Daikoku (North Shore City, New Zealand)

If you haven’t been to a teppanyaki restaurant then you should do this at least once in your lifetime, while the food may be good, you are not visiting it mainly because of that, what you are here for is the teppanyaki chef’s performance as they prepare your meal. While not all teppanyaki restaurants are the same, most of the do offer this type of entertainment, so if you visit one check their reviews and even if reviews are positive make sure when you reserve ask for their most funniest and interactive chef, this makes a big difference.

I had been into several teppanyaki restaurants, I think I had great experience on about 90% of the ones I tried. I think this has to be a two-way process as the diners would have to be willing as well. If you haven’t been into one, you might not know what I am taking about so I advise you to check some videos of it to see what I mean.

Basically it’s an interactive dining session wherein the chef performs in comedic manner some tricks similar to cocktail bartenders throwing and catching bottles and glasses into the air as they mix your drinks. It does not stop there, while the chef performs these tricks you as an audience can participate as well, if you are willing. Like catching scrambled eggs in your mouth, catching fried rice on your bowl, catching raw eggs, and/or participate in cooking. But like I said the chef will also check if you are willing to participate and not easily be “thin-skinned” or “huffy” if you are picked on.

The last one we visited was Daikoku and as expected it was a great entertainment, we got seated with a really funny chef, sadly I forgot his name. We were there on a lunch time which is a great idea as the prices are way much lower compared to the dinner, plus it’s not too crowded. There was 9 adults on our group, and we were placed in one location together, all of us ordered a lunch menu where some grabbed the Gourmet Lunch (NZ$29.50) which is consists of 4pcs Prawns and one Main which is a selection from Steak, Chicken and Fish. Then other grabbed the Sumo Lunch which consists of two Mains from the same meat selection as the Gourmet lunch. Each set menu are served with Miso Soup, Daikoku Salad, Teppan Vegetables, Steamed Rice and Ice Cream.

Some of us grabbed chicken and some grabbed beef for the mains. I suggest after we tried this place is to grab the beef, it was a good quality thick rib eye that will not compare to any boneless chicken thighs. The food was great but like I said, you go to these places for the entertainment, the dishes are nearly equal with other teppanyaki restaurant, they are just pan grilled meats and vegetables served with this highly addictive yum yum sauce which makes everything taste even better. Now why would I choose this place over others? Well like I said it’s the quality of the beef for that price, like I said it was a good cut. The prawns as well was quite large, it was plump and juicy. Vegetables were fresh and the rest was just simply great.

Overall it was a good experience, price during lunch time was great. Place was nice, the waiters served with a smile amazing, the chef was really funny, and the food was of good quality.

Daikoku
Address: Bruce Mason Centre 156 Hurstmere Road, Takapuna, Auckland 0622, New Zealand
Phone: +649 488 0678
Website: https://www.daikoku.co.nz/