Was so excited to try this place. Ordered karaage chicken, drunken noodles, ceviche and the soft shell crab bao to share and they were all super tasty. Huge fan of the chicken. Also got the white chocolate cookie dough for desert and that didn’t disappoint at all, definitely lived up to the hype 😍 loved the outside area, would recommend outside over sitting inside as it’s a bit more chill and cosy. Will definitely be back to try other dishes! Had a great first impression :)
Ordered the pork belly and chicken bao. Pad Thai and the beef and then the cookie skillet. Was expecting the chicken to be fried but it was grilled which was a nice surprise. The pork belly didn’t have crispy skin so a little disappointed. The beef was cooked well. Pad Thai tasty and the best thing on the table by far was the white chocolate cookie! It was shared and if that’s what your planning on doing make sure you order an extra scoop of ice cream!
I love this place. Have eaten here and ordered takeaways many times. The food is always consistently good and freshly prepared, it gets busy so it shows how popular this place is. Always have enjoyed the customer service here, great atmosphere. Highly recommend.
WOW! We ordered takeaway tonight (during Level 3) and the customer service and food was a 10/10. Love supporting local businesses and Big Fish Eatery is one you do not want to overlook. Great stuff guys!
Sarena & Eashvar Chhotu
+5
Arrived and instantly greeted by staff, waited 5 minutes for a table.
Relaxed atmosphere 👍🏼
Ordered the following:
- Beef Teppenyaki- 5/5
Meat was very well cooked, juicy & tender. Loved it.
- Salt & Pepper squid - 4/5
Squid was a little overcooked but very tasty. Loved the sweet chilli mayo.
- Chilli chicken - 5/5
Could of been a little more spicy. Chicken was cooked well
Full of flavour - Yum!.
- Pork & Prawn Dumplings - 5/5
Love love love!
Loved the way they were served especially more like wonton wraps. Definitely worth the price for about 8 pieces!
Juicy & full of flavour!!!
- White chocolate Macadamia Cookie Dough
What a great finish to the evening!!!
All of the food was presented perfectly & found no faults for any of the dishes!
Will definitely be returning to try more dishes!
Well trained staff and amazing food. The only down for us is the location... but as what others say its a hidden gem, it lives up to it as its hidden 😊
This place was the BOMB!! Love how the staff just looks after every table.. The place is very neat, and beautiful.
To top it off, the food was very amazing, love every bite I had from all the dishes we order
This is a top class dinner place to be at.
I will be coming back for sure
The food here always taste amazing and fresh. We ordered the karage chicken, drunken noodles, sashimi and soft shell crab
Sashimi was smaller than expected. The drunken noodles was packed full of flavour. I would advice to book in advance like we did as this restaurant is always full.
Had dinner together with workmates, it a very lovely place to go. The food was beautiful and big enough serve, the drink they made are amazing.
Great little hidden cafe. Although hidden, there are a lot of people here. The service was great. We had the lunch set with ramen and calamari.
The ramen was quite interesting. Not your traditional one but definitely not bad!
Would come back if I'm around the area
Best sashimi I had ever! Had the ribs and drunken noodle, good quality of ingredients but flavours were just okay, nothing special. Overall 8/10, will be back for the sashimi and try smth else.
3 girls went for dinner for the first time. It was rather a bit hard to find the restaurant in the dark but having plenty of parking is good. Staff were very attentive & friendly. They know the menu very well and happy to explain what it is made of, what the taste is like etc. The restaurant was packed on the Saturday evening and we were the last customers at 10pm but they didn't kick us out or make us feel awkward. The food was all so beautiful. The presentation is very appealing and taste so good! We would like to come back definately!
Nestled down a random side street in penrose you will find big fish eatery. I have had this place on my mind for a long time and tonight found the opportunity to go with friends. Salt and pepper squid is great as is the karage chicken, breaded in cornflakes? Interesting but good. Also tried the drunken noodle, dumplings, ribs, and a lychee salad. Beer menu very limited has more wine options. Will be taking people here for lunch again
I think this place has to be my next ultimate favourite. Everything about it is great, the staff, the food, the atmosphere. I usually take a lot of photos when I go out for food but kept forgetting this one time. We were a biggish group and ordered most things on the menu. My favourite were the pork and prawn dumplings as well as the fried rice and chilli chicken. Also couldn’t go wrong with those fried squid. Pictured is the prawn dumplings and the chilli chicken rice
Awesome little place to eat at, food was very delicious, chill and relaxing vibe. Helpful and friendly staff. It was very busy and the food came out in good timing. Didn't actually have to wait for long, which was a plus as it was full. Would go back for sure!
A group of us came here for lunch, and honestly none of us could complain about our food at all! I had the beef tacos and they were delish. Three of the other had the pad Thai and said it’s the best they have ever had. Recommend!
It’s pricey but Yum!! My favourite place for Pad Thai and their Chicken Karage. To top it off customer service is awesome, atmosphere warm. Definitely returning.
Really amazing pad thai and soft shell crab but found the chick karaage way too sweet for my liking but really impressed with the selection of desserts
Drove past this place countless times without even realising this place existed. Great I stopped by as this will become a regular for me. The fried chicken was all sorts of crispy and the soft shell crab was beautifully fried.
Great atmosphere and service was excellent. The Pork/prawn salad and Tuna tataki was yum. Salmon and beef dishes we had were just okay. Would come back and try out more dishes. Love that the meals are served in sharing bowls/plates so you can share your meals with your group.
Great place with friendly staffs with clean environment. Love their chicken karage and teppanyaki beef, beef tako & spicy fried noodle. Highly recommended!
We ordered the Drunken Noodles and Soft Shell Crab.
The noodles were definitely enough to share between at least three people, it was flavourful with a hint of spice, and the prawns were large and juicy.
The soft shell crab was on another level. The tempura was perfectly light and crispy with beautiful, succulent crab meat. The jalapeño sauce was truly a perfect match.
Service was amazing, they paid a lot of attention to every table, making you feel valued as a customer. They were very patient, really taking the time to explain the dishes and answer any questions we had.
The food at Big Fish just keeps on getting better after each visit. Must have is the duck and lychee salad and of course the butterly scrumptious cookie dough dessert.
Big Fish Eatery has delicious food! I always enjoy the teriyaki salmon and bulgolgi beef dishes. The karaage chicken is a great smaller shared plate too.
The best baos in town! Staff are friendly even through the busy crowds. Was great eating authentic Asian cuisine. Also... don’t forget to try the desert 😋
Always a classic - and I'm so happy that even after all these years, they have stuck to their laurels and continued to do what they do best - to the best !
So many restaurants change their menus too often - but Big Fish have remained loyal and continue to make the best Karaage Chicken in AKL.
We order this in bulk, very often - takeaway - and are never disappointed !
The food was tasty and filling. I’m a big eater and between my friend and I we ordered two small and one large to share. And that was filling!
Definitely going back xx
Can't fault Big Fish Eatery at all. The food was fantastic, I had the Sashimi and it was some of the best I have had. Partner had the Pork Bao and looked amazing and he thought it was delicious. The cake cabinet looked awesome but we didn't get dessert, maybe next time :-) Service was spot on, and the decor and ambiance were well thought out and lovely. Prices were very reasonable for the high quality of food and I can't wait to go back. 5/5 is a fair mark for the quality place that Big Fish Eatery is!
Ambience 4/5
Food 4.5/5
Service 4/5
Had a great experience.staff was friendly, attentive and accommodating. Was quick to refill my glass of water without asking. Had the Mongolian lamb- so soft it melts in your mouth. It was so delicious that I found myself cleaning the meat of the bone.Soft shell crab was crispy and had mildly spiced condiment. Mapo tofu was flavoursome adequate amount of sauce. Portions are good a bit on the pricier side but the quality was well worth it.My favourite part was the wide selection of tea! Perfect way to wash down the succulent food we had.
It is tucked around a corner of a building/commercial property.Although the general service was good I just wished that all the meals came out at the same time.I had to wait for my food for at least 10-15 mins after all the food came out so my partner had to wait for me for a bit after eating hers.
Very nice place to eat and hang out. place is slightly small, but i hope they will expand in future. staffs are very friendly. food serving size 3.8/5 , food price 3.9/5, Ambiance 4/5, service 4.5/5. overall i give it 4 star out of 5
I absolutely love the food here, it is by far my favourite to go to place for good noodles, Salmon and sushi! don’t also forget to try their amazing and mouthwatering Cookie Dough 👌 They have great service and make the food on time without delays. What else do you want as a foodie 🙌
This was my third time to visit here “Big fish”. Pad thai is little bit salty but others are perfect. Especially cookie dough!! Everyone need to try this!!
Never eaten in at this restaurant, but got take away and the food was exceptional. Keep meaning to go back, especially as they do BYO, which will make the night much cheaper!
Very interesting fusion dishes; the lychee duck salad was a delightful surprise. Cookie dough desserts are unlike anything I’ve tried before - the white chocolate macadamia one is definitely a winner!
Tempura crab is quite good! I love the beef one , but feel a little bit disappointed with spice chicken, not spicy not all, and too much ginger and garlic inside...
I have been to this restaurant a hand full of times now and every time has been absolutely amazing. Food & service 10/10. Although restaurant is small i never find myself feeling squished. Its the kinda place you could have after work dinner, dinner with mates or a family birthday.
This is a usual spot for us. Love the matcha cookie dough dessert albeit the quantity has shrunk a little I feel. Big salmon platter and Akuma ribs are great. Karaage chicken and the dip tastes better than of other places. Pad Thai and sambal chicken is decent.
Tried to book this place twice before no success, fully booked. Lucky we made it this time but still people in the queue. Simple modern fusion Japanese menu with mix of other Asian dishs, Very friendly greetings and efficent service.
Yum super sweet and rich, green tea cookie dough. Chewy exterior and a gooey hot interior, topped with a cold scoop of ice cream. This dessert is one to share, it's too rich and sweet to eat by yourself. -
Good Flavour of asian fusion. But some of them too salty for me. Dessert are all quite nice, staffs friendly and professional. All ingredients are fresh.
Really loved all the food at this place! Far from home but we planned to have dinner here before heading into Mt Smart 😊 sashimi is delicious, so were the drunken noodles (spicy af) and the Japanese died chicken. BYO option too which is ideal. Would love to head back to try out their brunch menu
Big Fish Eatery is our number 1 spot for dates and catch ups with friends. Their food is consistently amazing and I am so glad they brought back the Baos. I highly recommend the pork bao, karaage chicken, pad thai and cookie dough!
We came here on a busy Thursday night. The inside space was a bit of squeeze and no one greeted or came to check us until we tried to walked a closer into the restaurant. However, once we sat down everything (food, customer service, cozy buzzing atmosphere) was very good. Highly recommended. Keen to come back with friends to try their items and drinks.
Had a business dinner here, food was amazing & quick service. We had several different dishes and they were all excellent. Will be back definitely.
I had a wonderful meal here on a Saturday afternoon with friends. It was quiet around 2pm and we ordered chicken bao (pork belly bao was unavailable), fried rice, edamame beans and soft shell crab. Note: the chicken bao has chili sauce on it though it's not mentioned on the menu. We enjoyed all dishes, portion sizes were great and service was friendly. Lots of parking outside and easy access for me on crutches.
Really good. There’s nothing on the menu that I wouldn’t get and we have tried everything. Portions are generous and right for the price. Ambience is definitely on the casual side, and staff are inviting and service excellent. Highly recommended.
Wow. Yes. Definitely go prepared to spend money but prepared to have some of the best fish you've ever had. Stunning dishes, beautifully presented. We did the custom menu and it was worth every cent. The drinks were also amazing. Can't recommend enough!
Made a reservation and got a great table by a window. Nice interior and cool ambience for dinner except that there was a DJ in the bar section so it was a bit noisy and the bass was heavy. Dinner was very good! We brought our own desert and the kitchen was out of plates so we had to eat off of extra napkins. Not an ideal way to the end the experience. But all-in-all I’d recommend this place.
Went to Big Fish Eatery for lunch on a weekday. Location is a little hidden away, but mind you they were busy as. We arrived at around 12noon and a few tables have already been booked out. That's a good sign!
Nice ambiance, efficient service. Better signs.
Big Fish Eatery serves delicious Asian Fusion food. Their price is on the higher side, but from a value perspective, their offerings are worth it.
We had the Lunch Special with starter, main and drink for $20. Well worth it!
Tako Karaage is yummylicious. And so is their Lemongrass & Ginger Chicken and Teriyaki Chicken.
Do visit Big Fish Eatery if you are around the area. Highly recommended!
Just excellent! Nice atmosphere, pleasant interior, friendly staff and this taste! It is really worth the prices! It’s too hard to describe the awesomeness of all the food served - you just have to go there and taste it yourself.
very cost-efficient lunch- just $20. I love the teriyaki chicken sooo much！ The taste of rice in this restaurant is awesome. Fresh salmon and nice squid.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
My partner and I came on two separate occasions within a span of a week (yes we are guilty of being one of the very many people who came to the area for a car fix) but we are still obsessed with the food. I was very skeptical at first as the area didn’t seem like it would house one of the best restaurants I’ve been to in Auckland, but I am now a Big Fish believer.
This place is definitely doing something right because we were on a Salmon Tako bowl high for about a week until we came back for another one. The seafood is incredibly fresh and the salmon melts in your mouth, and not to mention a generous portion of avocado which ticks off all the boxes for me.
We also ordered the drunken noodles which was really delish with a generous portion of seafood and yummy stir fried noodles. The Pad Thai also came in a nice portion and is a good alternative if you want to try something less popular.
The only miss for me perhaps was the shrimp and salmon croquettes which I found to have a bit of a weird texture and the dipping sauce didn’t go really well with it.
BUT, the green tea cookie dough, as promised by other reviewers was the perfect end to a great meal. Soft, gooey, hot out of the kitchen, just amazing delicious-ness.
We don’t wander far from the CBD and its close suburbs but we will indeed for Big Fish!
Came here for a friends birthday dinner. The pork belly bao and the cookie dough icecream are definitely the best dishes on the menu. Also ordered the prawn and salmon croquettes, sambal chicken, pad thai and salmon. Definitely will be back.
Ahmygad! Soooooo good. Plus free delivery! Salmon 10/10 so good holy moly. Yum crab, yum bao... But need delivery of the cookie dough, craving not met. Definitely going to have go to Big Fish for another delicious feast! 😋😍
Went on a Wednesday night and the restaurant was packed. Thankfully booked in advance through zomato which was easy.
Between two we ordered the karaage chicken, drunken noodles as well as the matcha cookie pie.
The karaage chicken was cooked very well and super tasty! I wish the pieces were smaller as the large pieces were very hard to eat (especially with chopsticks). The drunken noodles were very good too, lots of good seafood and flavoursome. Both dishes were large portion sizes and worth the price. The matcha cookie pie did take a little while to get out but was a nice light way to finish the meal.
The service was friendly and not over bearing. I wish there was cutlery on the tables or close by as they only have chopsticks and I couldn’t find cutlery.
Excited to come back to try everything else (as we spent so long looking for what to order - everything looked so good).
It is hard to remind myself we were in Penrose not Ponsonby. This gem looks so out of place and the food is so out of this world. The Pork Belly Bao gave me love at first bite and the Beef Bulgogi was, well, I had to fight my husband’s greasy hands off it. Food was very pretty but not a crumb was left on my plate. The servers were very polite, and we were seated promptly despite it being midday and midweek the place was quite packed with happy chompers. The servings were adequate, price range quite accurate. My only wish was I should’ve saved room for dessert.
