Wednesday, October 8

Food Review: Kushi

Cuisine: Japanese
Price: $28.95 for a dinner bento box
Location: 22 Durham Street West, Auckland
Website: http://www.kushi.co.nz/

Tucked down one of Auckland CBD's many unassuming alleys, Kushi might just be one of the cities hidden dining delights. Well, maybe not.
Undoubtedly the star attraction at Kushi is the weekly drum performance. Every Friday night at 7:30 pm, several traditional Japanese drummers perform a short routine. It’s incredibly impassioned and definitely contagious. The first time after watching it, I became sharply enlivened and energised. Definitely worth seeing at least once! However as memorable as the drum performances are, the same can’t be said about the rest of the experience at Kushi.

Unfortunately around 7-8 pm, the service becomes awful due to overburdened staff.  On occasions we've waited twenty minutes for service, and I ended up having to leave my seat and intercept a waiter to place our order. This isn't unusual either, the service is consistently bad each time we've visited around this time. By 9 pm the restaurant is its usual quiet self and service is once again acceptable. So if your intent is to watch the drum performance, AND eat promptly, you may struggle.

The food at Kushi is a mostly enjoyable, though nothing spectacular. The sushi is the best part of the menu, with a medium sashimi/sushi platter of fifteen pieces priced under $32. The fish is fresh, the rice delicate and the portions generous. The bento box and tempura are also worth eating. The tempura batter was light and crispy and the bento box was filling. However not everything on the menu is brilliant, such as the horribly greasy yakisoba which is mostly comprised of cabbage. It was a dish that would have comfortably sat in a grimy, poor quality Chinese restaurant, but stuck out sorely in this relatively up market Japanese restaurant. The rest of the menu, such as yakitori or salmon teriyaki is decidedly average.

Although we enjoyed our Friday night meals at Kushi, we eventually grew tired of the poor service. At our last visit, we left after fifteen minutes of getting no attention from the staff. The menu is reasonable, though not worth visiting for, when there are better Japanese restaurants nearby.

Kushi offers a unique weekly performance which is worth visiting and an enjoyable, though forgettable menu. Just keep in mind that your Friday night meal will come at the cost of laggardly service.

6/10

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