Great place to eat. Food was so fresh and delicious. Staff happy and fast
Fantastic food and great service, I recommend the Crab.
Stuart Henley-Minchington
+5
Just an amazing place, I am a regular and will keep coming back!
Fantastic Japanese cuisine with interesting options, nice atmosphere and good prices
Great food. Really tasty and well priced. Went with the kids and they really loved it. Don’t expect anything fancy because it is not needed ... just food of good quality
I honestly just love this place. My go to place for a Chicken Curry on rice over the weekend 😊 Just the best. Crispy chicken. Tasty dish. Staffs are amazing too.
Have always enjoyed eating at Cookai, prices are slightly above average but is totally worth it. The atmosphere is lovely and interior design is clean and pleasant. Fish is fresh and tasty. Although a little more pricey than other Japanese restaurants, do not mind paying extra for a good experience.
It was quite good qualityof food and fresh food. Staff was also very friendly and helpful. But it came out very small portion. Maybe it is Japanese style. Try it
Cookai is a completely underrated restaurant (by underrated I mean how no one has heard of it) with a suitable Japanese menu full of potential to be one of CHCH best Japanese places. I had the tempura salmon sushi which was drizzled with mayo and spicy sauce and was just like it sounds, absolutely amazing. It is very rare to taste sushi that is deep fried yet still doesn't taste rich and fatty. I also ordered the bento bowl as my main which included pork and ginger salad, incredibly fresh sashimi, nigiri, takoyaki and one of the best pieces of Karaage chicken I've ever had and I have had an insane amount of Karaage in my time. The service is good - average, the price was decent and the atmosphere was nice. I shared two entrees a main and a small desert and was delightfully full to my heart's content. Highly recommend the bento and tempura sushi.
Pefect place for business lunch.
We ordered one deluxe bento box and a few other dishes. I have tried many bento box meals recently, Cookai's bento box is always my favorite, I think it is the best in town. They just changed the lunch menu, so it was my first time to try the deluxe one. I was amazed by thepork belly and teriyaki beef in the bentobox. The pork belly was tender and juicy， so smooth in mouth and tastes even better with rice. I think the teriyaki beef has been pan fried a bit to enhance the flavour and make the beef really fun to eat.
Nice place and staff, most importantly，great food.
Highly Recommended.
Visited with my Japanese class for the dining experience, was impressed by the menu choices.
Great food, everyone enjoyed their meal and lovely service.
Overall this place is has good value.
Lacks some of the intimate charm of its predecessor in Cashel Street. Location now in the west and prices have correspondingly headed north! They're the best Japanese seafood purveyors in town.
Visited Cookai many times and the food is amazing. Their sushis are bigger than what you get from other sushi places and are done so well, especially the salmon and mayo sushi - it's so nice creamy it almost melts in you mouth. Their sashimi platters are great and so fresh. The terayaki chicken is on point and very authentic - if you prefer beef to chicken, the beef teriyaki is pretty amazing too. The only disappointing thing encountered was in late December when they removed a few really good items from their menu (such as ice creams and rice dishes). The staff are friendly and whole atmosphere/feel of the restaurant is very comfortable.
Quality portions of food that tastes beautiful. Good service. Ambiance average and similar to many Christchurch Restaurants where intimate settings are not a priority. The design is typical of Asian restaurants ie: narrow gaps between tables - pack in as many as one can in the allocated floor space.
Cookai has always been one of the few Japanese restaurants in Christchurch that never fails to impress me. The food is always great, staffs are friendly even though they can get quite busy sometimes. A little bit pricey but then again, food quality and presentation is always done beautifully. Oh God and the green tea sundae... Always make sure you have room for it.
The food was great. The service was terrible - waited twenty minutes to be served with wine glasses.
A shame, because as my first visit was brilliant.
Excellent place for exquisite Japanese cuisine. The food is superb and the ambience is very nice. The dessert is supreme. There's a waiting time, especially during peak hours in the evening. Highly recommend.
Love the food here, well presented and tasty, great service and a menu to cater for all tastes. Been here for both lunch and dinners and never been disappointed.
Been here many times for tea, service is always great and the food is always amazing! Very fairly priced for what you receive on your plate. The salmon tempura sushi, dumplings and deep fried tofu are all great! It's hard to fault this place!
