse from pop to cultural. Would be nice to stick to one thing. Food was good. I would come back here but it wouldn’t be my first pick but still worth checking out

Amazing food here, great spot for a large group, but if it is a large group it is one bill per table. Menu is amazing, especially I rate then beef tataki, prawns with bacon skewers, edamame and karaage chicken

The Best an most authentic Yakitori Bar I have found in a while! The Staff are Japanese, super friendly, and the Sapporo & Asahi on tap is highly recommended with your Yakitori! Arigatou!!

Good Food and friendly staff, came to Auckland a week ago went to 2 times, very enjoyed my holiday.

Do not make my mistake Yakitori on back page :-) huge selection. House sale very nice hot. Have Asahi on tap. Prices great, food was so good forgot to take pictures. Small and cozy, great for a group of 4/6 people.

I like their beef Tongue 😝 that I always go back for. There are counter seats where you can enjoy your meal n watching grilling yakitori. But the price is a little too high for what they are but they still taste good n their service is consistently good n smiley.

Awesome atmosphere and the food never disappoints, service was ok they were training new staff so it wasn't as good as usual, but didn't affect the overall night.

Awesome spot, can't rate highly enough. Very busy and recommend booking in advance, food is amazing and very authentic.

Great food and plum wine. Friendly service and an authentic experience. You can sit and watch the yakitori being cooked over coals at the bar. I recommend the salmon 5 skewer set. I like to get a small $4 bowl of rice with it. Then 1 other thing to round out the meal. The cheese chicken things are really nice or a share platter like the beef tataki(thin strips of raw meat beautifully seasoned with some shredded cabbage.)

Food was good, service was outstanding and good buzz. One of the better Yakitori bars in Auckland and the best in the CBD by far.

Awesome place, nice decor. Friendly waitress. Ordered okonomiyaki, beef curry and miso, very delicious and scrumptious. It's been over 5 years since I had those dishes that my wife cooked. You all need to try, and edulge yourselves in fine Japanese cuisine.

Ken Yakitori K Rd is always a go to for us when we can’t be bothered cooking. The food is excellent.

This is truly an authentic Japanese restaurant!!! Not only the dishes, but also the atmosphere and customer service are great and they really bring me back home! I’d love to go there soon again.

We just love the place. Most of the time when we go out for a concert or similar we kind of start the evening here. Like to sit on the bar, watching the yakitori grill and enjoy the mixed feeling of being in a bar with tab beer and a restaurant at the same time.

We weren’t sure what to expect when I chose this restaurant but we both were so happy we tried it. The food was all fresh and delicious and flavours were authentic wherever possible. I’d certainly go back again.

Always good. No, it's not pretentious and "upmarket", and doesn't do "Cuisine", but it serves the essential food groups needed by humans (beer and grilled meat) perfectly, and in style!<br/>

Oh my gosh, what a meal. Everything was so tender and well made, karaage chicken was to die for and I've never tasted better yum yum prawns! The sake was great too, and all of the staff were lovely. I never wanted to leave. Can't wait to go back again

I was very disappointed with the skewers from here, they were; expensive, small, and lacked flavour. The service was slow and we had to ask where our food was.

I've traveled to Japan many times and I'm fully versed in the cuisine and restaurant scene there. My partner and I left the Anzac branch because we were told it was not BYO, and the vibe there was a little frantic for my liking. We drove to Ken's on K Rd. It felt very authentic and took us back to the days we were eating in the back streets of Shibuya, Tokyo. However, the food was very salty, Yakitori with rice and miso. The serving size could have been more generous too. Three mouthfuls of salty chicken is not going to feed a man. It's more like a child's size serving. $10 corkage for BYO was more than what I paid for the wine I brought to the restaurant. You're better off drinking your wine before you get there to avoid the corkage carnage. The staff were nice and friendly and I suppose if you're looking for an authentic and very local-like Japanese snack, then this may be an option for you.

Just a pit stop before a night out, my mate really recommends Anzac Ave branch though but we were closer to here. Nice warm welcome coming through the door. Fast service and the ambience is cosy & charming.<br/><br/>We had Beef Tongue, Cheese Sausage, Chicken Things with Spring Onion, Chicken Trim Cartilage, Chicken Hearts, Pork Belly with Onion, Beef Sirloin and Spicy Korean Chicken yakitori.<br/>We sat right in front of the BBQ, watching the master at work. So everything was right under our noses and delicious.<br/><br/>Really great place but just a little short of perfect for me but close enough.

i like this Ken the best out of the 3 locations. Been coming here since 2008. Favorite is prawn and pork skewer and non-alcoholic Asahi dry japanese beer. If you havent tried japanese charcoal bbq give it a go.  The cooking technique makes a big difference in flavor.

