Reviews of Cocoro. (Restaurant) in Auckland (Auckland).
Cocoro
56a Brown Street, Ponsonby, Auckland 1021, New Zealand
Description
Information of Cocoro, Restaurant in Auckland (Auckland)
Here you can see the location, open hours, popular times, contact, photos and real reviews done by the users.
This place has good reviews, this means that they treat their customers well and you’ll feel great with their services, recommended 100%!
Map
Open hours of Cocoro
Sunday
Closed
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
5:30–9pm
Wednesday
5:30–9pm
Thursday
12–2pm, 5:30–9pm
Friday
12–2pm, 5:30–9pm
Saturday
12–2pm, 5:30–9pm
Popular times
Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Reviews of Cocoro
R.Probably one of the best if not the best Japanese in Auckland. One of our go to favourite restaurants. All of the dishes are fresh and beautifully presented. Decent selection of beer and spirits. Friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Tip : do try their sakes!
V.In short, highly recommend Cocoro. Well presented and delicious.
For starters, Cocoro is very creative that using different combination which brings up different food experiences to the customers.
For seafood platter, my favourites are sheared lobster, crab and king fish. 5 sauces are provided to the customers designing for different types of seafood to maximize the food experience.
Their plum wine is nice. Crimson and Tea Garden are just amazing!
Service is good, staff are very friendly and they explain to you the content of each dish and what is the best match.
Overall, the seafood platter, A5 wagyu beef, and chocolate dessert are the highlights of the 5 course meal.
f.The best Japanese in Auckland. A unique experience and totally worth it. So many things we ate. The stand out to me was scallops, so chuch and creamy never had it like that before can still taste it now.
L.Excellent cuisine & Excellent staff. Flavours brought back our experience in Japan, and staff happily helped prep a birthday dessert. Also nicely located, tucked away quietly from busy Ponsonby.
S.Delicious fine dining Japanese style. Every dish in the degustation menu we had was presented beautifully and the flavors balanced perfectly. I personally prefer flavors that stand out a little more, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy this meal thoroughly. Staff were very well trained and friendly. Thanks for a lovely evening Cocoro!
H.Ordered signature menu, it was exceptional in terms of ingredients used. It was ok in terms of the taste.
N.Went for the deguststion menu.
The service was superb and the food on offer had a huge amount of different and unique flavors.
Only thing that just stops it hitting 5 stars is that we were still hungry after the meal as while the food quality is very high, the portions and amount of carbs are on the low side.
j.Superb modern take on Japanese cuisine without losing the essence of its tradition. Excellent service and beautiful ambience. Having lived in Tokyo, Cocoro is a rare example of great Japanese food outside of Japan.
K.Just come from a fabulous dinner here this evening. We had the 8 course degustation that was beautifully presented and tasted delicious. The wine paring made it even more special. Service was graceful and warm with care of detail. Plan to return soon!
L.One of the best Japanese food we have tried in the whole of New Zealand. We came in for lunch and went for the set menu. It had a bit of everything so it's a good way to taste more dishes without getting really full. We really love the freshly grated Wasabi on shark-skin grater. This restaurant is also one of the rare few that serve Kusuda wines so that's a bonus.
N.Went for the deguststion menu.
The service was superb and the food on offer had a huge amount of different and unique flavors. …
R.Perfection executed. Wonderful dining experience and great place for a proper catch up.
C.One of my top 3 restaurants in Auckland. The food is very high quality and thoughtfully prepared and presented. Service is fantastic. I come back as often as I can!
j.Superb modern take on Japanese cuisine without losing the essence of its tradition. Excellent service and beautiful ambience. Having lived in Tokyo, Cocoro is a rare example of great Japanese food outside of Japan.
A.Love love love this place! Been here many times and the quality of food has been impeccable! Amazing and friendly staff.
