Beautiful wooden panels across the restaurant floor and traditional Japanese decor quickly make you fall in love with Industry Zen's Japanese vibe. At lunch time the set menu offers a variety of raw dishes including sashimi and sushi as well as cooked dishes that are wonderfully affordable. Mr Piggy and I have been a big fan of this place for a long time and return every time we visit Auckland.
OK, on to the food...
All lunch sets come with salad, miso soup, rice and dessert. Make sure you ask for the chicken/fish rice, otherwise the plain rice is good too. The salad was refreshing and crunchy.
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| "Teppan" Hotplate - Yum Yum Prawns w Sushi & Sashimi NZ$29 |
Everything on the menu is delicious, you can literally order with your eyes closed. I have a rather special connection with this place, and it is part of my ritual now to always get the yum yum prawns which is my all time favourite. The prawns were served on a sizzling hotplate and topped with Zen's secrete sauce. The sauce was rich and creamy almost like a Japanese style mayo, and the prawns were flavourful and had great texture. On the side there were small plates of salmon, kingfish and tuna sushi and sashimi that were fresh and tender. The cooked salmon and chicken rolls were lightly dressed in a sticky teriyaki sauce.
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| Zen Combo - Tempura & Teriyaki Chicken NZ$25 |
Mr Piggy got the Zen Combo with teriyaki chicken. The chicken was tender and succulent, and each piece was coated with a glaze of sweet and savory teriyaki sauce. The prawn tempura didn't disappoint either. The golden batter was light and super crispy while the prawn inside was still juicy. If you are wondering what was inside in wrap, well good news for those who love teriyaki chicken because there's some more of that (just inside a wrap)!
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| "Ju" Lunch Box - Prawn Tempura Box NZ$23 |
The Ju lunch box was similar to the Zen Combo, it's got the tempura prawns, but replaces the teriyaki chicken with teriyaki salmon, nigiri and sushi rolls. Although we didn't try this lunch set (because our friend got this one), it still looked amazing.
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| Teriyaki Salmon |
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| Nigiri |
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| Wagyu "Menchi" Katsu Select - Menchi x Chicken NZ$29 |
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| Menchi Katsu x Wagyu |
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| Chicken |
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| Choux (dessert of the day) |
As always, the food was elegantly presented and more importantly delicious. We look forward to coming back next time we are in Auckland.
Food: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Atmosphere: 9/10
Highlight:
- Consistently great food and experience at an affordable price point (dinner is at a higher price point)
Lowlight:
- We are going to miss the food here for some time
Address: 104 Customs St W, Auckland, Viaduct 1010, New Zealand
Hours: Mon-Thu 12-3pm, 6-11pm
Fri-Sun 12-3pm, 5:30-11pm
Phone: +64 9 3070936
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