I will be back, though. With a vengeance. (That means you, Green Tea Cookie Dough. )
This is our go-to place. Everything we’ve had have been amazing. The pork bao is really good. I definitely recommend it. We tried soft shell crab, drunken noodles, tuna tataki, chicken bao and salads. I would especially mention green tea cookie dough dessert. This is just melt in your mouth amazing. Will never tire of this place. Make sure to book as it gets really busy. Go try it guys. You will not be disappointed.
A special hidden gem in Penrose, fantastic fresh food, great to see the Bao back, my go to is the Tako salad however they have a great range of food here so you will have to get in and try for yourself....book ahead as can get busy
I only have love for this place. I have been many times and have not been let down once. Their deserts are amazing. I recommend the drunken noodles and the sashimi.
I have been here a couple of times now and love it but haven't taken photos!
My favourite dish is the drunken noodles minus the squid - the seafood portions are generous and the chilli adds a beautiful flavour. The fried rice was a bit too sweet for my liking, pad Thai is ok, bao buns were yum!
Downfall for me would be the desserts. We tried the white and dark cookie dough which tasted floury and like it was cooked for 5 minutes in the microwave.
Awesome service and would definitely recommend lunch or dinner here.
Sooooo good! You need to make a reservation well in advance they are very busy but it’s well worth it. Big size portions and very reasonable price. Karrage Chicken delicious as everyone says, soft shell crab very nice the green sauce with it was spicy. Drunken Noodles were delicious, quite spicy. Beef and mushroom very tasty and the meat tender. We had no room left for dessert and anyway had to leave because as it was a last minute reservation our table was booked right after us(we already knew when booked that we had to leave at a certain hour.) Great food!! Will come back to try more !!!!! 🤤🤤🤤🤤
Brought my partner here for our anniversary dinner and we loved it! I wanted to order more but im already full! Ive ordered their best sellers and it was indeed the best! The people were nice and service was 👌🏼!! Would recommend this place to my friends. Tip for those who wanted to try this restau should book in advance as the place is always full.
Great food and good services from this restaurant. Highlight dishes from me was their Pork Belly Bao, Mongolian Lamb, Drunken Chicken, Beef Teppanyaki and Dark cookie dessert. Strongly recommended. I would definitely go back again. 👍👍👍👍👍👍
I’ve been here a fair few times now. Highly recommend their Mongolian lamb and karaage chicken. Not authentic but still really tasty. I was really disappointed by their grilled fish, as it said “large meal” more for sharing, but they are very small and more for 1 person.
If you plan to go at peak time (6-7) on any day of the week, highly recommended to book event for 2 people. Always jam packed.
Amy @ My Dining Journey
+5
Love the food at Big Fish Eatery. Whether it's a workday lunch or weekend dinner, the food here is exceptional and will surely please all the picky eaters.
Fresh seafood, authentic flavours and friendly staff - I highly recommend this restaurant.!
Be sure to make reservations so you don't miss out on a table!!
Been here many times and food is always good. Just love the prawns they use, big and juicy. A pity the sambal prawns with rice is no longer on the menu but instead we had the prawn noodles which was absolutely delicious. The lamb ribs were so tasty and tender. Ambience was good too. You need to book here as we were disappointed a few times having to leave as the restaurant was full. A good thing now there’s a new branch in Stonefields. Highly recommended.
This is a Pam Asian restaurant tucked away in Penrose - easy to miss. We ate here on a Saturday night and the atmosphere was vibrant. Karrache chicken (most popular), white cookie dough pudding and the staff etiquette deserve full marks 5/5
I didnt take any photo this time around because i was on a date 😉
Now...you definitely want to make reservation even for 2 people. The place get busy (in a good way)
The service is good and the food is definitely delicious.
Love the Karaage Chicken and Soft Shell Crab.
The portion is perfect for sharing.
I really enjoy my dinner date here...just wonderful.
Was here 2 mths ago. Love the CK Pad Thai, sushi, tuna tartare and soft shell crab. The dark choc cookie dough was delicious. The only disappointment was the Mongolian lamb, it was undercooked. But I will definitely go back again.
This place is an absolute hidden gem in Penrose, I highly recommend. I have been here several times. The food is delicious and bursting with flavour. You must, I repeat must, have the cookie dessert, you will be scooping every last bit! This place can get quite busy and service can be slow, but it is worth it for the overall experience.
Food is always fresh and absolutely delicious. Very reasonably priced! It's our date night go-to. Highly recommend the sambal chili chicken.
Great find, hidden gem! Tucked away in the industrial area is thus fantastic pan Asian cuisine joint. We had beautiful Japanese cuisine, friendly and knowledgeable staff, just one comment...thought the pad Thai was average and a little bland for me, but then I am biased towards spicy! The Teriyaki salmon was really nice.
Hands down one of the best Japanese/fusion places I have been to in Auckland. Just recently came back from a trip to Japan and the sashimi is on par with what I had over there! The tuna tataki was heaven on a plate, the mixed sashimi was so soft and the drunken noodles had a great serving of seafood. Enjoyed it so much I’m already going back again this weekend!
My friend took me here for brunch and it was so yum that I revisited it 3 times within 2 months. The Lychee duck salad is my personal favourite, Akuma ribs were cooked perfectly with cumin and chilli spice, tuna tartare was fresh and yum. They have a pretty cool selection of teas which I really like. I’ve tried their earl grey supreme, Bangkok green, pomegranate oolong and midsummers peach. Service was great and will definitely go back.
The food was so good, we went back the following week.
CONS: A bit pricey
PROS: The food was beyond what we've expected. It's a legit Asian-fusion restaurant. The flavor combination is superb, the portions are generous and the presentation is on point.
We've pretty much tried all their dishes and we couldn't fault it. I highly recommend the Drunken Noodles (I hate to admit that it's better than the Filipino Pancit Canton), the Duck Salad and the Charred lamb.
It's also worth mentioning that they did well in decorating the place (concealing the fact that it's right next to the railway).
PS: Make sure you book in advance as it is always packed.
Food 4/5
Decoration 3/5
Price 4/5
We ate here first few times when Big Fish newly opened and had a great impression. We came back last week but there’s a lot of changes I didn’t like. They cut down too much on portion and decoration. The spicy Tuna rolls used to look stunning now has been cut into giant pieces which could almost choke my husband who I think has the biggest mouth on earth. The taste however still remains delicious. I guess to keep the price low, they had to shrink the size. Recommended soft shell crabs and cookies dough.
This place is my go to restaurant. I always order the pork belly bao, karage chicken and the fried rice. The cookie in the skillet is amazing too. Highly recommended!
I didn’t bother booking a reservation for this place because I naively thought that being a week night it wouldn’t be full. Fortunately for them but unfortunately for me it was fully booked. However they offered to accommodate me as long as my friend and I finished dinner within the hour. Let’s just say I was in & our completely satisfied within the hour. I ordered the baos, beef tepanyaki & chicken karaage. I enjoyed both baos but I think I preferred the pork belly bao more. More flavour & meat. Beef tepanyaki💯💯💯 tender steak pieces and the salad was crispy but dressed well. I came especially for the dessert & was not disappointed. This is a sweet tooth haven! Absolutely recommend and the prices are reasonable too. The service was seamless & accommodating. The maitred definitely looks after his customers. 🙌🏾
The food was very delicious and flavourful. Service was good as well. I especially like the jalopeño sauce with the soft shell crab. I do find the honey sauce that they use is too overpowering. The dessert cake is valuable and tasty.
Cookie dough desert is so good!!!!!!!!!! Had the pad Thai because of its reviews and was definitely tasty - would go back try more on the menu. YUM!!
We ordered a range of dishes to share and everything was delicious. Though presentation wise it was fairly normal, the food tasted amazing. My favourite would definitely be their karaage chicken as it was friend crispy golden and the meat was tender. The pad thai was also delicious as it wasn't too heavily flavoured.
Unfortunately I didn't get to try their cookie dough desserts however I will definitely be back to try those as I have heard great things about them!
Place is spacious and plenty of parking outside. Overall it was a nice place to have a family dinner at with good variety of Japanese food.
Food 8/10
Service 6.5/10
Ambience 7.5/10
Price 7/10
Keep seeing posts from King of Cheat Meals here and even on the day we booked so we really had to come by. Service is a bit slow but was a rather busy night for them. Ambience is nice.
We had the Bangkok green tea with coconut, pomegranate oolong, pork belly bao, prawn - salmon croquette, soft shell crab, lychee duck salad, pad Thai chicken, bulgogi beef and a green tea cookie dough to finish off.
Everything came out unbelievably fast, even the duck salad as the waitress mentioned it would take the longest. It was all very delicious, there wasn't a dish we didn't like, the teas were also nice.
Will definitely be back to try other dishes.
Definitely one of my favourite restaurants! Their food is delicious and the staff were great! Everything we ordered tasted immaculate! The only bad thing is that they get busy but it’s definitely worth the wait
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
I have heard so many great things about this place, but in reality it far exceeded any expectations!
The ambience was cosy relaxing. They were quite busy so the staffs could not come around regularly, though they were always friendly when taking orders :)
We had quite a big group so we ordered a bit of everything to share. The serving sizes were massive, incredible value for the price! (Each main dish could probably feed 2 - 3 people). Everything was absolutely delicious. We enjoyed the ribs which had a nice spicy kick to it, the drunken noodles, and the fried rice. However, special recommendations would have to go to their fried chicken, which had the most amazing crispy cornflake coating, served with kimchi honey dressing. The teriyaki salmon was also incredibly tender with a sauce that was finger-licking good. And people were literally fighting over the pork belly naps!
For desserts, we got the baked cookie dough in all flavours. They were all scrumptious in their own way: the matcha one most refreshing; the white chocolate one was decadent with bits of macadamia; and the dark chocolate one rich with peanut butter. We also wanted to try the desserts in the cabinet, but that would have to be a separate trip.
I hardly ever give such high ratings on Zomato, but this place totally deserves it.
Deserves its reputation! Go with a big group and fill up on food. Everything is designed for sharing, and it's fantastic. Amazing tasting food and great service. Highly recommend trying their pad thai!
Pad Thai 4.5/5
Tuna Sashimi 5/5
Chicken karage 3/5 (chicken was too thin (very little amount of chicken for $16. Looks big coz of corn flakes)
Edamame 5/5
Drunken noodles 4/5
Potion size 5/5
Food quality 5/5
Customer service 4.5/5 (the male waiter doesn’t know what he’s doing)
Disappointment : u can’t order miso soup seperate
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Overall an excellent restaurant, super tasty food plus takeaway options, great value, BYO - I'm going back, you've got to try it
Food: Quite simply just divine flavours in good solid portion sizes. An excellent range of Asian style foods with distinct and delicious flavours. The small plates are actually a very good size, most come with a separate sauce dish and all taste delicious. We had the Karaage chicken and I could have eaten two or three of these. The Tuna Tataki is worth a visit too. We also indulged in the Soft Shell Crab and Prawn Salmon Croquette and all of these were very nice. Drunken Egg Noodles were an excellent choice for a main. Whilst I don't normally do a full the course dinner, in this instance I also had one of the Warm Cookie Dough desserts and these were a nice way to finish off a totally gorgeous meal. For four adults and one child with about 5-6 small plates, two main and four desserts, total bill of only $180 - excellent value!
Service: Prompt service, friendly staff, good explanation of the various menu options - overall good solid service
Ambience: Big Fish Eatery is located in an area you wouldn't normally frequent for dinner destinations but I'd suggest you go out if your way and visit, you won't be disappointed. Small premises yet comfortable, nothing to complain about though.
Had a wonderful dinner here last night. Tucked away behind some shops, this place is amazingly decorated with both intimate and more open tables. We ordered the karage chicken, the prawn and salmon croquettes, chicken pad thai and the fried rice. The karage chicken was really good, covered in cornflakes that made it nice and crunchy. The croquettes were closer to a thai fishcake, and the chunks of prawn bought them to a new level. The mains were outstanding. The pad thai was one of the best I have ever had. The flavour was great and well seasoned. The fried rice was really well appreciated as well. The Taiwanese sausage and bbq pork were definitely a highlight of the night. The staff were great and the food came out quickly.
I will be back and spread the word of how great this place is.
I love this place!! My top Asian fusion place to go. Only downside for them is that they don't open on Sundays as other days are busy. I always go for the Karaange Chicken covered in crunchy flakes with kimchi honey sauce and the fried rice with the Chinese sausage and fried egg. Cannot go wrong with them. If you have a sweet tooth, definitely try the green tea cookie dough. The best one out of the other ones I've tried. Excellent customer services and must book in advance to avoid disappointment
Great food great environment.
Booking most necessary most nights of the week.
The fried rice is a must have. all ingredients on the menu are fresh and high quality
Came here for dinner a while ago. Shared the karage chicken for an entree with my friend. It was nice and juicy chicken and the sauce with it was nice but a little boring. For main I had the pad thai. This is the best pad thai that I have had in ages, it had tons of chicken, and amazing flavour and plenty of fresh veges and crushed peanuts to give it a great flavour. I would really recommend it :)
Love this place, would have given 5 stars if they still did their pork belly bao! Took the best item off the menu besides their cookie dough ice creams which is super disappointing. Haven’t actually been back since they took it off the menu!
First time here and very impressive. The tuna tataki has this wonderful balance between salty & citrus that literally pops on the palette. Staff attentive & friendly. Price is extremely cheap for this level of quality. Happy to have discovered this wonderful place.
Little bit out of the way for us coming from the shore, good quick service, friendly staff, the place looked clean, food is between average and good, meal prices is very good(I would consider low prices). I had Thai slaw which was spicy but nice, also had karaga chicken, little too oily but nice, and the wife had the big salmon plate which she loved. Overall enjoyed it. Sorry dont have any pics.
Ordered delivery for lunch at work and was impressed with the sushi! Salmon sushi was fresh and tasty, loved it and highly recommend.
However the Karaage Chicken we bought to share was a little disappointing. Wouldn’t purchase it again.
Delivery was prompt and the driver was friendly.
Great little restaurant in the commercial area of Penrose. The chilli Edamame was absolutely beautiful. Enjoyed the soft shell crab. The Lime Chicken Salad was beautifully flavoured and was so generous in chicken. Will definitely be back soon. Worth the drive from Kumeu for us.
The Karaage Chicken was disappointing, I've had better elsewhere, soft shell crab was tasteless. Pai Thai was great, I could've asked for it to be medium spiced (fault on my side but my mate got his meal medium spiced) but it came with a lot of chicken, which is great. My mates also liked their food. Best to get it cooked medium spiced, price of food was great. We got 3 mains, 3 starters and 3 drinks for under $100. Good service, Would definitely go again.
Got food delivered to my house from Big Fish tonight after reading the rave reviews. I'm happy and satiated to say that my high expectations were more than met!
They were very quick for a Saturday evening delivery (after I was told there was no eat in space available). The food came in beautiful and sturdy packaging. The chopsticks were so classy and even better than some of my home ones lol!!
I ordered a salmon and a prawn chirasu and a tuna tataki. The chirasu portion size was good, as I'm a big eater. The raw ingredients were fresh and presentation beautiful, even in take away format!
To top it off, it's free delivery for orders over $30 for the neighboring suburbs! I will definitely be ordering again!! Shoot, forgot to take photos as I was so hungry, next time!!