S.Delicious fine dining Japanese style. Every dish in the degustation menu we had was presented beautifully and the flavors balanced perfectly. I personally prefer flavors that stand out a little more, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy …
L.One of the best Japanese food we have tried in the whole of New Zealand. We came in for lunch and went for the set menu. It had a bit of everything so it's a good way to taste more dishes without getting really full. We really love the …
H.Japanese fine dining at its very best. Elegant, Exquisite degustation menu. Perfect sake pairings.
A.Epic degustation menu. Exceptional level of service.
S.I celebrated my birthday here with a group of friends in June. Having a huge understanding of the Japanese culture and food, I had to check out first that the place is in fact owned and run by Japanese people and I was delighted to find that it was (because in AKL many places are not….beware!).
We had the set menu and the food was very impressive. A couple of us had dietary requirements which they were very happy to accommodate. Presentation is outstanding and the dishes they use to create the appetizing artistic gastronomy is beautiful and traditional. The courses were spaced out enough for us to not feel rushed. I read one of the previous comments that they felt there wasn’t enough food with the set menu so that did concern me. However I have a big appetite and we all felt it was more than ample. We were all certainly satisfied. But you do have the choice to add some more sushi to the set menu and we did that, not because we were still hungry but because the food was so delicious we wanted more. The sashimi melted in our mouths and god it was good, absolutely top quality just like what you get in Japan.
We had some serious wine connoisseurs in our group and they were VERY impressed with the huge wine selection!
Service was outstanding, staff were very obliging and it far exceeded my expectations. None of us had been there before so it was a very special night.
L.Amazing meal here 2 months ago. We ordered a la carte, each dish was perfectly balanced in flavours, sashimi platter was a highlight, super-fresh melt in you mouth fish, teriyaki chicken was also amazing - so different to your standard Japanese restaurant. I think prices are very fair given the quality and time that goes into preparing the food, service was friendly. Negative reviews don't match our experience here, maybe some people have very lofty expectations?
H.Japanese fine dining at its very best. Elegant, Exquisite degustation menu. Perfect sake pairings.
A.Love love love this place! Been here many times and the quality of food has been impeccable! Amazing and friendly staff.
R.Perfection executed. Wonderful dining experience and great place for a proper catch up.
C.It’s fusion/modern Japanese restaurant. If you are looking for authentic Japanese food, then this is definitely a wrong place.
z.I'd say they're on quite average level in terms of food, tasting. just photogenic to your instagram. I believe the value is not there to me, esp for the portion they serve was very disappointment. I'm still hungry, have to get to eat again after a hour or so
Z.If price is not a factor I'd say it was a good dinner. The selection of ingredients and preparation is expected at this level, but not exceeding. The experience itself is below my expectations. At this price point there are better food experiences in Auckland.
L.The best restaurant we have been in NZ, in both food and service. The service was very attentive and professional. The food was authentic and delicious. The bottle of sake we had from the chef's hometown paired perfectly with the degustation menu. It's hidden gem, that focus on service and food. Which exactly what we are looking for. The staff are super friendly and nice. Highly recommend!
T.This place serves traditional Japanese degustation multi courses meal. It's modeled after Kaiseki style dinner that has gain lots of traction internationally in the past few years, thanks to the fame of a number of Michelin star restaurants around the world, which made this once relatively obscure and traditional cuisine world famous.
The food was prepared with care and thoughts. I particularly like the presentation. There were clearly lot of thoughts went into it, very much like what you would see in food documentaries. As for the taste and the tempo, each chef has their own interpretation of the style so I won't put in too much subjective judgement of my own, in terms of comparing to other similar style dinner I enjoyed in other parts of the world. I guess, maybe I'm bearing too high of an expectation, the experience, while it was hard to complain, it definitely was a little anticlimactic. It makes me feel we still have some miles to cover before we can truly have our own Michelin star level Japanese Kaiseki.
L.An absolutely unforgettable dining experience for all the right reasons. The food and service was out of this world. Already planning my next visit. The aged Angus beef tobanyaki was the highlight for me but honestly every course was next level great.