A real funky place to go to, really buzzy and the place was pumping. Friendly service. Great skewers. Great place to go try a new style of Japanese. Slighty over priced though eg; $5 for a can of coke. But definitely would go again!

Very busy downstairs so sat upstairs and it was quite breezy up there which was not great during winter. Good service but some of the waitresses cannot understand English that well and had to have things repeated a couple times. They didn't have any udon noodle soup left so we had to change one meal. The soft shell crap and chicken karaage were our favourites. The prawn and pork skewer was the best skewer out of all the ones we had.

My husband and I love Kens and has been a family favourite for years! The food is amazing, and the service is always great. We recommend the chicken/cheese skewers, the deep fried Camembert and the karage chicken!

Despite having a full restaurant, the staff managed to serve my repeated orders and questions without any problems. I have eaten my fair share of incredibly bad yakitori at other places (think small pieces of dried chicken breast meat that could have been pan fried) so I was overjoyed to find this place with their robata grill. Their yakitori is just like the izakayas in Japan (smoky with the juices sealed on the inside, the right portion size too) and is worth the price considering it is not in Japan. Think of yakitori like sushi or tapas, eat little bits at a time with a drink and enjoy it.<br/>I ordered beef with oroshi daikon - meat was juicy and tender and the oroshi daikon helped lighten the meaty taste. The ume miso had a great umami sourness that worked well with the slightly salted chicken thigh meat. The corn was definitely something I'd order again, I thought it had dried out, but there was plenty of juice in the kernels! The daikon chips were crispy and dry without excess oil.

Terrible terrible service. We came at 8 pm on Monday and the place was not even filled. And the more terrible thing is, we stood at the entrance and waited for staff to seat for 5 minutes. Later we stopped waiting and went towards to the cashier and asked for seats. Again, another five minutes. There was one waiter in the bar sitting on the seat and I though he was one customer because he was not wearing uniform nor serving. We could not wait any longer and we left. Still no water served or even menu. PS. The place was not filled and there was one waiter sitting and chatting.

One of my favorite Japanese places! we came here with a group of 5 people and just ordered lots of little things to share. <br/><br/>We ordered the chicken thighs, squid, prawn, scallops, sweet corn, kumara, teriyaki tofu, salmon rice and deep fried wrapped in Camembert. <br/><br/>I can’t fault any of these dishes they were all made with fresh ingredients and had so much flavor. The staffs are very accommodating and the whole experience is magical!

Awesome staff, Awesome Yakitori Chef,and awesome foods.... the skewers grilled infornt of you and the beers. Has become one of my fav spot.

I had a donburi and a set of skewers.. They were very expensive. A set of skewers costed me $15ish, and it included 4 mini size skewers. They didnt taste that gud either.

If you're not aware of the story, this guy Ken opened a yakitori bar and I dined at it last night.<br/><br/>I had the 5 skewer combo and the chicken livers. Livers are high in Vitamin A. <br/><br/>I didn't actually meet Ken, but there was a guy working the grill thing, which is really cool to watch. Maybe he was named Ken but not the actual Ken. Maybe his name was Jim. Anyway. He did a good yakitori. It's fun to watch Jim work the grill thing. <br/><br/>Really great night out. It's a good place for romantic eats, as evidenced by the couples around. Thanks for making me feel lonely. It's okay, the salmon skewers made me feel better.

How did I not go to this place till now? Awesome atmosphere. Great service and very reasonably priced and delicious food. Try their fried chicken and also Ken's 5 meat plate. Highly recommended.

Taste 3.5<br/>Environment 3<br/>Value 2<br/>Service 4<br/><br/>It's just perfect to have snacks in such places. The flavour is natural and authentic, good experience to try out real yakitori in Japanese restaurant. My favourite is the pork skewers

Rude waitress as if she's coming for work to fight food items are getting smaller and price going higher what a rip off Japanes resturant I don't recommend the chef was very slow to do the order seems he lacks of experience and energy

Ken Yakitori has an amazing array of foods you can put on a stick ! its not the sort of place you want to drop by for lunch but more a social dinner consisting of 4 or more as the food is very much a share type scenario, cant fault the place but maybe they could provide slightly more quantity for the value #g1

Friendly service and very tasty food. Amount of food is very small and expansive. Good place to grab beer and light dishes. Recommend to go on weekdays.