Hidden gem, found out about this place when my siblings suggested their Cookie Dough Dessert.
I had no idea this place also served Pad Thai and sashimi, fell in love almost straight away!
Cookie dough was to die for, melts in your mouth! My favourite was the white chocolate cookie dough as the dark chocolate one was a bit too rich, but it was still so good.
The space isn't too big as I struggled to find it easy to move amongst tables to pay the bill at the front of the restaurant. However it looks spectacular at night with the fairy lights and decorations
I would suggest this as a great place to have a first date and not casual dinning as the pricing could be a bit too pricey. It's all worth it in the end
I was a little disappointed to hear that they no longer sell the pork belly bao, but nevertheless they still do AMAZING food. The service is good team is polite and efficient. The food came out quickly and the staff really know their product.
If you are looking for a place that has amazing fresh food, decent amount of meat and Veges look no further you will absolutely love this place. Other than finding out about the bao. You will not be disappointed. They made up for it with their amazing food.
*Update* the Pork belly Bao is BACK and they introduced a Chicken lemongrass Bao. Bao Chika wow wow!!! I am always amazed and how they continue to be amazing!!
Great food- the ribs were so tender and literally just came off the bones, miso cod to die for (definitely something I would order again), duck and lychee salad refreshing and the soft shell crabs came with an amazing sauce (not sure if it was wasabi based). My brother had their teriyaki salmon as well which was served in a generous portion especially for the price you pay. A great restaurant for family gatherings, meetings and catch ups 😊
It was a bit hard to find as its down the back of a built up area but it was super lovely.
It has a funky and unique feel and our waitress was super lovely and helpful.
The menu on the website isnt up to date but that didnt stop them in delivering delicious food.
Everything we order was fresh and tasty.
Price for our family of 2 adults and child plus two drinks come to $32 which is worth it.
Left feeling full and happy
Awesome and amazing food. Big Fish has become my go to eatery for special ocassions and good times. They have never failed to leave me happy and full.
Great variety of food which is full of flavour and beautifully presented. The sashimi is some of the best I’ve had. Good amount of space for big group dining too
Dined here on my 21st Birthday for 20 people. We got the whole outside eating area to ourselves. Service was faster than expected for the amount of people we had. Ordered a bit of everything and shared it around. The portion to price ratio is reasonable and better than most restaurants we've been to. The food looked too good so our stomachs came first before taking any pictures lol (I only took a few). Total came to around $650. Will definitely come back👌
First time here for a friend birthday, asian fusion food and was really busy on a Saturday night, luckily we did booked. Food was good, well presented with excellent service, the staff are very attentive and there's lot's of car park. Only downsides, it's really warm as there's only one aircon in the whole restaurant, we all sweat so much and have to ask for more serviette and ice as well.
My first visit and it won't be my last. This place is located in a odd location but its worth a visit, if you are following google maps it will take you to an incorrect address so if someone can update it that be awesome for new customers. Overall food was nice and had plenty of flavour, good quantity at good prices.
Yes this restaurant is in a fairly unusual place but it is well worth the visit. It has a really interesting menu and the flavours of the dishes and also quality of ingredients are very very good - and for a reasonable price. We can especially recommend the tuna tartare (a must order), the duck lychee salad and the beef nigiri though it was all fab. Also the menu has a good range of dishes to suit different appetites and food interests. Oh - and the service was very good to and the owners are clearly dedicated foodies. We will be back!
I think I have tried almost everything in this place, and absolutely love them. Auckland’s best restaurant. Highly recommend to book before you go. It gets busy during the weekends. Also, please try their teriyaki salmon on rice...!! I beg yous.
Love big fish eatery food was sooooo goood. Would definitely indulge there again 👌👌 The white chocolate cookue dough pie is by far one of my best desserts. The service was really great and smiley too. Perfect place fr lunch date for small group 😊
Taste: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Interior Deco: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Customer service: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕
Recommend: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Third time in big fish, staff is friendly as usual, food never disappoint me! The beef teppanyaki was real good! And the cookie dough is good as usual!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Went to big fish for lunch today. Ordered lychee duck salad, karaage chicken and teriyaki salmon.
Salad appears to be new flavour combo, lots texture including cabbage leaves and cashew, however personally not keen for the sprinkle touch of mint. Traditional dish like teriyaki salmon is excused well, exterior cooked to slight crispy glazed with teriyaki sauce and white saseme. Karaage chicken served with peri peri mayo. I love how it is not covered in thick starch batter, and the cereal flakes just adds enough crunchiness.
Ambiance is all right. Our reserved table for two turned out to be in the main dining area right next to toilet. And the light is so dim in the whole place albeit strong sunlight out there. Changed to the extended area which is way better apart from train noise now and again.
Service is tentative however some times plates taken too soon that there was still fallen flakes or mayo sauce I didn't finish lol.
Overall not on pricy wagon compared to other asian fusion place. Will be back to try other dishes.
We booked a table here for a group of four for 6.30pm and I'm glad we did because the place was full. The ambiance was fantastic and staff were cheerful. I asked our first waiter if he had any recommendations, he said he doesn't have any because they are all good and he wasn't wrong because they were all divine! There wasn't a long wait for our food, its a pity I saw the oysters after placing our order.(pays to check their specials board at the front) The cookie doughs made up for the mishap though, special thanks to the head guy for making the experience extremely special.
Wow this place is a hidden gem in the industrial area but near my workplace (which is in the middle of nowhere :D). Had pad thai for lunch and it was tastier and better than most other traditional thai restaurants and a generous serving that surprised me (with a relatively good appetite!) The dragon roll was also nice. Reasonable prices, lovely presentation and great service, highly recommended and my only regret is not visiting this place sooner!
Tried this one out of curiosity from all the positive feedbacks on Zomato.
For starter we ate pork belly kung bao. Its sauce was delectable and complemented the tender pork so well. It definitely set our expectations high for our mains.
I had terriyaki salmon on rice. I was impressed with how big the portion of salmon I had. Considering its price of 18 dollars, it was surely reasonable.
My wife had drunken noodles. She loved it though she suffered from acid reflux after eating it coz it was too spicy for her. Nevertheless, it was flavourful and had generous amount of shrimp and squid.
They have an extensive range of teas which complement the dishes well. I tried their Thai green tea with coconut and ginger and it was actually good.
Staff were alert and quick to respond despite being so busy.
What a pleasant surprise! Tucked in an industrial complex, this place is a gem! We had the soft shell crab (one of the best ive had in auckland), pad thai and beautiful miso cod. Price wise- very reasonable.
Big Fish Eatery has quickly become one of my favourite restaurants! The salmon is always delicious and I also love the pork belly bao and soft shell crab to share.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
loved loved this hidden place. The ambiance is nice and lively and their food goes with their theme. We were a group of 4 and we ordered to share. For starters we got their lamb chops, fried chicken and bao. The chicken was ok, nothing fancy. But their lamb and bao were amazing. They did us a special order of duck bao since my friend can’t eat pork and to be honest, the duck bao was so much more better than the regular pork bao. Very juicy and tender. For the mains we got their duck and lychee salad and their pad Thai. Again absolutely delicious. The pad Thai was on the spicy side as they put fresh red chillies. As for dessert we ordered the white chocolate cookie dough and thei mango mouse like dessert (apologies for not noting down the correct dish names).
I have been raving about this place to everyone I know. It’s not a place for young children but will be a good place for a date night or for group catch ups. The food is good enough of a portion to share. Definitely will be going there again.
nice food and good environment. Come here with family and they enjoy it. Staff are very Helpful and give good advice for ordering.
Very happy with the food and service.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
I was invited to try the Big Fish Eatery the other day as my birthday dinner. It was not far from where I live and by the time I arrived the place was packed.
Big Fish Eatery is a Pan-Asian restaurant that is family friendly and oriented. It is a place for casual dinner for those who may want a Pan Asian experience. The food is good but it is not authentic. Not what you would get if you go to a specialised restaurant.
We tried a number of things on the menu particularly the Tuatua, not something we get often at non-Chinese restaurants. From the miso soup, sashimi, fried chicken, soft shell crab and Thai-style salad, we could not have better food.
Service is not as fast as we hoped for – there were not enough staff on the day when the restaurant was packed – so we can see all the staff running around like a headless chicken, and we were not able to receive the quick services we were hoping for.
If you are not looking for a quick service, but love a family friendly place – here is definitely the place you should come to. They also do delivery so if you live close by, this is a quick and simple neighbourhood restaurant.
Just had lunch at Big Fish eatery in Penrose. Service from Anthony was top notch 10/10 the food Devine, great atmosphere. would strongly recommend.
New favourite restaurant. The best thing so far is the prawn sushi - best i have ever had. cant wait to go back so that i can try more dishes
The soft shell crab was recommend to us by the waitress. I'm glad we ordered it, the crab was crunchy with the flesh sweet and tasty. The cookies were yummy, the green tea cookies was more my taste.
Food was all around excellent. Everything felt fresh and the meat was seasoned and cooked to perfection. I ordered a variety of sharing dishes, the standout being the Tuna Tataki. The flavours were spit on and faultless.
The service was good with the waiter that served us being seemingly new but friendly and personable.
The place felt warm and inviting.
This was our second visit. On a Friday night it pays to book - and it's a great sign to see a place in an industrial area so packed! The food menu is eclectic in an Asian fusion way. The disappointment our second nights was that 3 or 4 dishes weren't available - I certainly prefer that the fish would be fresh - but wiht a small menu it took away a lot of options. It would have been great f they could have substituted. The food we did have was plentiful; good value and very tasty. The service was a little hit and miss. Yes we will return for a casual evening,
Amazing food and reasonable price. Fed 4 adults and 2 children for $92. Hapuka is so moist and perfectly cooked. Exceptional food. Definately need to go back and try the rest of the menu.
The food here is delicious. We went in a large group but it was perfect because we ordered different dishes and got to taste a lot of them. Love the beautiful quality of the meat. Love the flavours and simplicity of this place. Can't wait to go again soon. New favourite!
Turned up without a booking on a busy Friday night around 8pm with my newborn and without much hope to get a table. The waiter who served us first was awesome, arranged a table within a couple of minutes so we can comfortably settle in. The best welcome I've received in a restaurant. All the others were very attentive and friendly, will attend to your requests regardless of whether they are serving you or other customers. Ordered Karaage chicken(highlight of the evening), Mongolian lamb, big fish salad and steamed rice. Lamb was a little rare for my taste, but my husband and mom loved it. We all were full after the meal, but I couldn't resist the desserts which were on display next to the cashier. Helped my self with a salty caramel tart, which was very rich and too much for me alone. And of course the drinks are reasonably priced, that's a plus according to my experience with Auckland dine ins. Definitely recommend this and will visit again.
Awesome dining experience loved the food, service and atmosphere. The Share Salmom dish was amazing.Will definitely be back to try more. A++
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Kay Vea & I went last night to this little spot close to home. First impression was how it was nicely tucked away in an industrial area. Given it was a Saturday night it was quite busy. We didn’t book ahead so just turned up. The staff advised us there would be a 20 minute wait which we were happy to do. When we got our table the staff were quick to take our orders which we found pleasing. We ordered Kaarage Chicken, Pork Belly Bao, Soft shell crab, Dragon Roll, Drunken Noodles & Beef Bulgogi. Our waiter was awesome and his customer skills service top notch. The food came out in a timely manner. The beef bulgogi was nice overall & filling. This was my favourite dish of the night. I didn’t enjoy the pork belly bao, I found it was drenched in the sauce, would not recommend it. The Karaage Chicken was nice and crunchy & went well with the dipping sauce. Softshell crab was also a nice dish that complimented well with the jalapeño dipping sauce. The dragon rolls I found a bit of a let down, didn’t quite enjoy it personally. The drunken noodles was the most disappointing dish of the night. I found the noodles were overly drenched in oil which I didn’t quite enjoy.
Overall it was a good experience and given the location I would return in the future. Looking forward to trying some of the other dishes on the menu.
Top marks for customer service and the awesome atmosphere Big Fish Eatery provides.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Location: I will say it's a hidden gem because It's located away from the main road. Even better it's closer to home! #Winning
Although we (husband Kai Mai &i) never made a booking and it was our first time there the place was super packed on a Saturday night but we had some nice comfy seats to sit wait on and it was nice to have the staff be attentive and check up on us and give us a menu to look at while we wait on a table.15-20 minutes later we were seated and served
We ordered the following dishes:
Karaage Chicken
Akuma Ribs
Soft shell Crab
Bulgogi beef
Pork belly bao
Dragon roll
Drunken noodles
1x strawberry & mint drink
2x Coca-Cola
All up our meal came to $123.00
(This could feed 3-4 people)
Man did we order alot of food we didn't even make it to dessert.. most of the food had chilli in it but they had delicious things to cool your palette for example the Apple and cucumber slaw was devine that came with the ribs 😍👌 But will def. Dine here again this time I will try something different with the and dessert Karaage Chicken,Akuma Ribs, Soft shell Crab as those were my fav dishes they even offered to pack our leftovers for is to take home
The staff were friendly the space of there venue was just right I did feel however that we waited longer to have someone take our order and to have our food be served compared to waiting to be seated at the table so that to me was the only let down and just waiting for my drink to get to me (just cos my chilli tolerance is 0 to none lol)
There were heaps of family's there I even saw a highchair so it's most def. A family friendly place
TIP:I strongly recommend that you book ahead of time to get a table ready & go there ready to feast.
Wear your stretchy pants lady's and gents or else you will regret it.
We ordered the Karaage chicken, the Soft shell crab, a pad Thai and a sambal as well as a sushi roll. This was enough to fill up four people (two guys and two girls).
The Karaage chicken was done up with a twist: cornflakes. It was different and non traditional but still tasted delicious and moist.
Soft shell crab as usual is delicious which is no surprise there. I don't think I've ever had a bad soft shell crab.
The Sambal prawns had a lovely kick and depth of flavour. Really left me wanting to come back here and get more.
The pad Thai was delicious as well.
The sushi roll we ordered had a good filling to rice ratio and would love to go back and try more.
There's nothing to fault on the food.
We came here at around 2pm so it wasn't really busy. The service was good but would like to come back at 12 to really judge it.
The atmosphere here is really nice. Didn't get to try any desserts but everyone is raving about the Cookie Dough so I guess my next dinner trip is here...
Forth times I've been to this place still doing great. Good quality food with a reasonable price, and decent environment. Karaage Chicken always the best👍 Their stir fried noodles also great. The Prawn sashimi with chilli sauce is seasonal though😉
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
We got the Tuna Tataki, Lychee Duck Salad, Mongolian Lamb, Salmon and White Chocolate and Dark Chocolate cookie dough.
Tuna Tataki was beautiful, melted in your mouth and its subtle smokiness makes its way to your taste buds.
Personal favourite would have been the Lychee Duck salad though; generous portions of Duck amongst the greens and cashews. The dressing was refreshingly a mixture of sweet, sour and salty which really lifted the flavour of the duck and gave the greens plenty of flavour. The lychees were juicy and succulent as well LOVE LOVE LOVED IT.
Another personal favourite was the salmon with citrus salad--IT WAS SO GOOD. The salmon sat in a pool of Teriyaki sauce, with peanut crumbs sprinkled on top. It was a clever combination of texture and flavour. The salmon itself was cooked to perfection. Tender and rump, the best cooked salmon I've ever had, and I'm usually really picky. The citrus salad on the side was wonderful too, really enjoyed the orange bits.