R.Eye candy. I was still hungry by having the entire meal.
S.Really expensive, but fantastic food
C.Food quality was good but not for full myself. It's not as that good as everyone else says.
E.Fancy food and service but very expensive. If you are hungry, don’t come here.
R.This place is top notch. I don't often give our five stars but cocoro impressed. We opted for the prix fixe menu with our medium sized party in a private back room. This was some of the best sushi I've had (and I live in LA and frequent Tokyo) with the most creative displays. Save room for dessert! That Japanese whiskey is pretty phenomenal, even for the non-whiskey drinkers like myself. Definitely a great place!!
L.Absolutely fantastic. Best Japanese in town. Great atmosphere, fantastic food and excellent service. Everything at an affordable price. Will definitely go again.
P.This place is top notch. I don't often give our five stars but cocoro impressed. We opted for the prix fixe menu with our medium sized party in a private back room. This was some of the best sushi I've had (and I live in LA and frequent Tokyo) with the most creative displays. Save room for dessert! That Japanese whiskey is pretty phenomenal, even for the non-whiskey drinkers like myself. Definitely a great place!!
T.My husband and I are always impressed by the quality and uniqueness of their food. Cocoro is definitely the best Japanese Restaurant in Auckland. See you again next time.
A.My partner and I really enjoyed Cocoro, and the servers were very attentive and explained the meals perfectly. Cute how the chefs were keeping an eye on us, felt as though they really wanted to know if we enjoyed each dish. The crockery, plates and bowls were fantastic. The cutlery - not so much. We enjoyed each meal through the degustation menu. One downside of this is the price. Also I requested prior to our arrival that we be seated in a quiet table at the restaurant, but we were placed in the middle of two loud tables. I watched a lonely table at the other side of the restaurant, unoccupied during our reservation, and couldn't help but wish we had sat there. Happy to give 4/5. Unwilling on this occasion to provide a tip to staff due to price. Good for one off special occasion, and at this stage this is a restaurant I would not revisit.
S.The best Japanese restaurant in Auckland I have to say. The ambiance, service and the food were just stunning. Not to mention Lee’s next level customer service. I was amazed by the selection of their sashimi- very unique and fresh( I’m sick of cheap salmon and frozen tuna from many Japanese restaurants in Auckland) Their mackerel sashimi was top notch. I highly recommend to try their sushi and sashimi course. And don’t forget to check out their wine and sake list.
T.Came here recently for a special occasion. The food was nice. Expensive, in retrospect the price was probably more about showing the other person how much money you are willing to spend as opposed to paying for the food.
A.Epic degustation menu. Exceptional level of service.
Y.I don't understand why many reviews say that it's too expensive. You do pay a lot , but quality of food is fantastic !!! Sashimi plate is super fresh, japanese steak is bloody amazing and everything cooked perfect... A sommelier chose perfect sake and wine for each dish we ordered. The service is good.
The only minus - some waiters are not confident with describing
dishes. Very poor English and we could hardly hear anything they said to us. For such a high level restaurant it's unacceptable.
S.There were clearly a lot of thoughts and care went into the dishes. But it's more of an experience than a meal. I think those of us who came for a meal should adjust expectations.
E.Really enjoyed the food and friendly service. We will be back. It seems this restaurant is being targeted by fake negative reviews so be careful which reviews you trust!
M.Absolutely spectacular. I was treated the degustation menu for my birthday and thats what it was - an absolute treat! Can't say what was my favourite. Saw the signature sashimi and crayfish platter go out to a table and am determined to go back and try that! Thanks to the staff for their attentive service also.
Y.Visited here a week after returning from Japan. Exceptional service, delicious food and a really great vibe. Some of the best Japanese dining in Auckland, well priced for considering the quality of the meal.
J.Best Japanese restaurant in auckland hands down
L.Family celebration which was made even more special by the staff and the food at this exceptional place.
