Sora, 472/474 Mount Eden Road, Mount Eden, Auckland 1024, New Zealand
We went here because…
We love Japanese, and as I had read another review a couple of months back that talked about the teething problems they were experiencing, I thought we had given them enough time to iron them out. We had an hour to spare at 2pm on a Thursday, so why not.
The food…
We ordered the Mount Cook Salmon Sashimi, the Premium Blue Fin Tuna Sashimi (although bluefin was out of season, so apparently it was yellowfin), Beef Tataki, Yakatori Tender Chicken Thigh and Pork Belly, Grilled Mussels with Cheese and Yum Yum Sauce and the Grilled Wagyu Fillet (I know what you are thinking “there’s only two of them and they are on a tight time frame, why did they order that much?”. Well that’s the wife, order everything on the menu, tap out half way through and expect me to finish the lot, which of course I do).
The Sashimi was excellent, in fact the wife loved the Yellowfin so much, that she fought me for the last piece (she won of course). The tataki was served with black vinegar, yuzu kosho (Japanese yuzu and chilli paste) and sliced red onions. After tasting a few bland tataki’s in recent visits to other more established Japanese restaurants, this was a flavour sensation, a true cornucopia of Japan’s flavours and another battle for the last piece ensued (she won again). The yakatori pork belly looked impressive and the taste matched the look, the chicken was probably the most disappointing aspect of the meal, small pieces of chicken an not much going on. The pièce de résistance (I’m not sure what the Japanese call that) was the wagyu fillet, which came out still cooking on a hotplate and then had the chef’s dressing poured over it. I finally won the a battle for the last piece of wagyu and I can still taste it hours later.
The drinks…
Sora has an good selection of Sake (well I say that but I’m no expert, they could have been completely underwhelming, but the list looked impressive), a good range of Japanese and Kiwi beers (and even a Kiwi take on a Japanese lager) and one lager from the Netherlands (why? I don’t know, maybe it was part of a deal) and an adequate wine list to tick most boxes for a Japanese restaurant.
The service…
I mentioned that I read a earlier review that talked about their teething problems, while I think the teething problems have probably been ironed out I would describe the service as functional without much enthusiasm. When you order a wine and they acknowledge that they have received the instruction and immediately walk back to behind the counter and stare into space, until 10 minutes later you ask what’s happening with your wine and they reply “oh that’s right!” (it was a Thursday afternoon). In saying that we did manage to order and eat/drink all of that in about 45 mins, so the kitchen wasn’t having any issues.
The atmosphere…
The restaurant has been nicely appointed as a modern Japanese and I can imagine on a Saturday night the place would pump well. however it was 2pm on a Thursday afternoon, so we weren’t expecting much, we certainly weren’t expecting an American to come in on her own, sit at the table behind us, order food and eat it whilst having a Zoom call without headphones. Maybe Chuck was sitting in a similar Japanese establishment in Boise Idaho doing the same thing.
The price was…
$188 for 10 pieces of sashimi, a beef tataki, 4 yakatori skewers, grilled mussels, wagyu fillet, a bowl of rice, a large Asahi and two glasses of wine. I would say in the upper end of a neighbourhood Japanese.
Overall
We were very happy with our choice, the food was outstanding and more than made up for the blips in service and Mabel and Chuck having their Zoom lunch. Overall I would give Sora a 7.5/10.
Leave a Reply