Lots of atmosphere but the food was a bit of a let down. Small portions (to be expected) but flavour wise - missing a little something, and you have to get a decent amount to fill you up. Go for experience, wouldn't mind trying some of the mains off the menu.

A nice experience, similar to Tanukis cave. It does take a bit to fill you up so perhaps go for something else if you're on a budget. Always nice for something a bit different though.

This is a good place to have lunch/dinner and try the real street food of Japan. The interiors of the bar are quite good with nice wooden seating space.<br/><br/>Likes:I was  surprised by complimentary chips as starters<br/>Dislike: The portion of dishes was small.

This was place okay.<br/><br/>Lots of little shared tapas; wide range from sashimi to skewers and soft shell crab, at probably on the expensive side considering small portions and the simple nature of dishes. Was not blown away by anything in particular although everything was pleasant.<br/><br/>Seemed to be a bit of this and that; curry powder on soft shell crab and the whole grain mustard for the meat skewers; not sure whether they were mixing things up a bit or ran out of the usual mayo.<br/><br/>Beer was a bit warmish - this annoyed me more than anything.<br/><br/>Sashimi was fine and tasted fresh. Wasabi was pretty good and freshly prepared - not of that premix paste.<br/><br/>Also, wasnt allowed to sit upstairs even though place was semi empty; had to cram 6 people around a small table with knees touching; we like ordering quite a lot of food and pigging out but wasnt too motivated this time around; their loss I guess.<br/><br/>San oishiis<br/><br/>

After reading Concrete Playground's list of 8 best places for fried chicken, we decided to check out the place for a Friday night dinner. It was reasonably busy, there are some rave reviews about the place, so we had high expectations. <br/><br/>The menu was simple, with the most range in the yakitori (obviously!). We ordered a plate of 5 skewers- salmon, prawn, scotch fillet, chicken, meatball. All were tasty, cooked well, but nothing spectacular. The beef in the curry was tender, but it was missing the rich flavour of a typical Japanese curry. Our salad was fresh, flavourful and a nice balance of tofu and other greens- it was my favourite of the night. And the star that we had been waiting for, Ken's karaage fried chicken, was  disappointing. The cornflakes could have been crushed into smaller pieces to make it easier to eat. The chicken needed lots more flavour, to make it more enjoyable to eat. The mayo went well with the chicken and helped it immensely, but we were given a very small serving. <br/><br/>At times we felt a little forgotten but when we did interact with the servers they were nice and friendly. However, we will not be returning to Ken Yakitori, for the price we paid and the meal we had.

There are two KEN bar in city central. One at ANZAC AVE and another one at K rd. I've been that Anzac one several times and 3-4 times at k rd. i suggest beef tongue , chicken wings, sausage cheese and the hot saki!! Hot saki is better than beer in winter.

Appalling...We have been regulars for years later. Something changed about a year ago. We gave it one last try tonight (19th April 2015) and never again. Service was OK however they just didn't get the changes we were trying to explain! Ken...we are done! And I would give less than 1 if I could. Not what we used to experience and the place is never busy. Tells a story

My last review was rejected as I was still angry about my wife and I being treated so poorly by an inept bunch of clowns. <br/>The food here when I had been previously was good. The most recent time we were ignored, made to wait and then treated like cattle, when others who had arrived after us, we're served first. <br/>In a nutshell, sort your selves out and it will be fine. Until then, I'll support eateries that understand customer service.

I enjoyed foods, serves and the atmosphere, but price was quite high... I would say it is a must-go japanese restaurant, if you have money. They got outstanding yummy foods!

Happened upon this spot since we where nearby and needed some dinner! It looked inviting from the outside and we weren't disappointed inside with great yakitori food smells and quiet wooden private table booths. It was only half full downstairs (there is an entire floor upstairs as well) but then again it was a Wed nite... We had quite a few of the various types of skewers, the prawn, zucchini and pork ones stood out, while the scallop (are they NZ ones?) and spicy chicken let us down. Both the prawn and zucchini were wrapped in a thin slice of pork or bacon which added to the flavour :-) Watching the chef make the skewers is an added bonus.

Wow. This place was terrible. The staff can't understand what you are saying, we ended up waiting 2+ hours for our food. Mind you we had a big group of around 12 people, yet they took way longer than any normal restaurant would. Then they mixed up our order and got the wrong food. Then we didn't even receive some of our food. After about 3 hours of being there we were keen to go to Maccas. <br/><br/>Then upon paying for the food we had to calculate what each of us were paying! They didn't want to do it themselves. Actual worse place I've ever been too. Definitely not coming back.