We were fortunate to have the degustation menu both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Every single dish was sublime and I can’t fault anything. A truly memorable evening, thank you for the memories
A.Consistently great! We are always delighted at Cocoro and the recent collab dinner with Ode was no exception. Thank you. See you again soon.
M.Beautiful Japanese! In my eyes its on par with Ebisu on the waterfront. Great secluded vibe with exquisite food. Its a modern take on traditional Japanese, we had the set lunch menu and it was a great selection of their menu and didn't leave you feeling too full. Highly recommended for any lunch or dinner!
F.Food was okay, more of a fusion modern Japanese food than traditional Japanese food.
Price was higher than average.
Ambience was good, not too noisy and overcrowding of people.
M.Cocoro@home during lockdown...an awesome different dining experience yet still so good!
S.Brilliant Japanese restaurant. Extensive wine list including a large selection by the glass. We had the tasting menu (which you have to order in advance) and every course was delicious. Highly recommended.
J.Great service, perfect presentation, good food (not the best Japanese I've had but still very fresh) and authentic without being boring.
J.We really enjoyed our dinner. The food quality, cooking and presentation is amazing. Would definitely come back! Best Japanese dinner I had so far
S.Some of the best Japanese you'll eat in Auckland, with degustation options. More expensive than most, so a destination of you're looking for something special. Excellent service and ambiance, great drinks direction - even the tea is as good as it gets. Recommended!
A.The degistation dishes are playful, flavours are clear, matched, surprising and amazing versions of familiar dishes.ocoro can be translated as "heart; mind; mentality; emotions; feelings" - explains everything about this gem and its superb staff.
c.had signature course here about 1.5 year ago, which u get 25+ kinds of sashimi, was surprised by the presentation, and also A5 Japanese wagyu steak, it was 12 out of 10, it's absolutly the best taste of steak in town.
D.Food and accompanied explanation were great. The seafood was fresh and we'll prepared. Staff were friendly and very attentive. Overall it was a joy, their set menu is wonderful.
L.The degustation is worth it, given the quality and freshness of the seafood/produce! There are some very creative dishes, and others that are just Japanese food done very well.
M.great display
F.Traditional Japanese flavours, modern preparations, well thought out presentation. Attentive and friendly staff. Excellent Sake selection to choose from.
J.This place is unreal! Very cool and exciting dishes
B.Flawless Japanese fine dining, in a cosy restaurant. The alcohol is paired perfectly (sake will delight). Must try on the Auckland fine dining circuit.
M.Incredible food, presentation, service. The only disappointing part was the surprisingly low quality of the toilet paper. Otherwise impeccable, 5 stars.
q.Food is great. It is expensive and you get what you pay for. Would be better if they gave a little more quantity for their menu.
N.Sometimes modern, sometimes traditional. Always authentic. Cocoro dishes up some of the best Japanese food you'll ever eat.
J.Simply one of the nicest quality resturants we have eaten at. Beautiful quality good service.
Y.This is the best place in Auckland
A.Pricey but delicious degustation, service was great. No cocktails unfortunately.
A.Everything from the taste, to the presentation, to the service was amazing.
P.A favourite dish: Whitebait chawanmushi
Best drinks list
Finalist, best chef: Makoto Tokuyama - Metro-Eat 2014
B.I need to go again.
Would recommend the egg with blue paua as a tasty oddity.
G.very good service, very delicious food.
B.Absolutely loved Cocoro. The food, service and atmosphere was amazing. Thank you 🙏🏼
K.Outstanding experience!! Absolutely delicious!!
t.Amazing place everything was perfect the food is to die for and the staff really do a great job
u.Absolutely wonderful eating experience, highly recommended
J.Best quality of Sushi in Auckland, booking is recommended.
J.This place is absolutely amazing.. love the food and has great service.
O.An excellent Japanese Restaurant. We had a great experience.
J.Fabulous restaurant for that special occasion - wonderful degustation menu
M.Outstanding Japanese Fine Dining - Best Japanese Degustation in Auckland
張.Very nice Japanese restaurant, brilliant sushi and sashimi
R.Great Japanese restaurant with best seafood platter.
D.Best and most original Japanese food in NZ
A.Wonderful food and great service
S.Love it!
M.Very nice and quite expensive.
E.Very nice place with friends.
B.Excellent
J.A wonderful dinner, with high service and a winelist which continues and continues.
S.good restourant. Totally recomend for everyone
R.The degustation was an exquisite experience!
A.Had a great course meal
J.Delicious Japanese food beautifully presented
o.omakase is way to eat with wine&sake pairing
I.Good food and excellent service.
G.There is nowhere I prefer to eat.
D.Yummiest food!
W.nice place，but a little bit expensive
K.Amazing good great quality great service
n.3 Hats well deserved
N.Great food and ambience
R.Great food and service
M.Wonderful degustation menu
D.Great fun and great service
S.Just delicious
B.High end, top knotch
L.Amazing
D.Authentic Japanese food
D.Superb
B.Beautiful food.
K.Amazing food
k.Exquisite Japanese
P.Amazing food
V.Set lunch *****
K.(Translated) Cocoro is the one I use to celebrate my special day. Anyway, the quality is amazing. We don't have such elaborate sashimi on the general menu anywhere in New Zealand. You can often see that they work carefully one by one. I celebrated my birthday with Cocoro for the second year in a row ♪ I can't express the excitement of cooking at Cocoro in words! It was the best ♪
(Original)
自分の特別な日を祝う時に利用させて頂いているのがCocoroさんです。とにかくクオリティが凄い。一般メニューでここまで手の込んだ刺し盛りはニュージーランドの何処でも出していません。一つ一つ丁寧に仕事をしている事が良く伺えます。2年連続で自分の誕生日はCocoroでお祝いしました♪ Cocoroでの料理の感動は言葉では言い表せません！最高でした♪
C.(Translated) I wanted to try this one before looking at the pictures! It's finally here this time!
I tried his lunch set 58 for one person.
🏮Mix green salad with market fish This salad is so-so, there is a small flower on top of ordinary salad and fish
🏮 Organic miso soup is also full of ordinary miso soup
🏮 Three varieties of market fish sashimi are sashimi of three different fish. The serving process is cool, the dry ice smoke is very atmospheric, and the fish is fresh and delicious.
🏮 Ora King Salmon and avocado roll sushi The salmon in this sushi is very tender and delicious. The only thing I don’t like is the wasabi in it. I don’t like wasabi 😢, but people who don’t mind should like it.
🏮 Deep fried crystal bay prawn Ebimayo This shrimp is delicious, and there is grapefruit sauce on the side as a garnish. I only found out after eating the whole shrimp 😂, I just dip a little grapefruit sauce to taste it, it's very delicious
🏮 market fish tempura with wasabi Mayo& match flavored Marlborough salt This fried fish is really delicious! Super delicious with matcha powder! It should be my favorite one
🏮 teriyaki shiki- tofu is delicious, but a bit salty, but my friend loves it so much
🏮 teriyaki free range chicken mini donburi I’m full when I eat this dish, I only ate the chicken, and I didn’t eat it at all 😂 I think this is more general than the previous dishes
Overall it's delicious, but it's a bit expensive, it's pretty good to try it once!