Good service. Great yakitori. The salmon on rice was amazing. Will be back.
I used to like coming here. Good food value for money and not a bad environment. However the last time I went I felt the food portions had been down sized and the service a bit lack lustre. Not sure if I'll go back. Maybe I'll try again in a little while to see if it has improved.
It was one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Christchurch. I love food there: soft shell crab and slow cooked pork belly are very yummy. Somehow I felt that dish size had been downsized based upon my last visit experience. Their service is very friendly as well.
Went for lunch and had good service as usual. I had Chirashi which is an assortment of shashimi plus a cold prawn and my friend had the pork belly. Both dishes were done well and the service was excellent.
Clean and well presented restaurant . Will go back again
OMG stunning dinner out and 2 Crusaders on the table next to us, what else could you want for a romantic night out for 2? Our waitress was so hard case she literally took us in hand and ordered for us, great choices spot on food quick and fast, very busy restaurant which proves it's ratings....
The best Japanese in christchurch !
To start with the service was excellent.
I really enjoyed the clean fresh taste of the meals, the food was bought out promptly and everytime we were asked if we would like any drinks or water.
Its a very easy thing for staff to do yet so many other resturants lack the service they should be offering
Service 10/10
Atmosphere 10/10
Food 10/10
My new favorite Japanese Resturant
Well done Cookai
Went to Cookai for dinner with my partner tonight.
I was slightly cautious after I had read some of the reviews regarding the food as well as timing of food coming out but I must admit I was more than impressed! The staff were so very polite, the entrees came out within 10 minutes and main meals within 5 minutes of our plates having been cleared from the table. The food was absolutely delicious! Not being a big seafood eater myself, the pork belly and rice was so tasty! My partner had the pan fried salmon and in his own words this was the most delicious salmon he had ever eaten!.
I have absolutely no criticisms of this restaurant and would definitely go back again!
My partner and I love dining here, the staff are super friendly and helpful - although their English may be a little lacking. Food is fresh tasty and reasonably priced, we always feel special coming into Cookai Restaurant and the Saki is delicious
Had dinner here the first night my bf and I arrived in Christchurch. Everything we ordered was superb! Very fresh, yummy, and well presented sashimi, sushi, yakitori (grilled stuff), etc. Staff and service were excellent, too. Will definitely be next time we visit Christchurch!
24/09/2013
I've just been taken out to lunch at Cookai .
It was recommended to us and I looked it up on live.
We each had a fantastic fresh sushi and sushi mi platter which were wonderful, fresh and tasty, yum miso, a bowl of rice and lovely delicate green tea.
There was no loud music in the background so we could hear ourselves talking. The service was quick and friendly.
We were well satisfied with fresh food, service and price.
Was recommended as a favourite to me by my brother and delivered good food and was fast at coming out, setting is tidy and intimate and personal or they cater to larger groups in little nooks. I had the soft shell crab that was tasty and entree of tempura sushi which was an experience that was great! Customer service a tad hard to understand some of the waiters. All round good night and also relatively cheap.
Great food, extremely delicious. Excellently presented. Great service.
Negative, a little on the pricey side.
Will return, would recommend.
Despite neither of us being frequent visitors of Japanese restaurants I decided to treat my girlfriend to a meal out. We drove our two large electric wheelchair in to the restaurant after the kitchen had closed (taxi was late) and the staff were warm, welcoming and hospitable. We were served delicious food and the price was very reasonable. Highly recommended.
Having been to Cookai multiple times and everytime the service was good, the food was great and the portions generous. Pricing is inexpensive so find complaints about pricing amusing, there is Sequoia 88 for those who need cheap.
My wife and me had lunch there last Thursday, the food was quite good. Tempura Chicken was my favourite. The tempura coating was crispy and the chicken inside was really tender and juicy. Also, Tempura Chicken in lunch menu comes as a set with a bowl of rice and miso soup (free). The price was average. We will review dinner meal this week.