The Mongolian lamb was amazing too, albeit I thought the meat was a bit hard--not tough though, it's still tender. We asked for knife and fork so it was hard to cut through. Flavour-wise can't fault it at all.
Last but not least their signature cookie dough that everyone's listed as a MUST-HAVE. I kind of expected something harder but it was straight out from the oven. Warm, moist, crumbled, melted in the mouth. Cliche but those are the words that came straight to my mind. The play between hot of the dough and cold of the ice cream--mmm. The peanut butteriness of the Dark Chocolate one won me over (I actually started with the white chocolate one but my friend and I swapped because we liked each other's). The white chocolate one is less sweet and more mild.
SERVICE WAS AMAZING TOO we were served by a girl who said it was her first day. AMAZING SERVICE she was so attentive, really friendly and always came over even when she had other dishes in her hands. I'll be sure to visit again despite living all the way on the opposite side of Auckland.
Price: 9/10
Food: 10/10
Ambience: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Ponsonby quality at Penrose price. Every dish is amazing. Bring a bunch of friend and order 2-3 mains dishes and your choice small/sides. Definitely a place you want to bring company (so you can try a bit of everything!)
Nice food, nice environment.we been there as a group,really nice service. Staff are very friendly. There is a private area to holding a small functions as well.
The pad Thai prawns,karache chicken, bogoghi beef and pork belly bao were amazing.. loved the dark cookie dough and the staff were so lovely
Visited Big Fish Eatery twice and have been very impressed on both occasions. The food is delicious, favourites would be Karage Chicken & Pork Bao. Tried a number of other dishes which were equally as good! Staff were friendly and attentive, one staff member in particular by the name of Antz was fantastic! He remembered us from our first visit, checked up on our table regularly and made sure we were happy. He did this very well considering the place was packed with people and was very busy. He even surprised us with a birthday desert and candle for my partner after hearing it was his Birthday. Top notch personalised customer service. Will definitely return!
Lovely food (I had lemongrass and ginger chicken) and, but had to wait over an hour for food (it wasn't that busy), and our tables food all came out at different times which ruined the experience. I enjoyed my iced chocolate though.
Have increased my rating. Next time our work ordered lunch, they remembered our issue last time, apologised and sent macaroons as a bonus. Very impressed :)
Nice food particularly if you love sea food, but some choice of meats too. Not the best ambience but reasonably practical. The outer facade is a disaster as you could drive past without realising you were just outside a full fledged restaurant! Definitely needs better lighted signage outside to attract more clientele. The seafood choice is very good and excellent value for money. The servings are good too. The desserts are great although limited in choice. Expect service to take at least 20 to 30 minutes after placing each order. All in all, a good option for some good pan Asian food.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Perhaps it's the hidden, almost secretive location (which added to the intrigue), or the fusion style menu with dishes ranging from Japanese, Malaysian to Thai; or perhaps it's the friendly staff and the pleasent ambience; either way, this place really stuck a chord with all of us that met up for lunch last week.
It was Friday lunch and we were forewarned to order in advance to avoid delays, which turned out to be a good idea since almost all the tables were taken when we arrived. We all ordered different meals and were pleasantly surprised at the quality and the quantities that were placed before us. Staff were very friendly and were always around to attend to any queries. Thumbs up for the Sambal Chicken, Sambal Prawns, Lychee Duck Salad and the Chicken Karage Burger my colleague found somewhere on the menu. However, the highlight was the dessert; White Cookie dough, freshly baked and topped with vanilla ice cream, heavenly.
We all left vowing to come back again. Well worth a visit if you like asian cuisine but up for something slightly different.
Giving a rating of 4.5, deducting 0.5 since we could not find a "big fish" anywhere on the menu (jokes) 😋
Their lemongrass & ginger chicken is probably the most mouth watering thing you can get. The tanginess of flavour especially from the ginger hits a home run. The rice was steamy and fresh, just the way I like it.
Service here was great, the place a was a bit busy but the one of the waiters tried their best to get the orders done on time. The waiting time on my order was a bit long but I didn't mind the wait considering the large amount of people.
Inside the place there are two dining areas. They may look like the same size but obviously the inside is more larger the dining area near the outer area. Such a great place and would definitely recommend.
So refreshing to see great service and kindness in the hospitality industry, my mate and I had lunch yesterday here, from the moment I made the reservation I knew this guys had something special, the phone call was so personable and friendly, when we arrived we were shown our table swiftly, the order taking was kind and quick and they checked with us throughout the meal if everything was good, and wasn't only good, it was amazing, the service, the food, the asian fusion, the innovative approach to cook and serve, the flavors and very well priced too!
What an amazing restaurant, we thoroughly enjoyed and definitely coming back over and over again to try the entire menu, well done guys!
Really nice food, ambience and service.
Reasonably priced and dishes are generous in portions.
Overall pretty good for a nice casual dinner date night kind of meal.
Must try: Karaage chicken
Enjoyed my time at Big Fish last night. I love their menu, there's lots of variety so you can be sure there'll be something that gets you excited to try. I had the Lychee Duck Salad and was pleasantly surprised how nice it was! I was a little unsure how I would like it as I've never had lychee in a salad but it added a nice sweetness. There was heaps of duck in it, and the portion was huge so I felt it was great value for money.
I then had the Dark Chocolate Cookie Dough which was tasty. It was super sweet and definitely needed the vanilla ice cream.
I found the service to be very average however. We booked in the morning, but when we turned up there was lots of confusion as to who we were so we were waiting around for a while. Our meals then came out one by one (there was 4 of us) with a 5-10 minute wait in between each one! Very disappointing.
Other than the confusion and time delays, my time here was very nice and I would recommend.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Highly recommend making a reservation as this place is hugely popular. Came here once for a dinner date and the second time for a family dinner. The service we had on both visits were good. The comfortable setting makes it a great choice for any occasion.
FOOD. Spotless.
Everything I've tried so far has been really good but my favourite is their fried chicken and phad thai. We like their tempura as well. Strangely, they also serve really good coffee! Not that I'm complaining cause my bf and I are huge mocha and latte drinkers.
They have a good selection of shelf desserts such as macarons and the usual but I love their in-house matcha cookie dough. It's similar to an apple crumble, served hot with oozing chocolate and a scoop of ice cream.
And the best part is it only cost us $120 for 4 people. My bf has also recommended his colleagues to organise a farewell luncheon at big fish, simply because this place is just so value-for-money for the quality of food and dining experience. In fact, I daresay this is the best Asian restaurant in Auckland.
under lots of recommendations I finally made it to Big fish ~ there are some parking outside which helped. Ordered: Karange chicken, lemon & ginger chicken, soft shell crab, salmon tataki, cookie in peanut butter and also ginger/raspberry flavour. The cookies were the BEST~ hot with melted ice cream on top, intense flavours without being too sweet. The crab was crunchy and well seasoned (Came with a spicy sauce that gave it a kick!) The lemon & ginger chicken tasted different to the usual flavour, a bit sweeter but surprisingly went well with the rice! The misses were the Karange and salmon. The chicken was oily and not crunchy. The salmon was undercooked. Broccoli was hard and the inside of salmon was basically sashimi.
Super delicious!
We have come here on several occasions, both in a large group and also just as a couple. This place has ever disappointed us and it's a great place for dinner or a casual celebration! Definitely do book ahead as otherwise you may not get a seat!
Food 5/5 - this time we got the spider roll (soft shell crab), teriyaki salmon on rice and cookie dough for dessert. Everything was delicious and really good value!
Service 4/5 - our table was all set up when we arrived and the wait staff are super friendly! The only hiccup was the kitchen forgot one of our orders this time, but they were honest about it (rather than pretending it just takes a long time)
Ambience 4/5 - the decor is simple but overall is warm and friendly
This little place is always busy for dinner so you definitely need to book. Lots of nice reasonably priced Asian fusion dishes, my faves being the chicken karage and salmon. The last time we visited the service wasn't so great because they were so busy, also noticed lots of delivery meals going out the door and with a full restaurant and our meals coming out slowly one by one I couldn't help but think they are stretching themselves out too far with delivery meals as the people dining-in suffer because the kitchen can't keep up. Will still be back though as I do enjoy the food.
Very good restaurant. Great food, good atmosphere. Friendly staff. Went with a group and tried a little bit of a few dishes. The soft shell crab and fried chicken were the highlights for me. Will definitely be returning. Cheers
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Friday night, dinner (6pm) party of 2.
Edit: came here again for dinner with friends 26/06/08. Still, great service, Amazing food!
Value: 3/5
Fairly evenly priced I though. Probably leaning towards the more expensive side though. Dinner party of 2 we shared one big meal and two smaller meals and drinks and dessert and it cost us just over $100.
Venue: 4/5
This place is stunning. You can't really see it from the main road as it's tucked away behind some businesses but the interior inside in stunning! Very modern with traditional Asian accents. I would have given it a 5 however I though it was a little too cramped and the tables were so close together I could reach over and grab something off the next table.
Service: 5/5
Superb service! Our table was ready when we arrived for our reservation. Handed Menus and they introduced the specials of the day left us to decide and came back with drinks and asked if we were ready to order. Food came out super quick, and the table was cleared of our empty dishes regularly. Towards the end of the meal someone came over and asked us if we wanted dessert. Very observant and friendly. Couldn't fault their service.
Food: 5/5
Chicken Karage was divine, super crunchy and the king prawns were delicious!! So were the sauces!! Definitely a tastesbuds heaven. Dessert got a huge tick!! That cookie dough dessert was amazing!
Tip: it pays to book in advance before going in as it does get really busy!
Love this place! We started to come here when it was quite and not very well known..they offered free cookie dough dessert back then and i loved it! My faves would have to be any of the salmon dishes, the miso soup is amazing, pork bao, lamb rack (cooked to perfection) and chicken karagee! Love the use of fresh ingredients, its always tasty and beautifully presented food!
This is going to be one of my regular eateries- Delicious Japanese fusion dishes and very nice decor.
We didn't make a booking and were seated outside (don't mind at all), the trains passing by in the background actually reminds me of eating out on the streets in Tokyo.
We ordered the chilli edamame, fried chicken, lamb ribs, beef teppanyaki, seared tuna, seared salmon nigiri and I finished with the green tea cookie dough. The must try are the chicken, lamb ribs and cookie dough.
I wasn't a huge fan of the edamame, the chilli sauce they used to coat the edamame tasted exactly the same as a store bought brand we use at home.
The waiter who took our order had a sense of humour, very relaxed. It is always a plus when restaurants make you feel welcomed.
We will be back and I look forward to trying some of the big dishes and noodles. Will give y'all an update then!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Been eager to come back to Big Fish. My boyfriend celebrated his birthday here on a Wednesday night and this place was packed! We noticed there were four other birthday celebrants on the same night. I understand why!
SERVICE: A+ FANTASTIC! Friendly staff and all with smiles!
FOOD: Food is good, a 3.5 out of 5
I'd give it a 4 if the Padthai would be sweeter and less salty....(how it should be for authentic Thai). It isn't the best padthai.. I'm commenting on this because our table ordered three Pad Thais and all were TOO SALTY for our taste. Maybe too much soy sauce? I don't know
All food portions are best for sharing (just like the Asian culture) explained by the waiter. You are more likely to enjoy your night if you split the bill with a group of friends so you can try most dishes on the menu.
Food does not come all at once, however the timing is perfect. You don't have to mention which meal should come first- they know what's best!!
You must try their cookie dough dessert selection. All flavours were amazing. I was told that some customers would come in for just dessert, and I see why.
Thank you for the great hospitality and a fantastic birthday night ✨
We visited Big Fish at 9pm on Saturday evening and the place is booked. I booked a few days prior and they called to confirm earlier on Saturday.
I can honestly say this is the best restaurant I have been too. The food was amazing, staff were lovely and the atmosphere was good as well. No complaints what so ever 5/5.
Love this place, been here a few times and the food is so good, as is the service. My go to is defiantly the dragon roll really nice with a good portion of avo in it. I also love all their cookie dough flavours and surprisingly their green tea flavour is my favourite. The pad Thai and lamb ribs and karage chicken are also nice, but their sushi is my favourite.
I really wanted to try this place out after I saw a picture of the cookie dough dessert on facebook. Finally had the time to go yesterday, I must say service was great, staff was attentive and friendly. I ordered the pork belly bao, chicken sambal on rice and the white cookie dough- they were all so delicious. Definitely coming back :)
general dishes. flavor didn't leave too much impression but looks good. Waitresses always busy and we need to wait for the order a bit long time. most of customers are office worker nearby.
The Bao was super delicious just super yummmy.... definetly would get over and over again .... I am yet to try other food but other than that 10/10 and super awesome staff
Pleasantly surprised by this spot after hearing good things. The food was really great - the sashimi was fantastic melt in your mouth quality, and the flavours across the other dishes ordered were stand out. The portion sizings are large compared to Japanese serving sizes - so value for money here is higH!
Chef's special: Prawn sashimi with chilli garlic and lemon sauce is absolutely delicious!! Will melt in your mouth. Great ambience and excellent service.
Went there with a big group of friends. We got to try a bit of everything. The fusion styles food was average but I loved the soft shell crab. That was probably the best main food I had. The sashimi was plain like any other restaurant. It was nice to try a different variation of edamame which turned out to be quite nice. The dessert was to die for. I was speechless. The green tea cookie dough was so lovely and I would definitely eat it again The service there was amazing. Everyone was so kind and friendly. It was nice how they occasionally asked if everything was okay. I may come back again.
Remarkable experience tonight with BigFish! Thank you in advance for delivering a fantastic time. Extremely honored to be served by such warm hearted gentlemen from start to finish. Wouldn't have been a great night without Anthony serving every order from his heart! A sincere gratitude from a customer.
Went here for my birthday dinner and people were right, would never have found this place if I wasn't actively looking for it. I loved the akuma ribs (so soft and tender), soft shell crab (good bits of meat in them) and pork belly bao. Also tried their salmon lovers sushi which tasted really good but pretty pricey for how much you get ($18). The Sambal prawns was pretty good too. Also tried all 3 flavours of their cookie dessert. Fav one was the dark choc! The others were too sweet for my taste but none of them were 'bad'. (In photo: green tea (left) dark choc (mid) white choc (right))
Overall I would happily come here again :)
It's been around a while but I don't know why I haven't heard of it till now. Is it because it's in Penrose? Don't let that fool you. I managed to get a booking just for two of us at 5pm. A booking seems a must. It was bustling and people streaming it from opening. We got the dragon roll, pad thai with chicken and the pork belly bao. Brilliant. Bad was probably a tad salty but all the food was full of flavour. Looks like I'll be returning again soon to try the other dishes.
Big fish is a real fusion of Asian tastes. I mainly found it to be of Malaysian type flavors. We had prawn and soy beans in Sambal sauce. Soft shelled crab and chicken pad Thai. Flavors were definitely authentic south east Asia. Service was prompt what surprised us was how busy this place was for its location - tucked away down a drive behind a warehouse! Kudos
Finally went here! All the dishes were really good as expected - definitely recommend the beef teppanyaki, bao buns and soft shell crab. Only let down for me was the table - Next time I book I'll specifically ask for a table inside, as even though I booked over a week in advance as it was a special birthday dinner we were in the outside area (although fully covered), it's quite cold and very loud when the train goes by. We were put in the corner with a wonky table that my partner had to leave his foot on to stay stable, next to a stack of chairs. I did ask our waiter once sat if we could move to either of the two empty tables of two inside, with the manager ( I assume ) then coming out to say they're fully booked. I fully understand being booked but would have thought booking a week in advance and having those two tables sit empty for the next 30mins we could have been moved there with the later booking to be sat at ours.
