Review Daikoku - Auckland Central

Excellent teppanyaki experience that is accessible and open during lunch. The experience is as good as when I first ate here 10 years ago. All the chefs provide a fun atmosphere providing a unique table side cooking experience. Food itself is also very good quality would recommend 10/10.

Loved this experience - very entertaining and extremely delicious food. This was our first time and would definitely come back. We took their restaurant month offer for $118 which included 3 entree (tuna carpaccio, miso soup & salad, yumyum prawns & vegetables, salmon & scallop, wagyu beef from japan, chopchop egg fried rice and matcha cheesecake) all was outstanding. Would highly recommend!

Our chef was great. Friendly and the theatrics were top notch. The food were all nicely cooked. Price wasn't cheap but to be expected for a teppanyaki.

Ching ching bling the best entertainer over all the daikokus! Best night ever even better food, so many laughs and so many fun experiences tonight. He truly left me leaving with a great core memory!

A wonderful experiencen where the food is cooked in front of you. The chef will perform tricks and keep you entertained with fire and agility manuvours. You can enjoy a meal from $40-100, which is expensive but worth it for the experience. They tend to require a booking in advance, which is easy to do from their website or a quick call. If you book less than 6 people, you are likely to be seated with other people. Drinks range from standard fizzy drinks to Saki or other Japanese beverages - if you're looking for the full experience. Highly recommended, I have never been disappointed eating here.

Dinner at Daikoku presents authentic Japanese Teppanyaki experience. Awesome chef Yuki was awesome and highly recommended

Food was tasty cooked perfect!Had the Gourmet lunch with steak and prawns! Table was little over crowded. And got orders muddled up. Was a group of 17, everyone enjoyed the food.

The food was really nice. Ching ching bling was very funny and good cook.

A good night had by all. Food was great..our chef was funny and cooked our food perfectly.

Service is very good. Not a bad point but feeling a little bit disappointed as the view is no different from any other Daikoku. The foods we had are overcooked. But could still taste the freshness.

Fun little place. A bit expensive but I guess worth it. I mean side salad is literally viva la 90's - chopped lettuce and grated carrots. Meat was very nice (beef).. Prawn were served with 1 tablespoon of mayo on each haha. Overall fun experience.

We came here for our friend's birthday party. And it was amazing!!! Very fun for special party day and love our guy's performance. Definitely will come back for our another special day

Less crowded than once was in the pre-covid world, but this means we got a knives skills show for 2 that was just as good as any. Had a personable chef and griddle master with years of experience, and they nicely catered to our needs of having to cook things a little bit longer given my wife is pregnant. All in all, nicely presented from front to back and courteous. Had made reservations online too.

You know it’s always going to he a great night out here. All the food is top shelf but nothing comes close to the prawns with yum yum sauce! Family friendly fun. James Ashwin Kakapo Business Sales

This was our first time doing teppenyaki and it did not disappoint Our chef was hilarious and engaged well with our table, the food was delicious, they had proper imported Kirin available Just an all round great experience and would recommend to anyone wanting teppenyaki when in Auckland

Visited 2017. My friend was working at that time. Enjoyed a great performance!! Wagyu also!

Daikoku on Quay is a fantastic restaurant with great food and service and a clean friendly environment. We had a great night. The staff are helpful and friendly.

Came here for restaurant month $65pp set menu. You get entree of salad, miso, sashimi and beef tataki. For mains the usual grill veges, options to upgrade to fried rice from steam rice for $5. We got salmon, yum yum prawns, crayfish tail and sirloin for teppanyaki. Pretty good dining experience. 7 people on the table. You’ll definitely have to share space with others if your party is less than 7. The cook could be more enthusiastic but all good, the food taste nice especially the yum yum sauce is just sinful. Make sure you book in advance as it can get quite crowded. For dessert we were given matcha baked cheesecake. Exceeded our expectations. Really good value for money!

Headed back to the Daikoku Quay branch two wks ago. I have been to the one in botany downs town centre which is a bit of a let down as it looks old and tired and the chefs don’t really bother with the full on bells and whistle act when they cook. So my advice is that if you have to choose an outlet to book and go to, pick the one on Quay street. <br/><br/>Like: <br/>1. Friendly accommodating service. <br/><br/>2. Good seating and lighting all around the teppanyaki cooking station <br/><br/>3. Chefs are friendly and bother to chat briefly with you and there is a bit of a fun dinner theatre style act when they cook what you order. When cooking the veggies, the chef moves the onion rings around and blows a whistle to mimic a moving train approaching the station. Also when certain pieces of meat or prawns are cooked and cooled the chef plays a game with you to see if she or he can throw the piece into your open mouth. Not for the clumsy bad catchers amongst us but most often, your morsel or food lands where it needs to. 👍🏻 <br/><br/>4. Teppanyaki dishes are reasonably priced and good value for money and well prepared. <br/><br/>5. A definitely fun interactive experience if you have fidgety kids at the table or want to inject some fun into your dining experience. <br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>

I had the lunch with my wife at this place and that was my first experience teppanyaki grill in Auckland. I picked the lunch menu which 19.90 which had a choice of proteins like fish, chicken and beef. It came with a set of miso soup, salad, rice and dessert. The food quality is alright but I found the environment and the service was good. I enjoyed the grilling service and found pretty entertaining. I won’t be coming back anytime soon due to the pricing. But absolute will be back when I’m ready for some sizzling lunch.