Two of us used a Treat Me voucher - we thought the food was really great and I have eaten in many countries around the world. I thought the meat and fish were both extremely fresh and cooked nicely. The waitress was very polite and helpful. As they were slow and we had to be somewhere else at a certain time we explained this and the rest came quickly. We are going there again tomorrow so I will review again
We visited for the first time and found this place delightful,staff were so helpful and the food was so lovely and fresh and plentiful.Would like to mention especially the Pork belly.We will certainly be back
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Was a favorite when it was in the city as there are few truely Japanese run businesses left in Christchurch , we were glad to see it open again . Upon reading reviews we were a little reluctant to part with our hard earned cash . Kids screaming and hungery we gave it a go . Very glad we did .
Great service very nice refit food presentation very upmarket level which they could not achieve in the small hurried little restaurant where they were . I think that too many people expected the same atmosphere as the old place but we were always hurried there and could hardly move let alone get a table . Prices are always high for Japanese food just go shopping at local supermarket and appreciate that it isn't as cheap as Korean for the base ingredients. We all loved the Gyoza and the sushi my three year old extremely happy to try everything . Very child friendly . Good on them trying to be different place was half full on a Monday night a buzz with happy people . Yakatori selection very nicely presented and very delicious . Shame the negative views from others.
Top dinning experience. Definitely the one to go. Oh.. phone number is not right on the website.
Phone : 03 343 2860
Great location with ample parking. Reasonable price really fresh sashimi and Nigiri, friendly and attentive staff, easy ordering and quick table service. Booths are available upon request. The interior of this restaurant is very spacious, suitable for large groups up to 20 with private corner. Would definitely go back.
Fresh sashimi and great nigiri 🍣 made my day. Definitely will recommend to my friends.
Trust me: this is the best Japanese restaurant in Christchurch!
Very nice chicken wings~~~😋😋
And it's best chicken wings in Christchurch.
Came here as part of a work lunch... The 12 of us went with the set menu and we were not disappointed. Delicious fresh sashimi and various tempura goodies. The staff were polite and attentive. They were more than happy to cater for those of us who had specific dietary restrictions.. I'd definitely reccomend.
We had the best experience - owner is on the floor front of house. The door was graciously opened for us, we were escorted to a table where dietary requirements were catered to and our meals arrived promptly and fresh and delicious. Great Japanese we had Yakatori, Pork belly, Octopus balls and some salmon rolls. Highly recommended, these new owners deserve to succeed - we’ll be back!!
We went to the first Cookai a few times when it was in Manchester Street. We loved it then and enjoyed it even more this time. The food was an epicurean delight - great flavours, lots of choice and reasonable pricing. In addition the service and ambience were also good. With all the menu items we didn't eat we will have to keep coming back. This could be a lifetime affair.
Great Japanese food, good variety and very tasty. The green tea ice cream sundae is particularly good! I've always had great service when I've eaten here. The decor and atmosphere is sophisticated and cool.
A very enjoyable meal with 1st table, made for a nice an cheap dinner. I would recommend to do the same but if you were to pay full price I would rather go elsewhere. All that said, they were friendly, the restaurant was lovely and the food was good.
Defiantly give it a go! We (5pax) had a wonderful evening on Friday night. The food was on lovely plates, prettily displayed on the plates, hot and delicious and speedy service. The pork rib had lots of meat which fell off the bone. Great value and also BYO. Owner was a wonderful host which you could share a good laugh with. Lots of off street parking. Have a seperate area for large groups with big long table and chandeliers. Lovely atmosphere. Will be going back very soon.
Amazing dinner! So fresh and tasty. The tempura sushi was amazing (even my husband who has never liked sushi enjoyed it!). We will be back!
Yummy food.
A bit more selection would be nice.
A tad expensive compared to most other sushi trains.
Still a pleasant experience.
Great place to dine. Food was excellent and very reasonably priced.
Good service and atmosphere. Would happly recommend.
This is one of my favourite restaurants maybe because I feel what you get for the price is amazing and the food is always constantly tasty and staff are friendly, service is usually fast
Food was delicious, staff friendly bit cold but they moved a heater for us and it was nice. Will be back!
Beaut fresh food.Nicely prepares.Nothing to adult.Nice service & personal attention from the owner to top it off.A nice experience
Delicious food and fantastic service. Cara is a fantastic host and I would not hesitate to return :)
Went for lunch, great meal great service, certainly value for money
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