Restaurant Rec: Kazuya
To celebrate our three year mark in New Zealand, Jon and I went out on a proper, let’s-celebrate-and-act-like-adults date night and paid a visit to Kazuya. I was intrigued after reading Viva’s description of it as “up with Pasture as a restaurant you must visit at least once if you call yourself an Auckland foodie.” I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to relinquish my left kidney or wait six months for a reservation at a normal dining hour, which seems to be standard operating procedure these days. Upon making a reservation, I had to choose among a five course tasting menu, seven course signature menu, or a seven course premium menu. I decided to go middle of the road and try the seven course signature menu.
Parking and finding the restaurant was a little tricky as it is on a main road (Symonds Street) with extremely limited street parking. We ended up parking in a lot around the corner at the intersection of St. Benedict Street and Alex Evans Street. Fortunately we had a little time to spare before our reservation so it wasn’t a big deal that we spent the next ten minutes walking up and down Symonds Street a few times until we realized that the door we wanted was an unassuming white door mixed in with a bunch of university-focused eateries. Kazuya is the opposite of a casual college place and was well hidden among all of the bright lights and kids.
We entered and walked down a dark hallway. The vibe was instantly more refined and quiet than outside. We were led to our table where our seven course menu was waiting for us. After trusting the sever to make a good sake selection for us - which she did - we received our amuse bouche, a trio of small bites including fresh sashimi and radish, some sort of soup dumpling, and a curry deep fried corn dog bite. Thus began a running joke of how we were having very upscale Texas State Fair food. It was all delicious, and I was excited to see what came next.
In true fusion fashion, the next dish, brandade wish squash and ginger, included foam. Foam is fun, but (in my very humble and unprofessional opinion) overdone. The dish had a wonderful mash of flavours, but the three different textures - chunky brandade, creamy squash, and foamy ginger - was strange.
Our next course was a venison tartar with truffle purée. This was a standout dish for me. The balsamic worked perfectly with the purée and it didn’t suffer from the weird texture issues of the previous course. The venison wasn’t too gamey, something that can be a problem with deer meat.
One of the best risottos I’ve ever had followed. It was accompanied by a perfectly cooked scallop and ever so slightly over done prawn. Even Jon, who typically does not like scallop dishes, thought this one was outstanding.
The presentation of the salad for the fourth course was one of the most elaborate platings I’ve seen. Over thirty different vegetables decorated the plate, some with dainty flowers tucked inside and some with beautifully placed drizzles. Hidden underneath was a generous portion of prosciutto. but the real standout non-veg item on the plate was an absolutely mouth watering bite of eel camouflaged in amongst the vegetables.
I was excited to try the hapuka which was finished off with a broth presented by the chef, Kazuya Yamauchi. Unfortunately, it fell flat. The flavours felt dull and basic after the previous two dishes. That’s not to say it was bad, but it wasn’t at the level of the risotto or vegetables.
Number six was the main: Black Angus beef with butter bean, spinach, and cauliflower. When we arrived, we were given the option to add fresh black truffle to this dish, and I immediately said yes. The beef was exquisitely prepared and perfectly medium rare. The chef grated an exceedingly generous portion of black truffle sourced from Nelson on top. Absolute perfection.
After a refreshing palette cleanser of a tart sorbet and mango, we had a tasty pear compote with ginger ice cream, candied kumara, and macha. Everything worked perfectly together except the macha. Fortunately it was easy to bypass the crumbly green bits at the bottom of the plate and enjoy the other flavors.
As this was the closest thing to true fine dining we’ve had in Auckland (think white gloves to bring each course’s fresh silverware) I wasn’t surprised to get a second desert platter which had a rich cheesecake with the same mango as the palette cleanser, the tinies macarons I’ve ever seen (alas, not perfectly set) and a playful chocolate ball with a pop rocks surprise inside. I love these little extras that show up as happy surprises in restaurants like this. As we left, the chef brought us too little cookies to enjoy at home, too.
I know this restaurant has been open for awhile, but I was surprised at how quiet it was on a Saturday night. I think there were four tables total during our entire dinner. I hope it has enough interest to stay in business because this place is excellent.
