Kazu Yakitori & Sake Bar Menu

Kazu Yakitori & Sake Bar sits upstairs on Courtenay Place in Te Aro, Wellington, a floor above the noise of the street in the historic Stewarts Building. It is run by FPCNZ, the New Zealand arm of a Japanese hospitality group with restaurants in Tokyo, Singapore and Taiwan, which also operates Katsu Tei and Kazu Sushi Go Round and describes its mission as bringing authentic Japanese food culture to this country. Kazu sets out to recreate a traditional izakaya, pairing grilled skewers with sake in a lively room, and it leans into the festive side of that idea with lanterns, matsuri inspired music and, now and then, the thunder of wadaiko drums.

The room mixes raw, industrial bones with Japanese detail. Paper lanterns hang from exposed beams above polished concrete floors, retro Japanese beer posters and ornamental fans line the walls, and a long counter wraps around the open kitchen, its well worn wooden stools giving a close view of skewers cooking over the flames. Tables along the opposite wall and out on the balcony suit larger groups, while the counter works nicely for anyone dining alone. The team frames its service around omotenashi, the Japanese idea of warm and attentive hospitality, whether guests arrive as a family, as a group of friends or to mark a special occasion.

Skewers from the grill lead the way. Chicken comes in many forms, glazed with yakitori sauce or miso, shaped into tsukune meatballs, or served as skin, gizzards and hearts, and the grill also handles beef scotch fillet with wasabi or miso sauce, chilli bacon, salmon, tuna with garlic mayo, prawn with bacon, scallops, sweet miso eggplant and mushrooms. Grilled rice balls and dango mochi round out the skewers, and mixed platters make an easy start for anyone unsure where to begin. Beyond the grill there are chicken and squid karaage, takoyaki, seafood okonomiyaki, agedashi tofu, tempura, several styles of gyoza, aburi sushi, sashimi and beef tataki.

Bigger appetites are looked after with tonkotsu ramen in plain, spicy and garlic versions, hot pot rice topped with teriyaki chicken, teriyaki salmon or pork chashu, and an eel donburi, while a separate lunch menu adds donburi, curry and salads. Seasonal specials have included a journey through Kyushu, with sesame soy kingfish inspired by Fukuoka’s goma saba and a lotus root chicken fritter modelled on Kumamoto’s karashi renkon. To drink, Sapporo and Orion pour on tap, house made shochu sodas come in fruit flavours, and sake from Kubota and Masumi to Dassai 45 can be ordered warm or cold in three sizes, alongside plum wine, shochu and Kaku whisky with soda. Dessert might be a matcha sundae with kuromitsu and kinako.

Address: Level 1, 43 Courtenay Place, Te Aro, Wellington 6011

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