倉 meaning ‘Cellar’.
The one cuisine I am falling in love with in Auckland is Japanese food. I have had my fair share of sushi and only sushi, venturing no further into Japanese territory. Kura is an underground sake bar located in the CBD. Sake is a reasonably low alcoholic drink made from fermented rice. I’ve tasted it once and was not a fan but we were recommended to drink it warm instead and it was far more pleasant than memory serves. We ordered the large ‘pot’ (NZD 26) for the four of us, which was not all that large and would probably be better suited to 2 people.
The restaurant was packed and the atmosphere was great! We unfortunately booked far too late and ended up being moved around quite a bit in an attempt to move us from the bar area to a table. It was a bit of a disappointment and I definitely recommend that if you want to go in a group, get a proper table booking in advance (they did give us 10% off the bill for the inconvenience which we really appreciated).
There are a variety of dishes to choose from – small plates, tempura, sashimi, sushi, noodles, donburi and grilled meats. Most of the dishes were delicious, in fact too difficult to place one above the other. The Teriyaki style salmon (NZD 22) was definitely the most interesting tasting dish but we loved the crunch of the chicken (NZD 15) and the twist on the beef sushi (NZD 19). The dish I would not re-order was the sautéed scallops and prawns (NZD 24) – the broth was bland and the seafood lacked flavor.
The first friends we made in Auckland, who love and appreciate good quality food, suggested we try Kura and it nailed the brief – Interesting, tasty and affordable! We will definitely be back!
- food – 4/5
- service – 2.5/5
- atmosphere – 4/5
- price – 4/5
Love.Life.Daley 