I come here almost every week (sometimes more them once :P), with who ever I can bring! Normally my boyfriend, but otherwise my sister or friends from work, I sit at the bar, I prefer it, but there are bigger tables upstairs and downstairs, there are things you HAVE to try, the Tuna Wasabi is amazing, I order one every time, sometimes I splash out for 2, the Karage chicken was a favourite for a long time, but not been getting it lately, they do it with cornflakes, and I like it that way, but some people don't so it's kind of hit and miss, yakitori is GOOD prawn and pork, mussels, pork belly, chicken liver, chicken heart, courgette and pork are just a few of our favourite skewers, don't forget to add a hot sake to the menu, it works out about $100 for me every time we visit, which sounds like a lot, but that's for 2 people and we always have at least 2 or 3 large hot sake bottles, super deal, it's definitely my favourite!

I have been a fan of Ken Yakitori for a few years and always liked the food there. However, I went last night for the first time in a while with 8 friends and hated it. Ken has really let things slide unfortunately.<br/><br/>The staff were rude and to be honest bad at their jobs (chef included).<br/>The food took between 1- 2 hours to come out and 3 dishes never arrived. We asked a few times then gave up and paid after about 2 and a half hours.<br/><br/>I'm fairly certain we overpaid about $30 due to the staff issue but to be honest I just wanted to get the hell out of there and buy a pie.<br/><br/>Bad service and a long wait might not annoy me that much if the food was amazing but it was average (frozen edamame beans weird yellow processed cheese undercooked tempura..) and I guess the open weeping wound on the waitress was the icing on the cake.<br/><br/>I wouldn't bother going there ....ever.

Really character place with amazing meat barbecue. Sake and Japanese beers are awesome as well. Prices could be slight reduced but still good value.

The word on the street, and also from higher-up, was that this unpretentious eatery could pull some mean punches. A fair bit of time has elapsed since I got socked in the right places, so I entered Ken Yakitori Bar, sat next to the sizzle and placed the first order which was courtesy a tip-off by NZ Herald. Fried squid tentacles is a dish whose nomenclature can evoke visions of protean thrills. Instead of a rather unreasonably imagined golden tangle of sucker-studded projections,what I got was a rather meek-looking mass of fried stalks. They managed to retain some of that delicately pleasant essence of squid, but the chef couldn't make these tentacles grasp either a vibrant crunchiness or soulful succulence. Encouraged by hot sake ($6 for a small beaker), I finished that rather generous calorie-packed starter. But Pork-wrapped Prawn skewers quickly encapsulated why this joint has made a name for itself. If you eat it by tactless munches, its effect is muddled up, but if you softly let it explore your mouth, the wasabi-mayo unspools its gently savoury spectrum of delights leaving behind the tender grilled deliciousness of prawns that tango with the well-matched smoky accents of bacon. Ambience on early evenings, in this snugly spaced room. is often dialled up by a well-fuelled buzz-hum-chatter of multi-ethnic patrons filling up the place. Polished rough-hewn wood forms and wraps around all the restaurant's surfaces sporadically inscribed with Japanese alphabets and motifs. On one side, the counter-side seats face the grill where the chef handles various yakitori-style offerings, the other half behind the counter is occupied by shelves containing a reasonably electic range of alcohol.<br/><br/>Here, not all skewers are created equal- this was demonstrated by the speared scallops- texturally they may pass muster, but the teriyaki sauce they are doused in, effectively drowned any original flavour that these small specimens might have ensconced. This serious miscalculation was echoed in another dish- Grilled Rice Ball -which I wouldn't have ordered had I correctly remembered an actual recommendation for skewered sticky rice. At $3 per sample, the former's quality unwittingly falls below its financial value. Its semi-crisp shell of caramelized paddy-coat holds a core of ordinarily soft rice all of which holds no persuasion whatsoever, the pickled plums are feeble associates and I wouldn't even have this dish free the next time. One of the ladies behind the counter, even while cutting squid, would look up as the customers entered and she'd utter a welcoming "Irashaimase", backing it up with a smile. But these positives are done too randomly. <br/><br/>Service was prompt and agreeably solicitous in the former half of my meal, but as the crowd thinned out later, vigilant concern paradoxically diminished -it came to the point where the waitress would walk past without even bothering to stop by and enquire.<br/>But like a nose-diving Kamikaze plane that suddenly pulls off an upswing, the next two dishes staged damage control. Fried Crispy Chicken Skin first tasted of KFC, but then slowly drove home the point that life is not all about pleasures of the flesh. In fact, this is the kind of skin-deep beauty that I condone- wavy discs, crunchy and chewy with equal harmony, gradually dissolving into clouds of pleasant nothingness, precisely flavoured with ajinomoto and inherent whispers of salt. Caveat- it has a short shelf-life, in its final pieces I was detecting everything that can go wrong with this dish but by then a favourable opinion had already crystallized. Its completely unholy unwholesome fried fattiness meant that I was lusting for a palate-cleanser, a grapefruit nestling on the periphery of the same plate made ample sense- I bit into its shamelessly tart flesh which rather severely did the job. Next- Grilled Skewer of Chicken Thigh first evoked the flavours of strong smoky chargrilled kababs that are produced in working-class Sub-Continental Muslim hotels, but its texture emerged as the unmistakeable victor- of the 4 enjoyable mouthfuls which are slick with caramelized sauce, the second one was truly exceptional for the the way it ran the spectrum through spunky tender evanescent as the soft fibrils came apart and slid-zipped across the palate into the gullet. <br/><br/>Two more dishes higher up on the pleasure curve, and this meal would have ascended like the climax of the great Daibosatsu-toge. But I'd had enough (in a good way) and reserved further menu explorations for another visit. What's more, even the bill and glass of water I ultimately requested, continued to give satisfaction. Attempting to further undercut the taste of my oil-laced meal, I for the first time in a NZ restaurant, drank a glass of water bottoms-up. The bill, at 6 items plus hot sake, was $39- which can be less than the cost of a single main course at a nearby 5 star establishment. If you carefully pick your choices, while reconciling to the limitations of the place, K-Road can provide some perfectly legitimate pleasures.