Wow what a place. Delicious food. Great service. Everything we had was outstanding. The little salad was super tasty. We started with the soft shell crab ( much much much better than the big name crab place in town ) karaage chicken, prawns and spicy ribs. Maybe just maybe the ribs needed a dipping sauce. Maybe. But it's a matter of taste. And finished with the Pad Thai Noodles. They were excellent but I'm kinda wishing I took something else because all the tables around us had fantastic looking food and I've had Pad Thai a million times before. We both ate too much. I wish I'd saved room for the desert because everything looked so yummy. Next time. One thing I'd happily recommend to anyone was the Yealands PGR wine. Damn fine drop.
Really delicious food was so surprised at how good it was definitely making it a regular go to for sure especially for the dessert!! Service was efficient and friendly staff were really welcoming and accommodating cannot wait to go back!!!!
One of my favourite restaurants now, place is clean, great customer service. We ordered their salmon, tuna tataki and pad thai, food was delicious! Will deffinitely come back here again :)
came here finally.. nice and clean and plenty of food choices.. pork belly bao, cornflake chicken and teriyaki salmon was delish and would order these again definitely.. other plates were okay.. service took a while .. okay price .. thanks
Just another great review for a great place 🤷🏻♀️
Can't fault the place it's seriously sooo good..
Pays to book as the place is pretty small.
The food took a while to come out but that is to be expected..
My partner & I got a whole bunch to share
We got:
2 pork belly baos - they were seriously delicious. Plenty of flavour & sauce. The meat was melt in your mouth
1 spider roll - also really tasty. My partners highlight dish
1 ribs - nice soft meat that fell off the bone.. cooked really nicely
1 teriyaki salmon w/ noodles - again.. wow..
Last we had to try the cookie dough deserts after hearing so much about them.. 😍😍🍪 they definitely met my expectations.
Overall great service, great atmosphere & great food
Price is pretty reasonable also 👌🏼
Cannot wait to go back
Excellent food, excellent atmosphere, excellent staff. Although we dined here as a very large group we were all treated the same and food came out reasonably fast. Everything was so delicious and serving sizes are really good. The open bao was incredible I could have eaten half a dozen.really enjoyed our experience at big fish eatery and I can't wait to go back.
Awesome place overall
Great Service, nice place
We ordered:
miso hapuka (which was nicely cooked,but tasted alright)
Soft shell crab & Green tea cookie was to die for- definitely will come back for those!
Not too overpriced -slightly on the pricey side though, but probably worth every penny
Rule #1 before going here, is that booking a table is A MUST! Book earlier to get a better seating. It is quite a small restaurant so it gets very packed quick especially during peak hours such as lunch and dinner.
Staff:
Super friendly & helpful, they took care of us really well throughout our dining. Also very quick with taking orders and serving even though it was busy.
Ordered food/drinks (5 adults):
- Pad Thai Prawn (a plate)☆☆☆☆
- Pork Bao☆☆
- Karaage (5 pcs)☆☆☆☆☆
- Bulgogi (a plate w/ rice)☆☆
- Dragon Roll (9pcs)☆☆☆
- Another roll I've forgotten the name of (also 9pcs)☆☆☆
- Special sashimi (5/6 slices)☆☆
- Soft shell crab (5 pcs) ☆☆☆☆
- 4 Hopt sodas; 3 salted lychee and 1 Watermelon mint.☆☆☆
- 3 Cookie dough; 1 green tea, 1 dark chocolate and 1 white chocolate (shared between 5, but if you love your sweets then you may want to order 1 for yourself).☆☆☆☆☆
Overall thoughts: Would totally come back again and try their other dishes and also for their dessert and karaage! 😊 ZomatoStudents
Delicious food. A no-frills decor with the sole focus of serving great dishes. Very very busy - allow for more than normal prep time. Well worth the wait!!!
I've dined here several times and the food is always good. The service is a bit average at times. The quality of their dishes is top notch and the time to order to consume is not bad too. Their baos and chicken are highly recommended alongside their signatory ice cream cookie dish.
Great food with excellent service! What a great restaurant in such a inconspicuous location.
The white chocolate cookie dough dessert is highly recommended. 👌🏼
Had lunch here yesterday with my husband and the food, aaaamazing! This is now added to our fave place to eat. Karaage chicken, pork belly bao and green tea cookie dough is a must! 😍😍
The dishes themselves are not fusion. They just have dishes from different places.
We ordered Dragon roll, hamachi sashimi, sambal chicken, pork ribs, lemon lime bitters and pad thai.
Pros:
-Great atmosphere and they detailed the design to illustrate fusion dining.
-Good taste.
-No ridiculous price tags and dishes are worth every dollar. (All the dishes in our photo plus a lemon lime bitters did not exceed $80).
-Good wait service.
Cons:
-Sashimi dishes could be vague what the portion is like. Better ask.
-Gotta book for a table.
Made a mistake of ordering too much food, could not savour the dessert. Will come back.
One of my favourite places to eat in Auckland. I use to work nearby and we would often order our food and have it delivered to us at work. They do free deliveries if order is over $20 (I think) to nearby areas which is good. Big fish makes the best sushi I have ever tried - I usually get the spicy tuna or the salmon sushi - big chunks of fish used in the sushi. I also recommend their pork belly bao - the meat is very tender. I have also dined in a few times. It usually gets quite busy esp. for dinner so best to make a booking. My brother has had their taylor made fried rice and he says it is quite good. The soft shell crab was also good and crispy. The cookie dough and ice cream is soo good! I have tried the white chocolate and macadamia flavour.
Yummy meal! Favourite item ordered was the ribs (delicious succulent little morsels with a little bit of spice) closely followed by the aubergine salad. Shared a whole lot of items with my husband which I think is the best way to go. His favourite for the record was also the ribs followed by the karaage chicken. Definitely ordered too much food because no room for desert :-(
This amazing little place is tucked away somewhere that'd you never expect to find. It's a very cute environment but still has a night time glow that says professional. The service was organised, very friendly and attentive. We had a small table due to us booking last minute although it didn't matter as food came out all on time to avoid a big cluster of plates on the table. The pork belly baos was perfect!! The ribs and karaage chicken were perfect sharing plates. The salmon sushi and the dragon roll tasted very fresh!
The cookie dough desserts are absolutely delicious, never tasted a cookie dessert as yum as there ones.. definitely recommend going there it's worth it
Good service. Awesome food, coffee and dessert too die for! My whole family was definitely very impressed. This was our first visit and we will be back.
Food: The food here was pretty awesome. I'd recommend the chicken karaage, the sashimi, the soft shell crab and especially the cookie dessert! Soo good!
Ambience: it's not in the best location (industrial part of town, trains going past kinda thing) but I think they do a fantastic job with the space they have.
Service: Fantastic, no complaints here!
Value for money: Great. The food is great quality for the price charged. Especially for the sashimi. I've had Sashimi of far less quality and paid a lot more for it at fine dining restaurants.
Absolutely delicious! Ordered the miso scallops, beef bulgogi and duck salad, couldn't fault any of them. Tasty, fresh ingredients at great prices- doesn't taste gluggy nor contain MSG like so many Asian takeaways. Will be back for sure, keep up the good work 👍🏼
It had to be done - I love cookies 😋🍪. You all know what I'm talking about, those delectable cookie pies we have allllll seen online! Yes they were all amazing, but the savory food was even better! It's definitely the kind of place to take a group of people and share a range of their small dishes with. Everything was cooked perfectly and packed full of flavor, even something as plain as the broccoli 🌳. The service was top notch and they were really patient with our indecisive table 😂. The staff even helped us make some solid choices! I would definitely say you have to book to get a table here, or you could even takeaway 😎. If you don't have weekend plans yet, put this on your list!
The South East Asian and North East Asian fusion food here is really amazing. And if you enjoy sharing food with friends and family that is the fundamental theme this restaurant embodies. And the staff are extremely welcoming and friendly :)
My favourite dish is the beef teppanyaki sharing plate. The succulent beef slices are decorated with a fresh lettuce salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
Definitely recommend to book in advance as this place is crazy busy during lunch. Ordered the spiced eadame beans and the portion is very generous. Usually most places offer only about half of that amount. We got the Mongolian lamb and sambal chicken to share. The lamb was tender and had a good flavour kick to it. The chicken was moist and had a strong flavour of sweet chilli. Would of enjoyed it more if they had more bean sprouts in the dish. Overall a very enjoyable meal.
Best fusion Asian food ever!!!! I go here atleast once a month and have never been disappointed even once! Love their Mongolian lamb, teppanyaki beef and soft shell crab! Amazing lemon grass chicken, which they always do with fried rice instead of noodles for me ( they're flexible like that!) and yummy sambal chilli chicken! I always get the cookie dough desert later which takes me as close to heaven as possible! :) keep it up guys!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
After seeing some raving reviews on Zomato and hear very good things from colleagues who have dined here for Christmas lunches we finally had the chance to dine here for dinner.
We came here without a booking and luckily they could seat us they were booked out for the evening! Getting exciting!
We were seated for a limited time as our table was pre booked which was fine with us, staff were very attentive, we quickly ordered (we weren't rushed at all) and got our food quickly. I only have photos of the highlights as I forgot to save the rest of the food we ordered.
We ordered the beef teppanyaki, sambal chilli king prawns, stir fried vegetables, and Pad Thai Chicken.
Photographed is the beef teppanyaki and sambal chilli king prawn ~ those two were my favourites, prawns were cooked beautifully and season just right with the sweet and spicy of sambal, really delicious and highly recommend and order again! The beef teppanyaki was delicious, seasoned well and beautifully tender. Next up was the pad thai chicken, decent sized however lacking in flavour for me. Lastly was the stir fried vegetables, we didn't realise that the fried vegetables would come in the black bean sauce and it really over powered the vegetables. I would've just enjoyed it with just garlic like in the menu but oh well.
Decor is very modern, loved the food and definitely will be back for more! I see what the hype is about. 4.5 just due to the vegetables but other than that, very happy with the meal! My colleagues raved about the food and great thing they have a takeaway menu and delivery. Ordered once from them, prompt and accurate delivery!
Soft shell crab is really yummy with prompt attentive service. A very high standard of presentation of all their dishes and food is great for sharing
The best Asian fusion restaurant I've been so far! Good food, ambiance and service! A full package of a 5 rating restaurant for sure. After our first visit, my partner and I couldn't stop going back to Big Fish Eatery. Our favourite from the menu is the Salmon with Citric Salad (shared plate). This is our must-order. And of course the cookie dough.
So excited to find this hidden gem close to work and will definately utilise the evening delivery service for night shift! Food was amazing so tasty, great price. Cookie dough desert to die for. Pork buns are a winner as is the chicken entree. Everything we tried was delicious. Only room for improvement is speed of service..some entrees came after mains and found ourselves seeking out the waiter for service rather than them visiting the table.
Awesome service, food was delish and it came out fast!, cookie dough is the best!!
Would highly recommend this place to anyone.
I will definitely be goi g back to eat😋
Great restaurant hidden in an industrial area in Penrose. I found out about their Monday night special and was very excited to try it out.
We ordered: Dragon roll, jalapeño roll, Mongolian lamb, Pad Thai, karaage chicken, and pork belly bao but they actually gave us karaage chicken bao which was disappointing as they had run out of pork belly.
We enjoyed all of the dishes and it was very filling for the 4 of us.
The Monday special meant we got 4 cookie dough desserts for free ($20 per person spend required). We got each of the 4 flavours- white chocolate with macadamia, dark chocolate with peanut butter, green tea, and m&m with hazelnut. They were so sweet but so good!! Was so happy to try all 4 flavours, but if I go back I'd order 1 to share between 2 people as it's hard to finish one by yourself!
There is parking outside the restaurant too which is a bonus.
i have been here 2 times, nice interior, great customer service, the food was great.
BUT the Bugolgi beef taste TOO salty and it doesnt really taste anything like bugolgi? umm not sure if thats how it is.. but I dont think I will order it again next time.
overall, everything is good.
Went here tonight for dinner with my 2 sisters before the Coldplay concert. We didn't pre-book and when we arrived there was no free tables.
However the lovely waitress named Ronja was so accomodating and pulled a bunch of chairs together and a little coffee table together so we could still have dinner there - that kind of thing is what differs between an average dinner out and one where you feel valued as a customer.
The food was so delicious and the service was amazing - will definitely be returning!
Fantastic food at a great price! Service was really good, ordered the Teriyaki Salmon, Taylor made fried rice, California roll and two cookie dough desserts. Teriyaki Salmon was such a generous size! Fried rice tasted authentic and used real crab meat for the California rolls which is super rear! And desserts are yummo! Highly recommend
I've very glad that big fish is close to my office as we can either walk or get an extremely quick delivery at any given lunchtime.
The sushi is very well made and at a decent price point. The Tayylor fried rice is also a delight. I'll definitely be trying more from Big Fish.
Went there on a busy Friday night. Had to wait like 10-15 minutes outside to get a table. Staff was friend and attentive.
We ordered ;
- Karage Chicken : Delicious. We really liked its flaky (corn flakes???)crust & the soft juicy meat inside
- Lemon Grass & Ginger Chicken : Good flavors , little spicy
- Sambal Chill Chicken : Taste was much similar to the previous dish
- Pad Thai Prawns : Quite a generous portion & very tasty
- Dark Chocolate Cookie Dough Desert - Star of the show. Ooey, gooey & very very sweet.
Very satisfied with the overall experience.
Service: 5/5
Wait time: 4.5/5
Environment: 4.5/5
Food Quality: 5/5
Food Quantity: 5/5
Price range: $25+ pp
The food is simply delicious, fresh sashimi, excellent lamb, generous servings, clean crisp tasting pork belly bao, smart tasting sauces for soft shell crab.
A must try! They can even deliver if you live near!
I have been here for lunch and dinner. I would recommend booking in for both We booked in for 1230 and it was very busy.. carparks were difficult to find. We were there till 2pm due to them being so busy and (so we think) forgetting half the tables main. They were very apologetic.
Food never disappoints! And sometimes is enough to take home as well.
100% recommend cookie dough dessert, pork belly bao and pad thai 😍
Been here a few times. Affordable, good service and good food.
Have pretty much had everything on the menu lol.
I enjoyed the tuna tataki, the Mongolian lamb and the karaage chicken. Personally I liked items from the entree menu and would rather order a couple of things from the entree menu instead of the main.
If you go with lots of people I would definitely suggest ordering everything and share it.
The baked cookie is a lovely way to finish off the meal.
Friendly service and very attentive despite it being so busy.
Love this place looks. Gets busy so be warned. Pork belly bao are exceptional. I'm working my way through the menu. Sambal chicken I can also highly recommend and do make room for some hot cookie dough and ice cream. If you eat in the service is great if you takeaway them it's all neatly packaged. 😊😊😊
Came here for a family lunch one Friday. Kept seeing reviews come up for this place and as we only live down the road thought we would try it. And was amazing we dined in and also had take away a. Lemon grass chicken is amazing
Had a family dinner here and it was so good! As we were quite a big party it was advised the food wouldn't come out at the same time, but each dish was just amazing and taste was spot on.
