Koji is a modern Asian fusion restaurant on Majoribanks Street in Mount Victoria, up the hill on the fringe of Wellington’s central city. Chef and owner Johnon MacDonald leads the kitchen, and he and Kat Strand also run Rosella, a few doors along the same street. The frontage is understated, but inside the room turns moody and refined, with a black ceiling, glowing lantern lights and bench seating upholstered in leather and blue velvet. Big, sociable tables encourage groups to settle in, and a communal table sits alongside the main dining room, so the atmosphere stays relaxed and convivial rather than hushed, even when the cooking is serious.
The kitchen pairs classic Asian flavours with New Zealand produce, and a great deal is made in house through smoking, baking, fermenting and pickling. Ideas from Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea all turn up, and plates come in different sizes so a meal can build steadily from small bites to larger dishes shared across the table. Starters have included natural oysters with yuzu sake and green chilli pickle, tempura oysters with prik nam pla, and pie tee, the crisp little tart shells, filled with venison and star anise or with salmon, ponzu and caramelised miso. The yellow curry beef doughnut with pickled daikon is the dish reviewers single out most often.
Further along the menu, kingfish sashimi has come with truffle yuzu, bo tai chanh with coconut nuoc cham, and chicken and prawn dumplings with a strange flavour sauce and chilli oil. Broccoli roasted over charcoal with macadamia, and miso dengaku eggplant with pepita, puffed grains and nori, are vegetable dishes worth ordering for their own sake. Larger plates have included grilled kingfish with nahm jim jaew, lamb roasted on the hibachi with cumin yoghurt and doubanjiang, chicken given a red braise and a crisp skin with black vinegar and Szechuan pickles, and duck smoked over tea with sweet and sour hoisin. A Chinese red date doughnut with coconut miso butterscotch makes a fitting finish, and the chef’s menu of nine dishes, called just feed me, takes the choosing out of it.
Vegans and vegetarians have a separate menu built entirely from plants, which takes in a yellow curry jackfruit doughnut, shiitake XO san choy bow, tempura cauliflower with strange flavour sauce, and silken tofu with oyster mushrooms, black vinegar and mandarin shrub, and the kitchen will try to adapt other dishes for dietary needs. The staff are passionate about the food and quick with recommendations, and the drinks have taken in bright citrus cocktails, sake and natural wine to sit alongside the spice and smoke of the cooking. A first sitting of 90 minutes suits anyone heading on to a show or film afterwards, while the moody room makes Koji an easy choice for an anniversary dinner.
Address: 12 Majoribanks Street, Mount Victoria, Wellington 6011
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