Got two bowls of ramen and two sides for around $30, some of the best gyoza ive ever had, super affordable and delicious, definitely take advantage of the combos!

Me and my girlfriend have come here a few times and I always have good things to say for them! The staff are so friendly and food is usually fast and prompt to cook. This place is perfect for anyone who loves Japanese!

I have been to this teppan restaurant a couple of times. I ordered an ocean combination. The food is nice. The service is warm. The only problem is the chef cannot speak fluent English. Overall, I am highly recommend.

Pretty awesome. Always a pleasant experience. Never gets old. Food and entertainment is great. We are actually coming again tomorrow for Mothers day.

Our favorite of all their restaurants in auckland as it has the most stylish inside and atmosphere. Always go for the steak option so cannot say much about the other food but the steak is great and comes with salad, miso, tea and ice cream if you have it for lunch and their set options are very well priced. The kids love it! If you can try and get a table with Misuki, she is the best chef there in our opinion and after at least 20 visits

We went in for lunch and loved it. Always a great atmosphere, and the staff are amazing. All of us had issues with food and the staff were very accommodating. Most of it was gluten free which worked really well for me. Would definitely recommend!

We used to came here for dinner a lot of times. Everything was perfect. Crayfish, beef, fish was all taste good. But salmon sashimi not really fresh this time, staff was friendly and take it away. So all good.

Their lunch special is cheap! Two of us went in and ordered the Sumo Lunch to share and chose the fish and steak options. We got a bowl of rice each even when we ordered to share, the grilled veges were divided for us and it was a good portion, and the fish and steak were also divided into a nice portion for us to share. You only get one miso soup, one Daikokou salad and one ice cream but it doesnt matter - this is an excellent value especially when you get a nice social setting by sharing a table with strangers and a great performance from the cookers. Just a warning, it gets hot in here!

Daikoku last night must have been an off. Unfortunately our experience at your restaurant was not a good one,  our Xmas work dinner was dismal due the broken air-con, and the restaurant being short staffed, we had to wait for drinks because glasses had to be washed. It was like a sauna in the back room. Our waitress was very polite, and apologised when we told her it was far too hot in the room, we asked for water but it never came due to staff being run off their feet,  when the cooking started the temperature rose it was so uncomfortable, our cooks rushed it was obvious they didn't want to be cooking in a hot room, we couldn't really enjoy our meals,  some asked to take their food home. Daikoku staff are so lovely, we love their restaurant. However I felt impelled to write this review due to the amount of money we spent, last night we felt cheated, the atmosphere and hot conditions ruined the night..

Last minute dinner decision with our group to find a place we could walk in off the street in Auckland CBD and because we all love Japanese cuisine so glad we were close by this winner!<br/><br/>The Host as we started to dribble in was happy for us to wait for the rest to arrive.<br/><br/>While we waited we did notice the interior was quite dated but still lovely to wait and relax the aromas from the Restraunt fills the venue our mouths were soon dribbling lol <br/><br/>Yes they’ve arrived we can finally get to our table and enjoy the aromas while our Chef cook.<br/><br/>Waiting Staff were very polite and the service I cannot fault... drinks water replenished quickly.<br/><br/>We ordered our meals which was easy to do over a well detailed menu and if you needed to tweak your order it was simple.<br/><br/>Our entree of salad and miso soup was a delight... I must admit this is the best miso soup I’ve ever had in Auckland... it’s that good I had fireworks coming out of my ears and my eyes mouth savouring every slurp nom nom nom<br/><br/>The chef who cook our meals was so handsome I thought he was Russian but nope he’s Japanese French... <br/><br/>He was so entertaining cooking a storm with our orders making Choo Choo sounds with the onions and doing egg flips into our watering mouths lol<br/><br/>Ok so our meals when he finished cooking it all up was made with love because he was so intense cooking our meals every bite was just filled with awesomeness from the shrimp special sauce steak cooked medium rare... vege delight egg foo yong was just out of this world... amazing <br/><br/>He then bid us farewell as we regained our composure to check out the dessert menu.<br/><br/>The dessert is so generous and so lite the fried banana fritters is such a classic and I must admit once again this place creates the best I’ve ever tasted.<br/><br/>Who can’t resist a mouthful of banana and cream lol <br/><br/>Our dinner was amazing and the experience here was a great one <br/><br/>We came away like happy Sumo wrestlers even paying the bill was okay too lol <br/><br/>With a few drinks entrees mains dessert <br/><br/>It was very respectable bill.<br/><br/>We will be back - ARIGATO!!!!

The food here is good, but depending on what you order the meat portion is quite small. My friend ordered the eel dish with rice and it was mostly just rice. Maybe it would be better to stick with chicken meals as their portions are better.