Best to order a few plates/dishes and share rather than just a main.
Highly recommend the Beef Teppanyaki and Kaaraage Chicken. Will definitely be back to try some other dishes
Came here for lunch with my bf the other day (defs book a table beforehand as this place is always full) and I'm in love with the food.
Soft shell crab sushi and pad Thai was really yummy and portions are generous, the karaage chicken is a must try as well! Not too oily and the chicken is tender and juicy
The cookie dough dessert was amazing, it's more like a fresh-out-the-oven cookie than cookie dough. It's served with some vanilla ice cream and it's a good size for two people. Will definitely try the white chocolate flavour next time :)
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Spontaneous dinners are always the best, especially when its "q" time with mamabear. Thought I'd take mumsy out for a little saturday appreciation, she prefers asian cuisine and BIg Fish Eatery (BFE) seemed to tick all the boxes (cookie dough and ice cream.. heck yeah haha)
Experience:
Walked in on a Saturday night and was unaware you had to make reservations eek! Nonetheless, they were able to fit us in seated outside (so definately call in advance). The restaurant was very modern and very cosy. We were seated outside, which wasnt a biggie as they had a heater which kept us nice and toasty. Despite it being a full house the staff were really friendly and food arrived promptly.
Food:
Karaage chicken - Unique flavour and texture but loved every bit of it! Was both crispy and tender.
Bulgogi beef- Beef was cooked well but was average, not the best bulgogi, nor the worst.
Pad thai prawns- Hands down the best pad thai I've had to date. Ratios were on point and flavours were yummy.
Cookie dough- mouthgasm.. simplistic and delicious, you wont be dissapointed in either of the two options.
Salted caramel tart- Very rich and decandent, one to share is plenty!
Food - 4
Service - 4
Value - 5
Verdict:
Big Fish Eatery is the equivalent of dining at a reputable restaurant in Auckland CBD, minus you don't have to pay for parking - a win/win in my books. Portion sizes were plentiful and well worth the price! Definately a hidden gem within Penrose - if youre looking for asian fusion you won't be dissapointed with Big Fish Eatery.
Called on a saturday night and was told they are fully booked but they would take my number and call if anything changes. Within 10 minutes i get a call back to say that they have a table for me anytime. Anyhow i thought was weird but we went in anyway. When we arrived we werent approached, the lady just sort off said "hi" loudly after having stood there for a couple of minutes and we had to walk to her. We were seated and many tables were free (so much for being booked).
We ordered the beef bulgogi, ginger and lemongrass chicken, jalepeno sushi roll and beef teppanyaki.
Food arrived in spurts, flavour was spot on, tender meets and fresh quality.
The service was patchy, the waitress just chucked everything randomly on the table, and we had to ask her to take empty dishes away.
The waiter who took our order was attentive and friendly and he was the only one who checked on us (the new guy).
Dishes were always 5/5, except the chicken which was a bit sweet.
Quantity was generous as well.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Finally tried this place! Hidden away off the busy Great South Rd, it’s not the easiest to find if you’re unfamiliar with the area. But once you do parking is easy right outside the restaurant. The interior is clean and tidy…I adored the painting of the Japanese lady at the back! The service was friendly and attentive during our weeknight visit. I would recommend booking if time permits though. Surprisingly they have some sweet treats displayed in the cabinet at the front counter – all very well presented and tempting.
We ordered the soft shell crab, chicken karaage and the lemongrass & ginger chicken. The crab was lightly battered and the sauces complimented it well. I must say its best eaten hot though! The Karaage was not what we’re used to but still good. Coated in what looks like cornflakes the chicken was succulent with a good crunch. Be sure to dip it in the sauce provided as it needs that extra kick. I would recommend the lemongrass and ginger chicken as a main dish – love that sauce!
With the bill coming to $40 between the two of us we thought this was pretty good value. A great Asian fusion addition to the area!
Everything is good. The food is delicious and the staffs are very friendly. It just a litte hard to find a park. The price is acceptable. Feel satisfied. :)
Love this place! Food are great and reasonably priced. There is a variety of food to choose from which is also great. Customer service is excellent too. Don't leave without trying any of their desserts! Their desserts are heavenly. Mains are topnotch :)
Love this place, normally I need to travel to Ponsonby or CBD (I live in howick) for creative and delicious meals like this.. but here its only half the price.
Friendly staff, outstanding food and great value. Only issue is trying to find a park.
I recommend the spicy Edamame as a starter.. also the avocardo spring rolls are to die for!!
Delicious food - sambal was too good. Nice ambience, parking is an issue and location is ok. Desserts are really good, nice after work Friday night place.
amazzzzzzzzzingggg food!! amazing service! only downfall at the moment is they do not have liquor :-/ however is in works! Would definitely go again liquor/no liquor! cookie dough dessert not to be missed!!
My fiance and I came across this place online on a Saturday night and thought let's give it a go. I tried calling twice to book a reservation but there was no answer, since the place was only 5 mins away we risked it and went down.
They were completely booked which is a good sign, the staff managed to offer us a small waiting table to use which was very accommodating, they could have easily said that they were full.
The food was delicious, a mix of Asian fusion and traditional styles. The pork belly bao was my favourite and would high recommend it, for a last minute planning dinner on a cold wet night, it turned into a little surprise. We will be coming back again soon.
Went to dine at big fish after reading all the crazy hype reviews online. We are the mixed sashimi, soft shell crab, beef bulgogi, the salmon tataki and finnaly the dark chocolate cookie dough. The meal was good but nothing excellent with the cookie dough being the standout.
We were really annoyed that there were issues preventing service of alcohol and were unable to have a drink on a Friday evening.
Yum yum yum! After reading heaps of great reviews and seeing loads of photos, we decided to venture out to Penrose to see what it's all about. Big Fish Eatery is tucked away, with its entrance on the main road. The decor is nice and simple, and it was pretty quiet - being lunch time on a Tuesday. The menu isn't too extensive which is great because we struggled to choose as they all look so good! I got Bulgogi Beef and my husband had the Chilli Sambal Prawns. Both were really tasty, with great portion sizes - totally worth the price you pay which is really reasonable compared to a lot of other Asian cuisine places. We also had kingfish sashimi which was so fresh - delicious!
L
Overall, we really enjoyed our meal there and can't wait to come back and try something else from their menu.
I have been wanting to go to the Big Fish Eatery for a while now and managed to go last week.
Everything on the menu looked delicious and very fairly priced, which is dangerous if you are like me with eyes bigger than your belly and ordered way too much!
I had the karaage chicken and loved the...
One of the best kept secrets in this part of the city. Really flavoursome food, immaculately presented and reasonably priced. The cookie dough white chocolate desserts have to be up there with one of the best of its kind in the city. It's great that you can also get takeaways as well, something I will definitely see myself doing in the future.
I love this place - the service is good, attentive and friendly. I have tried quite a range of items in their menu. Some really good - sashimi, sushi,'tayylor' fried rice, chicken karaage, miso hapuka, soft shell crab, pork belly pao, teppanyaki beef, tuna tataki, tempura prawns. Cookie doughs both of them are to DIE for! Some dishes are average such as sambal chicken rice and pad thai.
As Pan-Asian food, of course there are certain dishes that wont hit the authenticity of the flavours, but STILL they are yum!
The best of all is that they do free delivery (they don't deliver cookie dough)!!
Recommend the pork belly bao, chicken karaage, spider roll and the cookie dough dessert. Busy and buzzing atmosphere, attentive service. Will be going back!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
This hidden gem is amazing! It's on the main road but you won't know about it unless you're a local or look really carefully.
My cousin told me about this place and we both went to try it out. Definitely no regrets there. They were quite busy on a Thursday night. And service was pretty good too. There was a nice fusion kind of theme there. Very warm and cosy feel to it too.
We ordered the karaage chicken and soft shell crab to share. The chicken was so juicy but that "cornflake batter" was a bit hard to bite into esp when the pieces are so big, it hurt your gums trying to bite into it. And that's not to say the batter itself wasn't nice. Just would've been more pleasant if they were smaller pieces.
Oh we also ordered a spicy tuna sushi to share. It was pretty damn amazing too. Big piece of tuna inside! Presentation was nice. Loved everything about it.
Also ordered a Pad Thai to share. So glad we did cos we were pretty much full by this stage. The pad Thai was nice. Wasn't overly greasy like some Thai restaurants out there.
And of course, the dessert. We ordered the cookie dough dessert. One dark chocolate one and one white chocolate one. The photo we saw on zomato looked like a big serving but really it wasn't that big -which was good cos we were so full but really wanted to try it (haha fatties). It was good but personally I think cookie dough is best served cold. Cos it just tastes like a semi cooked/baked dough when it's hot. Like... It's just better cold. Hard to explain 😕
All in all, love this place. Pricing here is average. But you get served pretty decent portions! Would definitely come back and try their other dishes! 😍
I read and saw lots of reviews & photos of the place on social media and had high expectation with the place. Finally I had a chance to go on Wednesday night.
Service was good and quick. We ordered soft shell crab, sambal chilli chicken, dragon roll and dark cookie dough.
-soft shell crab was crispy and nice, jalapeno sauce didn't really taste like jalapeno. I like lime mayo though.
-sambal chilli chicken was served in generous portion. It was quite too sweet. I could taste shrimp paste in it but not chilli
-dragon roll was yummy and fresh
-dark cookie dough was not like what I imagined from seeing heaps of photo. I thought it would be bigger but it was quite tiny with few dark choco drops in it. The taste was good though, sweet but not too much.
Overall Big Fish Eatery is a good Asian fusion place in the area.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
The great thing about social media is that you get to hear about awesome new restaurants that you may not normally know about - Big Fish Eatery is one of those places. Tucked behind the BNZ on Great South Rd in Penrose, you would not know it was there, but it is well worth searching out.
We arrived after work one night & were pleased we'd arrived early as it soon filled up. It was a nice warm place on a cold night & busy with customers grabbing takeaways too.
Service was great - friendly with good knowledge of the menu. A little slow at times as things got busy, but they did well with the small number of staff & busy kitchen. We had to flag them down a couple of times but it wasn't a problem.
The food is very reasonably priced, fresh & tasty with something for everyone.
For our meals, which everyone enjoyed, we chose the pork belly Bao, seaweed salad, karaage chicken (crispy on the outside but chicken still juicy), teppanyaki beef (10/10!!), chicken & lemongrass & the stir fried Veges.
We were quite full but decided to try the legendary cookie dough dessert. It's certainly very sweet so could be shared between two, but a delicious treat. Crispy & sugary on the top, gooey & doughy in the middle with ice cream on the top. Across our table we tried the white & dark, a friend also tried the lemon tart from the cabinet items (tarts & macarons) & it was a hit too.
This place is well worth a visit either for a takeaway or eat in. A great wee spot that will soon become even more popular.
Came here for dinner. The place is tucked away amongst businesses so its very easy to miss. The interior is quite comforting. The staff are very attentive and nice. I ordered the beef teppanyaki, tuna tataki, tuna and salmon sushi and the cookie dough dessert. The beef teppanyaki had a very delicious flavour. It was light and went very well with the salad. The beef was cooked perfectly as well which was very enjoyable. The Tuna tataki was equally delicious. The cucumber strips had a punchy flavour that complimented the fish well. The nigri pieces were both very well presented and i got a sizeable amount of fish. The whitw cookie dough dessert was a surprise. Its texture was like a creme brûlée...it was tasty tho very rich so id advise to only have it if you have an intense sweet tooth. The prices are very good and was worth my $50ish bucks. I would recommend a visit.
Omg, best kept secret in auckland. Never even know it was there. Beautiful food. Flavours are amazing. We had the pork, soft shell crab and pad Thai. They had a desserts cabinet with delicious offerings. Will definitely be a regular here. Go now, they are changing their menu soon
Big Fish Eatery is a great spot for trying out a range of asian-inspired dishes that don't lack taste or authenticity.
My favourite was definitely the dragon roll sushi uramaki. I've never had sushi where it tasted so fresh. The prawn tempura was crunchy, the broccolini gave some bite and the avocado and sichimi mayo brought everything together in creamy goodness.
The Pad Thai Prawns had a good amount of prawns, crunchy sprouts, the noodles weren't overcooked, and the sauce wasn't too sweet or sour, bringing together perfect balance between the flavours.
The Tuna tataki was perfectly seared without being overdone and the mix of truffle oil and citrus ponzu worked well and brought all the elements of the dish together nicely.
Would definitely come back seeing as there's so many more dishes to try on the menu!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
After hearing and reading such great reviews about this place, I couldn’t wait to check it out, despite the location being a wee while away from me! I’m loving the asian-fusion craze thats hit NZ’s restaurant scene, with ‘Big Fish’ being one of the latest additions.
Located in Penrose, tucked away behind a block of shops, it felt quite refreshing to be in, compared to the busy vibe Ponsonby or the city boasts. Upon arrival, the place looked clean, tidy and busy, with a few bits of asian inspired decor to match. We came here for dinner on a Friday night however they also run during the day as a cafe. Service was ok, they didn’t top our water up regularly and I kept having to ask for more. They definitely need to improve on this, and ensure all staff go that extra mile, ask how our food is etc to really stand out from other restaurants.
Now onto the food, we ordered a pork belly bao each, avocado spring rolls, karaage chicken, beef teppanyaki and the baked cookie dough for desert.
Pork belly baos: 7/10
Now that there are so many places that do delicious baos, I found these ones really underwhelming! The pork was not crunchy at all, I know some people love the soft fat on pork belly but I prefer it rendered well with crispy crackling on the top!! These ones were too fatty for my liking. The cucumber was plain and not pickled, but the chinese bread was airy and soft. I did like the hoisin sauce with it and overall was quite tasty when I picked out the large chunks of fat off.
Avocado spring rolls: 5/10
Underwhelming dish, however it tasted exactly what it sounds like, just nothing special or memorable about it.
Karaage chicken: 5/10
Another underwhelming dish. I liked the use of cornflakes for something different, but overall the chicken was very bland and lacked flavour.
Beef Tepankyaki: 8.5/10
This was my favourite dish of the night, the beef was cooked perfectly, still pink in the middle, soft and melted in my mouth. The flavour was amazing and it went perfectly with the simple salad they served with it!
Baked cookie dough: 6.5/10
This was yummy, however we ordered the 'dark chocolate cookie dough’ and when it arrived we were confused as there was no dark chocolate in it. We even asked the waiter to check if we got the right one, but it was and there were only 2 small dark chocolate chips in it.. this was a disappointment. It still tasted good, but not what we expected.
Overall, it was a nice experience however the food wasn’t particularly memorable or outstanding to me.
Great little restaurant for a casual dining experience. In a very weird place, being the bank. Which was a bit uninviting. Food was amazing only downside was that it took AGES to come out. There was about 10 of us dining and our food all took a very long time. Apart from that everything else was good.
Definitely a delicious eat. Although my fried rice was a bit too salty and oily for my liking, my father and girlfriend both enjoyed their meal. The pork bao was definitely interesting to taste.
Tried Big Fish for the first time last night. Pork Belly Bao was nice but reasonably basic. The bao was fluffy and delicious, but the pork was just one big chunk in the middle and a little hard eat. Highlights were the avocado spring rolls (especially since avos are way out of my weekly shopping budget at the moment) and the edamame garnished with Marlborough sea salt. Both the Lemongrass Chicken and Sichuan Chilli chicken had tender meat and a nice meat to vege ratio - unfortunately, what I couldn't find it either of these dishes was any real oomph that would have me itching to go back for more.