(Original)
之前看圖片就超想試這家的啦！這次終於來了！
我試了他的午餐套餐一人58。
🏮Mix green salad with market fish 這個沙拉一般般，普通沙拉跟魚上面有朵小花
🏮 Organic miso soup 也是滿普通的miso soup
🏮 Three varieties of market fish sashimi 就是三片不同魚的生魚片，上菜過程很酷，乾冰煙霧很有氣氛，魚也很新鮮很好吃
🏮 Ora King Salmon and avocado roll sushi 這個壽司裡的鮭魚很嫩很好吃，唯一我不太喜歡的就是裡面本身放了芥末，我不太喜歡芥末😢，但不介意的人應該挺喜歡的
🏮 Deep fried crystal bay prawn Ebimayo 這個蝦很好吃，旁邊還有柚子醬當裝飾，我吃完了整個蝦才發現😂，就只沾了一點柚子醬純嚐味道，挺好吃的
🏮 market fish tempura with wasabi Mayo& match flavored Marlborough salt 這道炸魚真的太好吃了！加抹茶粉超級好吃！應該是我最喜歡的一道了
🏮 teriyaki shiki- tofu 挺好吃的，就是有點鹹，但我朋友超級愛
🏮 teriyaki free range chicken mini donburi 吃到這道我已經飽了，我只把chicken 吃完了，飯都沒吃😂 我覺得跟前面的菜比起來這個就比較一般
總體而言挺好吃的，就是有點貴，試一次還是挺不錯的！
S.(Translated) This noodle, let's put it this way, I'm a person who never eats shiitake mushrooms, I don't even let the shiitake mushrooms in the noodles go, I eat them all [eat melon]
(Original)
这个面，这么说吧，我一从来不吃香菇的人，连面里面的香菇都不放过，全吃完[吃瓜]
J.(Translated) I ordered a lunch course. This volume at noon ♪ Speaking of Japanese food, there is no doubt here. The service is also perfect. Everything is delicious! ︎
(Original)
昼のコースを注文。お昼でこのボリューム♪日本の料理といえばここは間違いないです。サービスも申し分ない。全部美味しい‼︎
S.(Translated) Both the service and the dishes are not as good as before. The decoration also looks very old, probably because the beef is too raw and I still feel sick after eating it. The plum smoothie is the only highlight.
(Original)
无论是服务还是菜品都不如以前了。装修也显得很老旧，估计是牛肉太生 吃完还一直肚子不舒服。梅子冰沙是唯一亮点。
C.(Translated) A restaurant where you can enjoy Japanese hospitality while in NZ.
Incorporating local ingredients, you can enjoy cuisine unique to NZ while being Japanese.
It is a wonderful shop where you can enjoy fresh local fish.
(Original)
NZに居ながら、日本のおもてなしを堪能できるレストランです。
地元の食材を取り入れ、和食でありながらもNZならではの料理を楽しむことが出来ます、
新鮮な地元の魚を、じゅうぶんに楽しむことが出来る素敵なお店です。
C.(Translated) Wonderful experience.
I can't wait to come back to New Zealand on purpose to eat at Cocoro's.
Excellent value for money.
The fish is absolutely divine and the service impeccable.
Perfect. The best Japanese in Auckland
(Original)
Magnifique expérience.
J’ai hâte de revenir en nouvelle Zélande exprès pour aller manger chez Cocoro.
Un excellent rapport qualité prix.
Le poisson est absolument divin et le service irréprochable.
Parfait. Le meilleur japonais d’Auckland
K.(Translated) You can enjoy very delicious Japanese food. The fish purchased from various places is really fresh and delicious.
A highly recommended restaurant! !
(Original)
非常に美味しい日本食が楽しめます。様々な所から仕入れている魚は本当に新鮮で美味しいです。
大変オススメのレストランです！！
i.(Translated) The price is too expensive and there is no special place. It is well presented and the service is average. There are many optional restaurants at the same price. I will not come again.
(Original)
价格太贵 也没又特别出彩的地方 也就摆盘不错 而且服务也一般 同样价位的可选的餐馆很多 不会再来
Y.(Translated) Speaking of Japanese sushi, if you want to distinguish between genuine and fake sushi, you can find it at the "Kokoro" store!
(Original)
日本の寿司と言えば、本物と偽物を見分けるなら、”心”店に行けば分かる！
F.(Translated) The sashimi is great. The "Fruit" of the dessert is basically the red fruit smoothie.
(Original)
刺身很棒。甜点的“Fruit”基本就是红果冰沙
J.Contact
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