Fantastic service, amazing show of food, food came so quickly, great drinks menu and something for everyone. Everything about it was fantastic, great value for money with the two for $80 deal. We will be back!!

Yum food and friendly service. I had a good night here. This is my second time been there in 5years. Good to seen a restaurant can keep so popular in such a long time period. Thank you for the wonderful experience!

Stepping into Daikoku transports me back to Tokyo where the smell of sizzling food and the crashing sounds of teppanyaki fill the restaurant. The skillful chefs are entertaining and friendly with impressive tool spinning, food launching and fire breathing volcano... of onions. The food is perfectly cooked and has simple yet flavoursome taste to each bite. Even the most basic desserts of macha ice cream have a pleasant rose water aroma to compliment it's taste.

Tried the tonkontsu ramen. Strong and delicious pork broth with tender & well-seasoned chashu meat. I always add extra chashu in the ramen and also order small fried-rice as a side and it's so nice :)

We had my partners birthday here in May 2017, and the food was so delicious everything was so fresh I particularly love seafood, the entertainment was great what's more entertaining then seeing your dinner being cooked in front of you, however unfortunately I was displeased at the fact that we booked our table in advance for dining(1 week ahead) and we were in the waiting bay for quiet a while 20mins then once seated our chef didn't come to us until another 20mins. I personally feel if you book, you get first priority but for that reason I rated 4stars.

Came in on mother's birthday 2016. They put on a little show while cooking for us. The meat was sizzling and was cooked right in front of us. The prawn was cooked with yum yum sauce and was delicious. Dessert was also served after.

Had mid-year party lunch here. I ordered ocean lunch yumyum source was really yum :)love seafood the best. I love to bring mu family n friend here:) i had 2 ice cream for deseart. Was not bad.

I am usually not very fond of Japanese cuisine but Daikoku certainly changed my opinion about Japanese food. I really liked the Chicken lunch special. They prepare your lunch right in front of you, which is something that you don't get to experience at other restaurants. The quantity is sufficient and it is reasonably priced. I would recommend trying it out!!

Night out with friends here which was not bad but not amazing. Service is good but they have a special advertised on their website for Quay St, in which I asked the waitress for and she said she had never heard of it. She did go and ask about it but it was sold out.<br/><br/>Ambience is nice, maybe a bit dated but I didn't mind it. The back of my chair had something sticky on it, I could feel my t-shirt sticking to it so that was great.<br/><br/>The chef was really nice, bit funny and relatively entertaining. The mrs had the Oceans set while I had the Daikoku Emperor while my mates had another Ocean, Wagyu Steak and Wagyu Combination. Everybody enjoyed their meals, really tasty and fast. Desserts were pretty standard.<br/><br/>Not a bad experience but I don't have that feeling to eagerly get back there.

Have been there couple of times for company lunch. It's yummy and good lunch set price. They cook in front of you. If you order shrimp they would set it on fire and have a little show

Absolutely disgusting. <br/><br/>The food was off, the sashimi was not fresh. The pungent seafood smell was absolutely awful. <br/><br/>Even my daughter refused to taste the crayfish. The smell was the worst. <br/><br/>I use to come here all the time in 2010-2012. But the quality now has declined and worse than food court Japanese food. <br/><br/>Service: 2/5<br/>Food Quality: 0/5<br/>Food Quantity: 0/5<br/>Presentation: 0/5<br/>Environment: 0/5<br/>Price per person: $50-$100

Daikoku has been around for many years. Have heard various things about the different locations but always found Quay St to be fairly reliable.<br/>It is very much dinner with theatre - all the chefs are engaging & quite funny at times. The routine is the same (try to catch egg in your mouth) but always fun particularly in large groups.<br/>Meat on the grill is cooked to order so if medium rare is your thing, it’s guaranteed <br/>Only issue is the slippery floor which is to be expected with the cooking style. I believe they do try to keep it in check though

There must have been years since I last visited Daikoku on Quay. I had the gourmet lunch with 4 prawns & steak, plus soup, salad, steamed rice & ice cream for $26.80.  I still had good memory of how delicious the prawns used to be, but was a bit disappointed today.  Anyway, it was quite a satisfying lunch. <br/>(Food - 3/5; Service - 3.5/5; Ambience - 3.5/5)

Came here to have their 9 course special deal as part of the August restaurant month promotion, the set comes with a small appetizer, salads, miso soup, fried rice, prawns & scallops, some vegetables, ice cream and wagyu fillet. <br/><br/>The service here was efficient, as soup and salad were served immediately when we sat down. As for the food, they did not amaze me. I expected the wagyu to be a lot better but unfortunately everything in the meal were quite bland except for the scallops, and so it was actually quite overwhelming with the excess yum yum sauce on the prawns and the plain wagyu. They definitely need to spice up their wagyu beef and vegetables with more different types of seasoning. Otherwise the only aftertaste you experience is the fattiness from the yum yum sauce and the oiliness of the wagyu. The fried rice, eggs and scallops were also a little over cooked and burned, I guess it probably really just depends on which chef is cooking for you. Overall, this place is good for the experience, as seeing the teppanyaki right in front of you and interacting with the chef while he/she plays throw & catch with you using food is interesting. As for the cost and value, we feel like it's only worth it if you come for their lunch deals and early bird dinners.

Our favorite teppanyaki restaurant, love the attentive and friendly service and really enjoy their fresh meals. Our favorite dish is the fried rice and prawns in yum yum sauce. Always recommend this restaurant to friends and family and quite a regular there 🌟🌟🌟

What can I say - visiting this place was an experience. The moment you enter you are transported to a Japan. The staff so cordial so quirky, they have some amazing sense of humour. The ambience was ecstatic, wooden walls with a tree bark in the middle, everything has been well thought about and rightly placed. We went for my farewell lunch with work mates, made a reservation for 12 and it was no problem at all for Friday lunch. <br/>Their tables are very quirky where one side amongst the 4 was reserved for your cook who will be preparing your food right in front of your eyes from scratch. The lady who was our chef worked her way to prepare meal for 6 within 14min. Wow!! <br/>The flavours were beautiful. We had $16.50 lunch meal which comes with salad, two sauces, miso soup, grilled veggies and meat of your choice. Finishing the meal with ice cream. Talk about value for money! <br/>There was nothing I could point out there that was not perfect. <br/>Definitely going there again.

Daikoku quay street is a little rough around the edges, but then again this maiden eatery has been feeding Auckland business lunches for more than a decade. The staff are friendly, chatty and welcome all (be you sporting a pie of jandals or fancy Italian loafers).<br/><br/>Go here for a 45minute+, three course teppanyaki meal at rock bottom lunchtime price of $15-$20 a head. Fun spot for a Friday team lunch, and if you've got great colleagues, pair your meal with a cheap and cheerful Orion beer to cut through the protein grease and the extra Japanese mayo (aka yum yum sauce) you've politely but eagerly requested. <br/><br/>Great choice for a cheap and cheerful multi course lunch that will leave you satisfied till your next meal. (Sure Daikoku also opens for dinner, but when you can get the same thing at lunchtime prices, I have to admit I've never been drawn to experience this place after dark).<br/>

I've been to two different Daikokus and this was the better of the two. This is for a review in winter. Came here to celebrate a mate selling his property.<br/><br/>Warning it can get hot in this building esp when its a full house. Chefs provided full entertainment for the entire meal.<br/><br/>Love the prawns with the happy sauce, that was the highlight for. The mains were ok, nothing amazing, but i suppose the price was in the performance.<br/><br/>WORTH IT?<br/>For the experience yes<br/>For the quality, maybe

Made reservation 2 weeks ago. Went to there and informed they were having a function. Talked to the manager, no apologize, no action at all. Will never go there again.

I have been to Daikoku a few times and have always loved the food. Sometimes you get the odd Chef who is alittle quiet and not really into the performance they do when cooking on the hot plate but I mean, I wouldn't really want to do it either. I recommend Daikoku for small to medium groups who want some light entertainment with their food. I will go again!

Ate their lunch specials for $16 which had a salad, bowl of rice, meat/fish, miso soup. Fairly nice food and good service teppanyaki style. <br/><br/>It was a good feed for a low price. <br/><br/>The place would benefit from more light indoors.

I got the vegetarian role sushi and edamame just because the tofu steaks sounded dull. Nothing to rave about but not awful either- I was disappointed that their ramen couldn't be made vegetarian.

We went for team lunch today and there is a vegetarian in our team. We all ordered $15.8 lunch special which gave us 1 miso, 1 small salad, rice, ice cream and your selection of meat. Our order's portion is a bit small but within the reasonable range. However our vegetarian team member only got 2 small pieces of tofu and really small portions of mixed vegetable instead of the meat selection. The portion is so small that it won't even be enough for a toddler.  We asked for more veges for him since he can't have the miso soup which has fish sauce in it and there is no alternative option for him. But the answer was no. Poor guys paid $15.8 for lunch but still hungry after lunch :( Such a disappointing experience.

This place makes me very happy, the food is delicious and always cooked to perfection, the staff are very friendly and the chefs are always so caring and very skilled and what they do! The staff are very cooperative and once I wanted the wagyu steak at lunch however I was Informed that it was only on the dinner menu, but they broke the rules a little and handed me a dinner menu anyways! The chefs are humorous and are one of the reasons I always come here. You will expect to pay $100 per person but I've never regretted it. This is a must if you want a new experience that you'll always remember!

Wonderful experience. All this time I thought their food and service was on average, but experience of last night has totally changed my opinion! The chef who cooked for my table was outstanding! Even though she was cooking in very fast pace(The whole restaurant was kinda busy) - beef and chicken was cooked perfectly! And her performance was fabulous. She briefly explained about what she is cooking and the yum yum sauce is so nice. I think her name is Ami, I strongly suggest you to request her for cooking(Maybe you could tell the man at the counter wearing black)<br/><br/>And then what really blew us was the waitress that looked after us! She was absolutely subperb. She welcome us when we enter in restaurant and was very friendly with lots of smile. Also knowledge and attentiveness of her was excellent. We've asked her lots of question as my partner has food allergy - despite of busy-ness she answered all of it with very helpful attitude. Sorry i can't remember her name but she was wearing blue japanese attire(was also saying that she is half korean and japanese). Once again I strongly suggest you to request for her table if you have any food allergy or if you want to experience great service in daikoku.<br/><br/>Overall I would like to give them 5 - These two ladies of daikoku quay is just amazing. Strongly recommended! Would definitely come back again.

Good choice for a Teppanyaki style dinner in the Auckland CBD. <br/><br/>We went here in a large group and were fed as well as entertained for a whole hour or so. The food was good quality and the chef had plenty of games and tricks up his sleeve. Expect food and plates to be thrown at you. Expect some "accidents" to happen. It's all part of the experience. <br/><br/>Expect to pay upwards of $100 per person. Good place to take someone you want to impress!

Wow this place is amazing looking back on my experience here makes me want to come back again! I came here for my birthday with my partner and we had such an amazing time together the entertainment was brilliant! Food was cooked so lovely and the people are so friendly! Great experience would 100% recommend coming here for a family outing or a birthday! Great place.

Daikoku is a must do experience where the food is cooked in front of you, I had the fish lunch special, you get miso soup, a salad, rice, 3 pieces of fish with courgette and onion and don't forget to ask for the "yum yum sauce"! All followed up with some ice-cream. For the price you pay and the amount of food you get it really is a bargain and tastes great! They also have French fries which are fantastic. I have been many times for lunch and have had the chicken too.

Went for lunch and it was as delicious as I remember. I haven't been for quite awhile so Ai enjoyed the treat. The lunch specials were a good price and cheaper than I remember. Chef seemed sad.. But maybe he was just tired... And the prawns were as good as ever. Yumm Yumm sauce

Came here for dinner with friends on a weeknight and was pleasantly surprised to find every seat is at a teppanyaki table.<br/><br/>We saw what was going to happen from the other table and that chef was a better performer than the one who cooked at our table, ours looked as though he was just going through the motions.<br/><br/>The food was tasty and filling but in future I would rather pay less and have my food cooked out of sight.

Went for dinner and was very entertaining. We got to catch egg in our mouths at one point! Great food, friendly staff and very nice atmospheres with different cultures with people to laugh and communicate with 😊

Christmas Lunch with the team from work. Great steak cooked perfectly. Chef put on quite a show to add to the experience - would definitely go again

This place is pretty good. Food comes out quickly and they come to cook your meal quickly too. Issues I had were that the chef we had wasn't as showey as she should have been and half a bucket of yum yum sauce was put on my prawns. I like yum yum sauce but after scrapping the majority of it off, the prawns were still covered and slimy making them a bit unpleasant to eat. Should I come again I might avoid the seafood option. The other seafood elements of scallops and salmon were good though. The ice-cream was also pretty average. I would come back but probably not anytime soon

Must try: Chasumen!! Hands down the best ramen be the bf have had he always orders the seafood and we leave feeling super full but happy. One of Auckland's best kept secrets. Even the ambience adds to this as its small and cave like in a good way. Have tried so many ramen restaurants in search of best pork soy ramen and by far this is the best. The portion size and meat portions are generous and it is very well priced! Keep up the good work team :)

Last time I was here, very friendly service as always! This place is high on my list of places to eat at with friends, due to the cheap lunch menu and awesome atmosphere! This is a place where young adults can meet for a quick lunch on a weekend. Still yet to try the dinner though!

5th time returning to this restaurant. The service and food has remained great and consistent! I had entrée of salmon sashimi, Yum Yum prawns meal set and delicious plum wine. My family also very much enjoyed their drinks and food options too! Plenty of food, come here hungry lol yum yum!

The portions are perhaps a bit small, but otherwise quite high quality food for the cost.<br/> The lunch specials are great value for money and I highly recommend taking a visit, especially as the chefs will entertain you and cook your food right in front of your eyes, plating the food straight from the teppanyaki plate.<br/><br/>Food: 7.5/10<br/>Service: 4/5 <br/>Ambience: 4.5/5<br/>Value: 4/5<br/>Overall: 20/25

These well known Auckland restaurants need little introduction. Their roots were steak house and now it appears a wide range of food including ramen. Tonight is a work dinner so their famous Teppan yaki style of hot plate cooking is on the menu, literally. <br/>Teppan yaki is a close copy to Habashi cooking I fondly recalled in new york. Knives flashing everywhere, food flying and spatulas juggling all great entertainment and fine fresh foods cooked in front of you.<br/>Expertise-wise don't expect the standard of sword-, sorry I mean "Utensil-play" to be as grand as New York. Entertaining all the same!<br/>I had the crayfish and chicken combo set meal. (Not to be confused with the combo of the well known Scottish restaurant chain.) <br/>A couple of cold starters then a prawn with Japanese mayo hot entree. 4/5<br/>Next were various veges courgettes, onions and beans. Mushrooms follow and a modest portion of fried rice with eggy bits called yum-yum all tasty as heck. 4/5<br/>The mains preparation commences the crays, steak and chicken all cooked in front of you also. A work group size of 9. So crays was served as they cook quickly cut into little stirfry pieces. Taste was ok but no real dominant flavour is added. 4/5<br/> The chicken however has a terayaki sauce much like what you find on donburi chicken. Excellent chicken meat is used a thigh piece. This is juicy and cooked perfectly. 5/5<br/>Others had selected steak in their main. Like the crayfish it is not over seasoned and cooked medium. Perhaps slightly difficult to control the heat for people's personal preferences in rare to well done. I suggest scotch fillet is used as there's a reasonable texture and chewiness to the bite. 4/5<br/>Set dinner ice cream was green tea flavour. A squirt of canned cream made this tacky. 2/5<br/>Miso was also served earlier as part of the set.<br/>Kids menus for under 12 yr olds and a option under 5 yr olds. High chairs sorted but dinner time groups can be rowdy.<br/>

I like coming to daikoku for lunch. Dinner I find a little rowdy and there's too much to choose from so I prefer having the limited lunch menu. I also think the lunch menu prices are more reasonably for the portion size and dinner is a bit over priced. I can say however that the show is always fun to watch. Its quite cool that they have fun while cooking your food and the atmosphere is always greats. The staff are also always attentive and friendly.

Daikoku on Quay is the first place I think of whenever I want ramen, and was even introduced to the place by a born & bred Japanese friend of mine. Albeit a little small and cramped sometimes, service has always been prompt, and food always comes out quick and tastes good 👍🏼

I've been here several times in the past, and after dining this weekend I would agree that the restaurant is looking quite tired and could do with freshening up.  The service was solid as usual and the chef cooking our meal with the usual tricks which amused my kids, although he seemed a little inexperienced and forgot one order of steak which I have never seen before (he did rectify this quickly and was very apologetic).   I had the steak prawn combo, the prawns were nicely cooked but the yum yum sauce didn't seem as rich as I remember it and seemed to have split by the time it was served.  My beef was tender flavourful and slightly underdone which was fine with me, but both meats were well seasoned.  The vegetable accompaniments are always tasty, I don't know how they get their onions so sweet but I like it!  The dining room could do with better ventilation, you will walk out hot and steamy but it's not a deal breaker

Delicious! 👌🏽 Probably my favourite Japanese restaurant. Nothing like the yum yum sauce. We went here for lunch. I had the gourmet lunch. The prawns were amazing I just wish I could have more, you only get 2. Vegetables - yum ! Rice - yum ! Chicken - yum ! Staff are also lovely.

Came here for team lunch. Was happy about the food. Team enjoyed the experience of Japanese teppanyaki. Not bad at all for the portion size with that price tag

Teppanyaki should be the whole deal.  Who doesn't like a BBQ meal?  Though, the service and our Chef was lovely, the food lacked flavour that should be easily created on such a hot plate. Disappointed.

This is one of my favourite places to go to lunch. In fact I am going there again today. The food is consistent and tasty. They have the BEST Yum Yum sauce. The price for a lunch that is very filling, is quite reasonable and the staff are mostly friendly.  I do however think that they do need to update their decor a bit as it is starting to look a little tired and the charis should all be checked, as I find a lot of them a little wobbly. My favourite chef there is Louis.

I love this place.. easy choice when doing a small celebration or treat.. love the chicken and prawn option and get our yum yum sauce for Christmas lunch here every year .. good for lunch also :)

We used to love this place for the entertainment and the good food, however our last visit left us disappointed.  I agree with the reviews written already - this place is tired, the bathrooms are scummy and dirty, the food portions are stingy and the place is way too hot.  We had a female chef this time and she was pretty good but everything was over seasoned making the food extra salty.  The yum yum sauce was gross and ladled on.  Far too much per prawn.  The eye fillet steak would have been great if it wasn't so salty as it was cooked perfectly.  The chop chop rice (which we have had many times) was weird as it had a mixture of hard, chewy and soft rice.  I told the staff and they said it was supposed to be like that.... hmmmm.<br/>Has this place lost its passion for feeding its patrons?  Are the owners getting greedy?  Time to shut the doors or make some serious changes Daikoku. THE FOOD SCRIBBLER

I came here for a dear friends birthday. We all settled down and then were introduced to our wonderful chef for the night. I ordered Tappan Scallops with entree which rang in at around $39. Out chef created the much famous train of onion rings and cooked our meals. She cooked my boyfriendd beef medium rare to perfection and my scallops were tender and perfect. When ever anyone's drink at the table was empty a waiter would ask us if we would like a refill. The customer service was phenomenal. I apologies for the blurry pictures. <br/>Great experience. I would recommend. You are looking at spending $100 for two people though. A great treat for a loved one.<br/>

Prawns with YumYum sauce! YUUUUM!! Worst part of the night, our chef was sick! When he was doing the choo-choo train, I literally saw his snot come outta his nose and back up again. *barf* Kept an eye on him for the rest of the night, didn't want any extras in my food.