Final verdict: Would I eat here again? Yes, but only in the hope that an eat in experience made the difference.
Best watery in the area for sure. The sushi is Devine - some of the best I've had in Auckland - the vegetarian is especially good. The rice meals are all relish - current favs are the bulgogi beef and Taylor made fried rice. The only thing that I've tried that hasn't hit the mark is the chicken karaage - quite oily and the cornflakes don't really work.
Big Fish is an eatery in a rather out of the way spot. With 45 reviews amounting to a 4.2 rating, I have fairly mixed feelings on how good can it be. Its appearance inside is neatly furnished. There aren't a lot on the menu, however everything seems carefully prepared, with choices from cuisines of Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, etc. So it is more like a fusion eatery. We had soft-shell crab, pork belly bao (bun), dragon rolls, pad Thai chicken, "Tayylor-made" fried rice with Chinese BBQ pork & sausage, fried egg & prawn crackers. My pick of the day was fried rice & everything else was well above average. (Food - 4/5; Service - 4/5; Ambience - 3/5)
A lovely Japanese restaurant not too far from my place. I had dragon rolls and a white cookie dough for dessert. Dragon rolls were absolutely delicious, the prawn tempera inside of the roll was crispy and served with a spicy shrimp sauce. So good.
Went here for dinner. Chicken Karage was awesome. Finding the place was kind of tricky though and not enough waitresses so there is a bit of a wait to order your food.
Just finishing up dinner here as we speak. This place is super busy for a Wednesday, we had to wait a while to be seated, ages for our order to be taken and even longer (about 30-40 minutes) for our food. My food came out first and my husband's 30 minutes later. However the friendly waitress (who did mention they're a staff member down) made up for it with her friendliness and enthusiasm for her job. Hard to be annoyed when you see people working hard and still being able to smile through it!
The food is nice enough, we had soft shell crab, King prawn sambal on brown rice and jalapeño sushi. I really appreciate how they offer brown rice as a healthier option even if it's for an extra $2. The soft shell crab was our favourite, perhaps because we're Asian we are a bit more critical when reviewing Asian food. Though I can't sing about the food, it's good value for the price and we would definitely come back.
Food Adventures With AnnaJ
+3.5
We had been recommended this place by a friend and since it was close to home thought we would give it a try. After a wee mission to find the place (very poorly lit outside), we were warmly greeted by staff. It was nice and relaxed vibes, and the menu offered a range of different asian food. I ordered sambal king prawns, karaage chicken and wanted the pork bao but they were all out of bao 😕 The food looked great on arrival and was such good portion size for what we were paying. The sambal flavour was strong with a good amount of spice but the prawns themselves were lacklustre. The karaage chicken was different to what Id ever had before, they were coated in crunchy cornflakes! Super yummy and the dipping sauce was great. I really wanted to try the cookie dough dessert but was way too full, will have to try it out next time.
Grabbed some takeaway for lunch today and it was delicious...I'm glad I took a menu back for the office. Service was great and I didn't have to wait long and the takeaway packaging was great as there were no thrills and spills on the way back to the office. I got the pad thai chicken and a pork belly bao both packed full of flavour! I can't wait for my next visit.
I found this place on zomato when I was looking for a nearby Japanese restaurant. This place is a little gem. Good prices and great food! The pork belly bao and dragon roll sushi is definitely my favourite. It's the first time I've tried spicy edamame and I wasn't disappointed.
I've probably frequented this place on three separate occasions (within a span of 2 weeks) and took different people with me, they all loved the food. It's good value for money plus the staff are all lovely.
Dined here last night - thought it was great! If I'm completely honest if I hadn't heard about it on social media I wouldn't know it existed. But loved this place so much it needs to move to the city or something.
Had an entree, mains and dessert.
Got the karaage chicken which is basically fried chicken. Came with a spicy-ish sauce and was sooo yummy. Not sure what it's coated it but tasted like corn chips - YUM!
Had the lemongrass chicken and sambal chilli chicken for main. Nice portion sizes. Chicken was so tender, I loved it. Would've liked it a bit spicier though.
Got the white cookie dough and dark chocolate cookie dough for dessert. Exactly what we expected, so rich and warm and the ice cream on top was perfect.
Love this place, will definitely be back. Affordable and yummy food.
Was very surprised to find this lovely Japanese restaurant hidden away in penrose. Thanks to Zomato I found this place. The service was friendly and the food delicious. We had the dragon roll sushi, karage chicken and pad Thai prawn. The sushi was beautifully presented in the shape of a dragon. The karage chicken it self was lovely however we were not a fan of the cornflake crumb coating around it. We were happy to find that the pad Thai was a good generous portion. Overall the food was great with an affordable price
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Dined here last week to celebrate a special occasion. We ordered the soft shell crab, miso hapuka, sambal prawns and the white cookie dough dessert.
The soft shell crab was perfectly cooked and what made it even better was the 2 dipping sauces accompanying this dish. A jalapeno sauce and a lime mayo. I am a huge sauce fan so when you give me 2 sauces with a starter I am like a fat kid in a candy store.
The miso hapuka was a very generous portion and very tender. What I loved about it is that I never imagined miso and lime pairing together so nicely, its always good discovering new flavour combination when dining out.
The sambal prawns were delicious the flavour was exactly what I was hoping for and didn't disapoint. The white cookie dough dessert was rich and something I would definitely crave.
I had high expectations walking in and my expectations were definitely met. I will be back to try other dishes especially the Mongolian lamb and the sushi looked good too. I had a glass of red wine from here which I need to get the name of as that was great too!
Carmella @ Easy Food Hacks
+4
Penrose is hardly a destination location for good food. But within this industrial enclave, you will find the Big Fish Eatery serving up the freshest sashimi and sushi. Big Fish Eatery calls its cuisine pan-Asian, and yes, there are nods to Vietnamese, Korean Thai and Malaysian flavours, but the star here are the clever Japanese dishes.
Visited for a birthday dinner , had to wait about 5 minutes for a table as I didn't make a reservation but other than that the food was yum , good welcoming service and good quantities sizes especially for the prices didn't realise how big they were and ended up ordering too much but that wasn't a problem as you can take it home, good experience here will come back again.
Came for lunch, had the chili edamame, soft shell crab, prawn pad thai, beef bulogi, chicken karaage and the dark choc cookie dough. AMAAAAAAAAZING. Every dish was like a flavour explosion. Great, friendly efficient service. Its my new fave. Actual.
What a nice surprise this turned out!! And so close to work. Had a work lunch after reading and hearing people talk about it at the retail NZ golf day. We got the karage chicken, the lamb , the tuna, the dragon sushi, the miso and the chicken and lamb Bao....phew!!! All of them were right up there in taste and freshness with the best who charge way more what these guys do. The service was top class as well. Can't wait to go back and try the rest of the menu
Absolutely fabulous!!! in all respects - food, service, delivery. We had the salmon which was superb, tuna, crab, and pork belly. Followed by the white choc cookie dough pudding. Would probably order the same again it was all so good. Super service with a genuine smile, and real interest. We will be back!
We turned up on a quiet Saturday afternoon and had no trouble getting seated. The meal was decent, the salmon sashimi was quite good, and dark cookie dough fantastic. As a bonus, parking was easy as well.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
We ordered 3 dishes and a dessert. We chose the soft shell crab,dragon roll and the mongolian lamb.
Unfortunately it didnt live up to my expectations. Purely because this place has been highly rated by everyone so naturally came the high expecation.
The dragon roll - this tasted pretty good but nothing amazing. The sauce was the only point of difference
Soft shell crab - this was crunchy and tasty with mayo dip and jalapeno sauce. Again it was ok
The mongolian lamb - nicely marinated and soft lamb with a light kimchi salad. Why is kimchi linked to mongolian?
Overall the entrees and mains were tasty but i wouldnt call it amazing. I wil have given this a 4 if it wasnt because of the 30 min wait for the dessert (waited 10 mins for them to come and take our dessert order and another 20 mins for it to come) . im high on service so this wasnt so goood for me. The dessert is way too sweet. After 2 mouthfuls i am done.
And im very disappointed the bao were all gone by 6pm which is the start of dinner service.
We are regulars in ordering takeaway from Big Fish. The opening of this place is fantastic for Penrose. The service is good and the quality of food superb. We have now tried most things on the menu and would highly recommend the pork belly bao, sambal chilli king prawns, Mongolian lamb and the avocado spring roll. The sushi would be improved if there was less mayonnaise. We are not sure if they make their own steam bun for the bao but if they do, credit is due. The pork itself is cooked for a lengthy period to give excellent flavour and is 'melt in the mouth'. The sambal chilli king prawns has a portion of prawns in keeping with the price and a good balance of vegetables. We have found that some of the other dishes could do with the addition of more vegetables. We will continue to frequent here and hope others do to support this great restaurant.
Love the food here. We had the chicken karage, soft shell crab and the prawn pad Thai. The 2 of us were so full from just these 3 dishes.
Everything tastes so good and everything on the next table looked so good too.
Their white chocolate and cookie dough dessert was absolutely amazing.
Staff and service were great too.
Highly recommended !!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Love this place! The waiter/waitress was so lovely and really attentive with topping our water up and making sure we were alright. Good customer service always makes the experience a lot better.
Me and my friend definitely over ordered as the portion sizing was really generous (bonus that the price is so reasonable) but we also had no regrets as everything was amazing.
We ordered soft shell crab, kaarage chicken, pork belly bao, beef bulgogi rice, dragon roll sushi and white chocolate macadamia cookie dough.
Soft shell crab was SO juicy and had a decent amount of crab meet in them. Kaarage chicken and pork belly bao is probably my favourite. Chicken was suppppper crunchy on the inside and warm and perfectly cooked on the inside. The bao was verrrrt tasty. The pork itself was tender and so well marinated. The rice and sushi were also really delicious!
Dessert was absolutely the best! However it's super sweet (wouldn't want it any other way) so definitely get one between two.
End of the day, love this place. Would definitely be back!
Really decent food for the price. Between two, we ordered the karage chicken, dragon sushi roll, pad thai and bulgogi beef. It was ALOT of food for two and we were left stuffed. We especially loved the dragon roll, it was unique and flavours were different to any other sushi out there.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
We arrived mid afternoon on a Monday and it was relatively empty. We opted to sit outside but moved in after a couple of minutes as it was covered in files. ANYWAY. We ordered the karaage chicken, tempura king prawns, the “tayylor” made fried rice, the pork belly bao and the cookie dough dessert. I have to say I was most excited about the karaage chicken as I absolutely love cornflake outers but it didn’t quite live up to expectations. The chicken itself tasted like it had been marinating for weeks in something that isn’t the usual ginger-garlic-soy karaage marinade 4/10. Tempura prawns were delicious though, batter was perfectly thick and crunchy and prawn itself was juicy 9/10. The bao too was quite good, basic ingredients (slice of pork belly, cucumber, mayo, hoisin). Actual bun wasn’t as fluffy and soft as other places but still quite good for $7! 6.5/10. Last but not least, my favourite of the day was surprisingly the fried rice. Had good flavours and used ingredients which werent the usual frozen veg mix and meat. It incorporated the chinese preserved sausage w bbq and sliced lettuce which we mixed into the rice 9/10.
The decor lacked character and seemed like a large square dining hall. It was also very hot the day we went (like very very stuffy) and I suggested they turn up the aircon and supposedly they lost the remote. -___-
Its a chinese run establishment conquering a variety of asian foods. I’d say they’re doing well in terms of food but definitely could improve. Good place to share plates too!
Came here on the weekend. Not something you expect in Penrose but certainly a welcome addition.
It was quiet for lunch, we were seated straight away and the service was very attentive.
Food wise, the pork belly bao was the most amazing start to lunch!!! I cannot rave enough about that bao. The pork was succulent, the bread was soft and there was just the right amount of sauce.
My Pad Thai was pretty good too. Wasn't the best I've ever had but it was a generous portion and had a good spicy kick with the chilli.
Only thing I'd want to improve is the coffee but that isn't the main reason for checking them out so it can be forgiven.
Will definitely be back!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
We arrived midday on Saturday, it was empty so chose a table outside. Although the odd train passed by it didn't ruin the atmosphere; it was perfect sitting out in the sun.
I was pleasantly surprised that the menu was more diverse than I had anticipated with dishes from all over Asia (although the this can sometimes be questionable). There was so much on the menu that looked good... But between two of us we chosethe dragon roll, prawn pad Thai, two serves of karaage chicken and a pork belly Bao each.
Once the food came out we realised that the portions sizes were much larger than we thought they would be.... We had literally ordered enough for four people hahaha. Anyway everything was absolutely delicious and full of flavour. Unfortunately I was so full trying to conquer the meal I couldn't give their cookie dough dessert a go :(
Along with the great food the service was also really good, always making sure we were OK and always offering us water. Ill definitely be back to try more of the menu.... And probably order less next time so I'll be able to fit in one of their cookie dough desserts!!!!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
I wrote a blog post for this but somehow I accidentally deleted it and can't get it back up on Zomato. Situated in the quieter suburbs of Penrose, it’s a prime location for nearby workers but not in the CBD which probably makes it difficult for people to randomly walk by and enter by chance. On the plus side, they have a parking lot so it's super convenient to drive by.
Our feast began with the Pork Belly Bao- 4 hour slow cooked pork belly, cucumber, spring onion ($7.00). It was melt-in-your-mouth tender with a few slices of refreshing cucumber with mayonnaise. At first, I was dispappointed there was only a quick smear of hoisin sauce- I like my bao oozy and finger-licking saucy but as the pork belly was so succulent, it really didn’t need the lashings of sauce.
Surprisingly, the Dragon Roll- King prawn tempura, broccolini, avocado, shichimi mayo ($13.00) was my second favourite dish of the day. I’m not usually a fan of dragon rolls but combination of the sauce they served it with really took it to the next level.
Soft Shell Crab- tempura, jalapeno sauce, lime mayo ($15.00). Best eaten hot while it retains it’s crunchiness. Both of the sauces were nice, but the Jalapeno sauce in particular was amazing, and complemented the crab so well. They need to start making jars of this stuff to sell.
Mongolian Lamb- The kimchi is not your traditional Korean kimchi, but I prefer this version a lot more. It’s refreshing without the heavy chili and onions so you don’t have to worry about garlic breath. Your carnivorous friends will devour this dish whole-heartedly, it was very game-y/ meaty to eat.
The signature Miso Hapuka- miso, ponzu, lime ($28.00) was the dish that sadly did not live up to it’s name for us and we found it quite bland. The chef was so understanding and friendly, he was very serious about wanting our honest opinions about all the dishes and explained that it was indeed not as glazed or as saucy as it usually should have been due to the huge chunk of fish we were given. Guess I’ll try it again on my next visit because everyone seems to love it from what I’ve seen on Instagram.
Fresh Tuna Nigiri ($5.00 for two) and King Prawn Nigiri ($8.00 for two). We were informed the tuna was bought fresh that morning, and boy did we really taste the difference. With tuna, you can’t hide it’s freshness as it’s quite subtle in taste. It’s my favourite fish but 9 times out of 10, it’s never fresh. I can say that the tuna from Big Fish Eatery was one of the best I have ever had and this is me speaking from Sydney and having just visited the Fish Market (the tuna was so disappointing there!). I was about to cry with joy upon devouring these fresh, fatty morsels.