Service: 4/5<br/>Wait time: 3/5<br/>Environment: 3/5<br/>Food Quality and taste: 4/5<br/>Price range: $40+ pp<br/>[The one on Anzac Ave is still better, different style of cooking, maybe it's because it's on K-road so lower quality control? I dunno]

We have been going to Ken's almost every Sunday for the past 4 years. The food is fantastic from both the kitchen and the Yakitori grill. The Tuna Wasabi is a must to start with, thinly sliced tuna &amp; onions topped with a very yummy sauce. You have a large variety of meat, seafood &amp; veggie 'sticks'. Beef sirloin, porkbelly, chicken mince balls, prawns wrapped in pork, chicken thighs, chicken hearts, kumura, corn.... just to name a few. Take a seat at the bar and munch on some cabbage with mayo&amp;miso &amp; sip on some hot sake while you watch as the Yakitori masters cook the sticks to perfection! It is a great place to take friends or even a first date, with a very lively atmosphere and great service you'll never leave disappointed!

We have been here quite a few times, normally as a group so we are seated upstairs.<br/><br/>I do like the format in a group environment - you order various dishes which are then bought up to you and shared. Everything here is really tasty.<br/><br/>The downstairs area has smaller tables, around the main bar and cooking area. A bit more cramped, possibly a bit noisier (although we create our own atmosphere upstairs!).<br/><br/>Parking is non-existent and is the big downside of this place. You can park in the Langholm car park accessed down the street beside Ken's, but one of our group was charged $28 for the 2-3 hours parking and they don't have easy access in the evening.

Fun place to take friends visiting Auckland as its a bit different than your run of the mill Japanese restaurant. Casual, fast, yum and cheap. Have been there at least 4 times and is always a fun night.

Great food worth the price!

went with work collegues- 10 x hospo staff. sapporo on tap is the best. food great.service great. prices, even greater.

A really good inexpensive night out for dinner. Don't come expecting the full blown Tepanyaki experience as some people did when they sat down to eat, its Yakatori different style of cooking and eating. Only complaint would be that due to a dining companions allergy complications requests for certain items were meet with a confused face, most likely language barrier rather than being difficult.

Love it, love it, love it. VERY casual, food is fantastic, you've gotta try the prawns wrapped in bacon on skewers &amp; the broccoli salad. We eat out alot and this is by far my kids fav place...also great for a night out with mates.

Awesome place - I would go there again. I think some dishes are a little over priced but free cabbage was nice. food was fresh and delicious though - we had rice, chicken thigh with plum miso, yakitori sauce chicken thigh and spicy dumplings. the food was great!! next time I will try the ginko nuts.<br/>Overall this place is great and if you pick the cheaper options on the menu it's affordable for anyone.

Cute hole-in-the-wall yakitori restaurant with tasty dishes at reasonable prices. By no means upmarket, but satisfying if you are looking for a casual meal and drink. The renkon chips are to die for! Try get in early as their is not much seating space and fills up quickly.