My favorite place for lunch. Where else can you get green tea, miso soup, salad, options of steak, chicken or fish main including rice and vegetsbles plus ice cream for desert all for under $14 dollars. The best thing is the chef cooks the food in front of you and you get to meet new people.

Dined here with the initial excitement at experiencing a teppanaki restaurant and it was so overwhelming disappointing. Firstly the chef was barely awake, he wasn't interested at all in what he was doing or putting on a "show" as we had been lead to believe would happen! Secondly the "yumyum" wasn't has the name suggested, gluppy congealed custard type sauce made what would have been deliciously cooked prawns very sickly and stomach churning. It was quite disheartening for those who order prawns as a main because the same topping was smothered over those as well. Then came the steak. I ordered the scotch fillet and was so looking forward to it. I ended up with a sirloin and an incredibly fatty cut. My dad was meant to have the same as me and his steak wasn't much better. The parts we could ate we're so chewy and the rest was mainly fat and grizzle. We spoke to the manager afterwards and he argued with me that the meat we we're given was anything but the best. I knew it wasn't worth the $53 they we're charging so I refused to pay. He was incredibly rude and not willing to listen to anything we had to say. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant at all. Over priced and gives a bad name to a dining experience that I know so many have joined at other places!!!

Daikoku On Quay Auckland.<br/>We hadn't been to this restaurant for a few years, so looked forward to reliving the experience. By experience, we refer to the show that is put on by the chef while, and during the complete preparation, cooking, and serving of the meal. The chef we had was very friendly, and put on a good show. However, we found that while the majority of the food was good, the prawn entrée was very disappointing. They used to use fresh prawn tails that still had partial shells. They now used prawns that were the same as those that you would buy from a supermarket in a bag, which was a big let-down. The "yumyum" Japanese mayonnaise that was used was also very different. It was thick and gluggy like cold custard which was very unappealing (they used to use a very fluid sauce which blended with the prawns rather than sitting on top). Some of us unfortunately had ordered the prawns as our main meal also, based on the fond memories that we had of how they used to be, which added further to our disappointment.<br/>The service provided by the waiting staff was excellent, and very friendly. <br/>The restaurant was uncomfortably hot causing most of us to perspire. In the past, heat had never been a problem, and really shouldn't have been now as the place appeared to have air conditioning installed.<br/>It was good to try and relive the past, but unfortunately, the experience turned out to be very short of that. This is an expensive restaurant, and we didn't have desert, and our drink consumption was minimal. <br/>The restaurant looks very tired and run down. <br/>Our group, although having a good night out, which was more due to the company, all agreed that there would be no need to revisit the Daikoku again.

Nice place for a lunch. <br/><br/>Nothing too fancy just easy setting, good food, good service and flavor of Japan.<br/><br/>I go regularly for group lunches for celebrations or catching up with friends.

Now the price can be a little bit expensive for students to go and have their dinner in this restaurant. However I definitely reckon it worth going and trying nice Japanese dishes in Daikoku. I really enjoyed their service, great manner with yummy food!<br/>I personally liked the beef dish the meat was so fresh and chewy..! I'm definitely going back for another dinner :)

This place is soo run down and could really do with a clean (especially the dirty fish tank). Service was ok but a but hard to communicate. Our chef was inexperienced so we didnt see any exciting tricks. Yum yum sauce was delicious! Portions were small (half a chicken thigh portion for the chicken orders) and the place needs better ventilation. Had an entertaining evening but definitely couldve been better.

Don't go here!<br/>The food was delicious and the chef's friendly and awesome! <br/>But the female host was horrible! I've never met someone so rude. I called 3 weeks ahead to book a group of 25 for a birthday and was told to call back a week prior to confirm numbers. I confirmed our numbers, how many kids attending plus a few more guests and a time extension by 30mins. The message wasn't passed on (not my problem) and the chic lost the plot, because another group was also around the same time, which was understandable but no need for the attitude. I had a go at her and she said we had to be out in 30mins, I told her were she can put that as most the group travelled from Whangarei to attend. We were all seated and then she came out to argue with me in front of my family and said one table will have to wait because of the other group who hadn't even rocked up yet. I'm the customer and I had to ask her if we could take this out in the foyer away from everyone to settle. Then at the end she tried to charge me for 2 extra people that never existed!!! We go here for my cousins birthday nearly every year as its her favourite, so its not like we are first timers. I absolutely love Japanese food, been to Japan a few times and love the people and culture. This chic is obviously so western its not funny she needs to go home more often and check herself. Unfortunately because of the service I will never go here again.

Went for a friend's birthday recently. Staff were pretty friendly but service was a bit slow. Since there was only four of us, we had to share a table with another group. Started off with miso soup, was too salty for my liking and then with a Japanese Salad. Vegies were fresh, but lacked dressing. The prawns that we had with sauce were the best. Nice and tender, and that sauce was super tasty. We ordered beef and chicken. Both cooked nicely, and had great flavour. Portions are really small, and the four of us were pretty hungry as we didn't eat beforehand. The chef we had was pretty entertaining, did some pretty neat tricks, but after the meal we were all still hungry afterwards. Pretty expensive for what you are getting.

I have dined Teppan Yaki style many times and really enjoy it. We were last at this Daikoku many years ago. We usually dine at the Botany version however they couldn't fit us in until later. <br/>We went for Father's Day dinner last night with another family - 4 adults, 5 kids in total and had the best Teppan Yaki experience to date.<br/>We were seated and served promptly. The service throughout the night was attentive and fast. <br/>The food was as delicious as always - I'd even suggest that the yum yum sauce at this restaurant was better than I've had in a long time. <br/>The restaurant was clean and the floor wasn't sticky (something we have found at Botany which is a little off-putting).<br/>What absolutely made our night was the fantastic chef. I'm not sure if we were just lucky or whether we were assigned one who was particularly good with kids but it doesn't matter - he was sensational. He made a onion train for our daughter, complete with tooting. He teased the kids with lollipops hiding in his hat. He made the salt disappear, appeared to be shaking into the eldest drink and even tricked our son into believing he had caught a bowl of fried rice with his eyes shut. <br/>I would absolutely recommend this Daikoku for family dining - our children ranged in age from 2 to 13 and they all enjoyed it.<br/>The prices seem high however when you consider that they include soup, rice, appetizer, salad, veges and ice cream they are very affordable. And we never have issues with feeling underfed - it's sometimes the opposite.

Great and attentive service. Good prices for what you get and the chef was very talented and entertaining. We ordered the combination set each with tempura on the side, we could not finish all that we ordered and left very satisfied. Plum was only five dollars and was reeeeal good! Even though we had to sit with strangers it was a great night. Would definitely go again.

I loved this restaurant...It was fun, and energetic, and I left stuffed! They were creative and threw food into our mouths and did some fantastic tricks and I would go back there anytime and spend double what I paid the first time...considering how much fun it is and in a group of people you know and are comfortable with...there will be no worries...try and book with exactly 8 people so you can have the same table with no strangers

Nice meal. great chef, very good sense of humour. good value for money.

My friend booked 20 of us in for her Birthday a few weeks in advance. She was told she could only get a table at 8.30, which was fine (we went and had drinks first) but when we got there at 8.30 for our booking, we waited around for 15 minutes before having to ask what was going on. The waiter kind of shrugged and said he would go see, and never came back, so my friend sought him out again 15 minutes later (this made it nine o'clock approximately) He still seemed nonplussed and told us a table would be ready shortly. My friend waited a few more minutes and then grabbed the waiter again asking what the heck was going on, we had booked and had 20 starving people. He said, well, we have a table ready in a room around the corner or you could keep waiting and we will eventually seat you in the main restaurant. (the restaurant closes at ten, as well, and it was already nine!) So we chose the room around the corner, which was a total hole. We sat down (with several seats short, too!) and waited... and waited... and waited. We talked to other diners who said they had been waiting to be fed since seven! We waited about half an hour, with no one giving us any answers on when we could order. The staff were rude, uncaring, standing around talking to each other but not taking orders. Eventually we just gave up and rang another restuarant who were wonderful, fit us all in and delivered exceptional service and food. Daikoku not only ruined my friends Birthday, but treated us like crap, wasted our time and were utterly unprofessional. And they just didn't care. I would like to tell anyone who wanted to go - don't! It's not worth it! You will never get any food and the whole experience was one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had! Scratch that, it WAS the worst. Be warned.

It pains me to do this... but im going to set the record straight. I have been to Daikoku about 4 times throughout my youth and everytime it has let me down. I cant remember every occasion clearly but I can remember the last time all too well. It was my sisters birthday not too long ago and we had to decide on a venue at the last minute. We left it to my sister (who is extremely picky) to decide on a restaurant and after a whole day scouring the internet she came to no conclusion. My younger brother and I returned home, asked where we were going to go for dinner and the reply was simply "we couldnt decide on a place, so were just gonna go to Daikoku". My brother and I looked at each other in horror, "Daikoku!?!?! what? and pay $500 just to leave hungry???" = Basically every time we had ever gone to Daikoku we were fed F**K all. We were assured we'd get enough for everyone but we were convinced we would be dissapointed. And we were. We had a party of about 7, and paid a good $300-$400 on food - then went home and had steak to fill the void. The truth is, is the food is absolutely fantastic, with probably the best prawns ive ever been served in my life, but the food is just far too overpriced for what you get. The quality of the food definately deserves a 5star and thats what I would have given the place - if my stomach was the size of a mouses.

Food is yummy I can't complain there, but the portion is not much at all, kiwi's do eat a lot, and well Japanese do not, they eat light and in small portions, had to wait a while for our booked table though, and service took a while too. 3 stars for the food but that's about it.

Choo choo goes the onion train! Hahaha an entertaining meal, well worth the money paid - delicious scotch fillet and scallop mains.