Daikoku

The service is great and the ramen here is probably the best around Auckland. The Daikoku downtown is equally as good. The setting inside is perfect for a quiet lunch or dinner and it isn’t expensive at all.

Daikoku make trustworthy authentic Japanese food that is frankly pretty hard to come by in this country, especially if you’re Japanese and know what Japanese food is supposed to taste like. Once you’re inside the restaurant you completely forget that you’re dining right next to Countdown, instead you feel like you might be in a real restaurant in Japan. I’ve tried a good deal of this menu and haven’t been disappointed so far, the flavors are comforting to me. this isn’t a place where I come to try something new, it’s where I come to be reminded of home. People who think St Pierre’s is authentic Japanese will be disappointed.

The first time I came here it took me ages to find the entry. So to give you the heads up, Daikoku has no street entry. You have to go in through the Countdown doors and it is directly on your left. Once you’re in however, you will get decent food and service.
It is not spectacular but it is decent enough, you get what you pay for here. Daikoku has a good menu, plenty to choose from and it is in laminated pictorial poster form. The staff are friendly and helpful and the food wait is never long, 10 – 15 minutes. They can make sushi faster than me that’s for sure. I came here yesterday with a few girlfriends, we were all happy with our food. They even had a fan in the room by our table which is considerate, what with the hot weather we have been having.
Oddly enough they never try to up sell you here. Never ask if you want drinks if you don’t order them, or try to push dessert onto you. In fact, you just get left to enjoy your food in peace. Plus they have a cool wall with an illustrated Japanese village on it. If it isn’t a special occasion and you just want to grab dinner while in town, Daikoku makes for a cheap and cheerful option.

This place looks pretty classy, with wooden trim and classy prints on the wall. Based on the furnishings you might expect to pay more than you do, but the prices are a pleasant surprise.
I’ve been here for lunch and for dinner, and both times were enjoyable experiences. The menu is very much what you’d expect from a mid-​range Japanese restaurant; I think I might have had some variation on ramen both times I came here. The portions are generous, and while it’s not top of my list of Japanese places in Auckland, the food was good and there was certainly nothing to complain about. I’d happily eat here again. I can’t remember if we had to book for dinner, but for lunch we just walked in off the street and they found us a table straight away.