Gion Japanese Restaurant 6-November 2009

Date: 6/11/ 2009
Name: Gion Japanese Restaurant
Address: 197 Parnell Road, Auckland
Website: http://www.gion.co.nz/
Party size: 2
Parking: You should be able to find street parking either on parnell road or on one of the side roads.
When we get seated: 8:30pm
When we left: 10:30pm

Tonight experience:
Food ordered: Omakase chef's choice ($68 per person)
The Omakase starts with 3 pre-dinner small dishes (Takuwan, Japanese plum and squid(?) wasabi), salad, miso soup, sashimi, a small dish with eel and egg. The main course consist of teriyaki chicken, tempura, salmon, oysters and rice. The dessert is ice-cream, cake and fruit. Yes, it is plenty of food and I didn't even touch the rice that come with the main course. The taste of the omakase dinner is good, but I don't see any surprises. When I ordered a omakase/ chef's choice/ tasting menu...etc, I want to taste the creativity of the chef, which unfortunately I couldn't find any in this dinner. Please don't get me wrong, the taste of everything is above average, just no surprises for me to remember. The Gion omakase dinner certainly have more food than the Ariake's omakase, but I sense more creativity and elegancy in Ariake.

Environment:
By the time we arrived there it is already 8:30pm and they have 2 tables available and most people are finishing their dinner. I can imagine they have a full house at 7pm. The environment is pretty standard, nothing stands out too much.

Biggest concern:
The biggest concern, undoubtly, is the pace they serve our set dinner. I don't know if they will be serving at the same speed if we come in at 6pm, but I feel rushed and many time they bring out new dishes before I finish the one on my table. Maybe their speed will not be such a problem if they serve smaller portions. However, with that much food I believe this dinner should be eaten in 3 hours, not 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Final comment:
Gion is definitely a top tier japanese restaurant, but compare with Ariake I found that Ariake gives more thought to their premium set dinner. If I go back to Gion, I would not order their omakase as I believe that if the chef's creativity is not there, I would prefer to pick something that tailor to my taste.