Do not walk out without trying the Baked Cookie Dough!! Slightly crisp on the outside while being moreish, warm, and fluffy inside, then topped with vanilla ice cream- it was exactly the kind of dessert you’d tuck into for any occasion. Overall, this place definitely does live up to the hype that I had been seeing all over Instagram and Zomato!
Price is good. Food is great. Dessert is the yummiest.
.
Absolutely delicious! The Sambal prawn was a little spicy for my taste buds (which can't handle spicy too well) but couldn't stop eating it! Definitely coming back here again!
Was recommended to try this place and was definitely not disappointed. Nice selection of Asian style foods in a cafe setting, with coffee and patisseries on hand.
Food was tasty and cooked well, particularly the hapuka. Nice flavours and decent portions. You can order a plate per person but we had just ordered a whole lot to share and managed to taste a few different items.
Food was fairly cheap (Under $20 for all the items except the larger shared plates) and the deliver. It wasn't too hard to find if you know the area but it is worth searching for if you don't.
My new favourite! Delicious food with the best service I've experienced in a long time. The Tayylor made fried rice is a must try, and the dragon roll is also delicious. Can't wait to go back and work my way through the rest of the menu!
Decent and awesome meal made with fresh produces. Ordered tuna tataki, chicken karaage, prawn tempura, pork belly bao, and chicken pad Thai - all of them are super yum! All these great food comes with a reasonable price too!
I was invited along with a few other food bloggers to try out the dishes at Big Fish Eatery! Big Fish Eatery opened its doors in September this year and pride themselves on serving traditional Pan Asian cuisine, with a modern twist. As soon as we entered Big Fish, we were greeted with unique trinkets. I loved the modern decorations with the letter board and the hash tag #dare2taste. My GPS failed to give me correct directions, so I ended up getting a little lost! With that being said, the location was slightly inconvenient for me, but because of their location, Big Fish are able to cater towards the quieter neighbourhoods around Penrose. A definite bonus is the fact that they do free delivery, so if you're situated around Penrose and the nearby suburbs, you're in for a treat!
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Big Fish Eatery is one of Penrose's secret hidden gem that will most definitely become the new craze in no time as it fits perfectly in the asian fusion trend going around atm. Located on Great South Road nearby Dunkin Donuts, BFE has a cosy cafe-like ambiance with a sheltered outdoor seating too decorated with lights. I had come here with three others to test out the menu and was extremely impressed with the options and flavours that were delivered. KAY lets get to it
Pork belly bao: 10/10 !!! Being a current bao fanatic, this was a MUST try for me and it most definitely did not disappoint. Slow cooked for 4-6 hours in a deliciously sweet sauce, the pork belly melts right in your mouth and you dont even feel guilty about eating the fat since it had been rendered off perfectly. This is sat right in between a fluffy steamed mantou bun along with some cucumber, mayo and spring onion; definitely my favourite dish of the day!
Soft shell crab: 7/10; im quite a big fan of soft shelled crabs and the crab served here at BFE was one of the better ones I had tried around Auckland. Coated in a tempura batter, a generous serving of deep fried crab is served with two AMAZING dips (jalapeno sauce and a lime mayo). The only complaint I would have about this was that the crab was quite oily; but that was probably our fault as we had left it sitting for a while. Extremely tasty tho! :)
Miso Hapuka: 6/10. Unfortunately, this was my least favourite dish of the bunch but keep in mind, this was the worst of the best. The hapuka fillet itself was HUGE and was perfectly cooked and lightly glazed; a dollop of miso paste is also served alongside this for dipping. This dish had the least flavour in my opinion, but still enjoyable.
Mongolian lamb: 8.5/10. If you're a lamb lover like me, this is a must try dish! A huge serving of lamb racks marinated in the most delicious spices and served with a bed of vermecilli and homemade kimchi salad; this dish was tasty af and fun to eat off the bones. Defs reccomended for all yall lamb lovers.
King Prawn and Fresh Tuna nigiri: 9.5/10. OMG no words could describe how FRESH the tuna was and also how generous the size of each nigiri was. Each nigiri is served with a dollop of fresh Kizami Wasbi ( none of that paste powder stuff!) and just bursting with natural sweetness from the seafood itself. I had preferred the tuna over the prawn one, but thats just from bias decisions being a huge tuna lover. Sashimi is DEFS a must get at BFE!
Dragon Roll: 10/10, ofc we had to try a sushi roll upon coming here. The dragon roll features huge slices of fresh avo, tempura prawns, brocollini and fish roe on top with some mayo. this roll was seriously the real deal; packed full of flavour in each bite I'd defs get this again when I return.
DESSERT TIME! The infamous baked cookie dough! The two options we could choose from were white chocolate and macadamia (yum!) or dark chocolate and peanut butter ( YUMYUMYUM)! Being the fatasses we were, we decided to get both to share between the four of us. It takes around 15 minutes to bake and comes straight out of the oven warm and gooey and served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top; seriously the best comfort food ever ( move over Denny's hot fudge cake, you've got some serious competition over here). Both flavours were amazingg but being a dark chocolate lover, I found the white chocolate one a bit sickly sweet so it was good that we had decided to share it . 10/10!!
Overall, the ambience and especially service was amazing! the staff were all so friendly and you could tell that the chef (who came out to talk to us) really cooked with 100% love and passion. Every dish was amazingly good and the prices were extremely reasonable; gj big fish eatery, Cant wait to come back!
Must Trys: Pork belly bao, Dragon Roll, all the sashimis and the cookie dough are a must!!
Was invited to have lunch at @bigfisheaterynz with other food bloggers! The staff were so friendly, they helped us understand the menu and assisted us on choosing what to order. We tried the Pork Belly Bao, Soft shell crab, Miso Hapuka, Mongolian Lamb, Dragon Roll, and the King Prawn and Fresh Tuna Nigiri. And of course for dessert, we had their special baked cookie dough. They have two flavours: white chocolate and macadamia and the other one is dark chocolate peanut butter. Both were served with vanilla ice cream on top. Had an amazing meal. Thanks again to Big Fish Eatery for the amazing meal!
Was invited to have lunch at Big Fish Eatery with other food bloggers! This restaurant is located in Penrose. Not the most convenient location but not bad either! Not being in the CBD means there's convenient parking and they also do delivery in nearby suburbs. The staff were so friendly, they helped us understand the menu and assisted us on choosing what to order. The chef himself also greeted us and explained the different dishes and even the history behind those dishes which I found really interesting.
Amazing amazing amazing! Ordered a pork belly Bao, kaarage chicken, tuna tataki and chicken pad Thai to share. Everything was perfect. Can't wait to come back and try even more! Awesome staff and service, made us feel really welcome and genuinely cared about how we felt about the food. They are truly passionate about what they do and it definitely shows. See you guys again soon!!
Awesome customer service and friendly staff followed up by an amazing, authentic, not to sweet Chicken Pad Thai. Highly recommend a visit! Will definitely become one of my locals!
Omg!!!! I'm so glad we came here. It's such amazing food. Really reasonable price. It is so delicious. Plenty of carparks. I'm definitely going to recommend it to all my friends. Must try the miso fish. I am salivating thinking about tonight's dinner. Haha.
Very hidden gem, definitely worth seeking them out!
This place has a nice ambiance, they serve a mixture of different asian cuisines and the menu is quite extensive. It's more than just a cafe but also alot more relaxed than a restaurant.
Serving sizes were generous and food was pleasant. My partner and I ordered tuna tataki which was very fresh, the dish could have better if it had some lemon juice or even some spice to add more dimension to the taste. The king prawn tempura was very fresh also, it was very nice and crispy without overpowering batter like some other tempura places. The mongolian lamb was amazing! It was soft and juicy and full of flavour. For $25 you get about 8 pieces of amazing lamb! The kimchi miso soup was also nice.
The highlight and why everyone should try this place is for their cookie dough! They are so amazing and would go perfect with coffee or tea!
Would definitely come back to try more of the menu!
Amazing food and above standard service. Each meal that was brought to the table was explained including sauces. I will be back for sure! Maddison Cooper
Tuna Tataki - 11/10, Beef Teppanyaki 10/10, Karaage Chicken & Mayo 10/10, Pork Belly Bao UNBELIEVABLE. World class menu. Service outstanding - Big Fish Eatery has set the bar and is the real deal!
A hidden gem. Fresh ingredients, good portions, friendly staffs and beautiful presentation. Staffs are so friendly and kind they also gave us free cookie dough dessert which taste so good being freshly baked. A good place to try.
WWW.KINGOFCHEATMEALS.COM
+5
One of my newest favourite restaurants. Can't say there are many places where I've really enjoyed every dish that has come out. Prices are super, fresh baked cookies and ice cream are amazing 👌👌👌
Back to the big fish today ..twice this week had to have the pad thai again..my fav also had karage chicken and side of sir fried vegetables all very nice but the later dish wasn't quite right.I point it out to the staff..who then replace the dish..with the chef coming out to apologize for the error ..which I thought ..was a good gesture..big fish is a new eatery to the area and should do well if they keep their standards up ..we wont let one glitch put us off ..we will be back again
This wonderful Pan Asian restaurant is sublime. The staff are wonderful but the food is exceptional! There is a level of refinement in some of these dishes that needs to be experienced as no level of description is going to encompass what your tastebuds are going to ! I have dined in and had takeout and will be going back again and again. Some of the stars so far - Tuna and beef tataki is exquisite, the Karaage chicken will redefine fried chicken for you.... And the Mongolian lamb chops .... With that homemade kimchi! If you are in the Penrose Onehunga area you have to go here. Great staff, great food, great ambience ... This restaurant is going places..
Tried this place for lunch yesterday. It's a little hard to find as the windows are tinted but was super happy I did. I had the prawn nigiri, Karaage chicken and miso soup. It must be a new business because the chef was super passionate and explained to me that the prawns were from Spain and the nigiri was served warm. It's definitely a must try!! The Karaage chicken is coated with cornflakes which gives it a fantastic crunch and miso soup was very hearty. I will definitely be back as I saw pad Thai on the menu.
Wow! I don’t normally do reviews. The food was so amazing that I wrote this while still at the restaurant. Quality ingredients, good size portions and the protein and vegetables were big chucks. Very nice people. Most of the tables had reserved signs on them so we were lucky to get in (group of 5). We will be back.
Good customer service and pretty quick. Both the size and the price of the food portions are reasonable. A large menu with many of options.
Great for large groups. We were a group of about 14.
The food is quite expensive but the portions are huge. I found the pricing very uneven , some dishes like dumplings for $22 (6 pieces) or beef tataki for $29 in comparison with mains.
About 4 times they brought us stuff we haven't ordered and on the other hand my papaya salad took the longest. When everyone finished their meal, I got mine.
Mains should be served at the same time. There were about 20-30mins gaps between all of us getting our mains.
My tuna tartare was very bland and missed some crackers with it. And so was my papaya salad (tasteless)
Others liked their food. I tried the Bulgogi which was delicious, so was the karaaghe chicken.
The salmon was absolutely amazing! So juicy yet flavourful- seemed they marinated it for days! Would say their fish dishes are better in comparison to any other meat. Hence the name 😊 But everything else was was great regardless!!
Came after a very long time. We ordered karaage chicken, soft shell crab and drunken noodles. The karaage chicken was very very good, I think lack a little bit of salt on the chicken but the dipping sauce pairs well with it. Soft shell crab was not bad, I was not a big fan of the sauce though. The drunken noodles was very yum and portion was generous and lots of prawns. Overall it was very delightful meal.
Amazing lunch today waitress and chef satisfied every request. Thank you 🙏
Wonderful, friendly service! The dishes tasted as good as they looked in the photos. I recommend their soft shell crab and prawn croquettes they were light, crispy and full of flavour. Also the Beef salad was a highlight and for those who like it 🔥spicy try the seafood noodles and spiced lamb chops 😋
There is a good variety of food without the menu being overly large. We ordered the teriyaki salmon, Taylor fried rice, pad thai chicken and prawn, soft shell crab, and pork belly bao. Everything was very tasty and the portion sizes were quite generous too. Pricing was very reasonable as well - one of the few places that haven't increased their prices during the last 2 years. Our favourites were the salmon and the fried rice. The food comes out as it's ready instead of all at once which we prefer for this kind of restaurant, however on this occasion one dish took a little longer to arrive. Our server said sorry for the delay and offered a complimentary drink/dessert as an apology which was very nice of them. Will definitely be returning in the future!
Thoroughly enjoyed the food. Satisfied a group of islanders (we love our food). While majority had the prime beef rib, we also managed to sample an array of the starters - favorite was the karaage chicken. This chicken is amazing. I had the beef teppanyaki - slightly chewy but was deemed okay.
Another favorite was the soft shell crab and dunken noodles. Great flavors and given the current climate with prices rising - it wasn't bad for value.
Loved the restaurant decor - also a big bonus is that it's not over crowded. The focus seems to be on quality food for small numbers of patrons as opposed to an overcrowded restaurant with average food.
Would highly recommend to all ages.
Can never go wrong with these guys, food is always consistent and delicious. Dined in twice and have bought takeaways many times within a space of 2 years. Always my go to for gourmet Asian food, fresh and mouth watering. Staff are very helpful and friendly, I have visited at 11.30am which I suggest is a great time if you don't like busy crowds. Night time is very lively and busy, either way food is never a let down. Highly recommend.
Update as of 07/08/2021
I can agree with recent reviews in regards to the change of ownership. I bought drunken noodles and it definitely does not taste the same. Lacks flavour and was tad dry which before was never the case. Also the customer service has gone done from a 5 to a 2/5. Dont think I will be returning here anytime soon.
The food here is delicious and reasonably priced. Most dishes range between $20 to $30 and the portions are plentiful. The Karage chicken, Duck salad and the Mongolian lamb are a must, but leave some room for dessert, as the white and dark cookie dough with ice cream is a must to finish. Fast and friendly service, lots of parking at night
An Asian Fusion restaurant in the industrial area of Penrose.Nice ambience and friendly service. Food portions were quite large and reasonably priced.Mains were mostly $28 and $30.The Pad Thai Prawn dish had plenty of prawns but was too sweet for my liking. The Bulgogi Beef dish was probably my favorite. The lamb in the Massaman was rather tough but the flavour was fine.We also had the Karaage chicken which was tender...Overall, a nice experience if you're into an eclectic variety of Asian cuisine.
Delicious food,
Fast service , All very tasty and found it hard to flaw all their dishes.
I thin kthe soft shell crab bao could have a bit more meat and less batter but apart that. its 2 thumbs up from us..
the salmon and rice was delicious, fresh and good portion size.
The fried rice was the star of it all. Struggled to finish it though as I ordered the dragonroll sushi which was too good. Will come back again for more🤤
Most delicious food I have had in a while. Loved every meal we had. The worst I can say about this place is that the lamb could have been cooked a bit longer, but that is a personal preference.
Definitely try their cookie dough dessert if you have a space left after the mains.
Wow, wow, wow,. That's all I can say to this place.
I do recommend this place if you are looking for a great 5star menu. The pork belly bio is a must to have. The portions were just right for our dishes. I will go there again at any time. The service was 5 star. Check it out. Make sure to make a booking before you go.
Atmosphere was clean, tidy with plenty of seating & beautiful decor. Food was amazing! Good size portions at reasonable prices. Food was delicious, tangy, spicy & sweet, a wonderful fusion of asian with a twist! Our new favourite!
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes