Soto

Pride in their service and quality has made Soto one of my favourite regular restaurants.
Their current menu show cases chef ability and creativity with complimentary textures and subtle flavourings it was absolutely worth braving the cold to eat out tonight.

Excellent service with a smile, delicious and beautifully presented food. Loads of options for vegetarians and seafood lovers. The portions are not that large, but its definately quality over quantity.

I went to Soto with my team at work, which was great, because we got to spend the company dime on some really top quality Japanese (and the drinks that go with it!). Soto is tucked away on St Marys Bay Road, in behind the Belgian Beer Café monstrosity on the corner. The premises are like a little building bonsai — well manicured and well presented — and the meals are much the same. Expertly crafted by the chefs and beautifully presented by immaculate wait staff, Soto is gorgeous from top to bottom, through and through.
We’re a rackety bunch when we go out as a work team, and the night we went to Soto was no different. Cackling, yelling and clinking glasses loudly was in order on this particular evening, which can sometimes be a put-​off to other diners. Luckily on this evening, the table that was (very) close to us was also feeling the rowdy vibe and the clinking started happening across tables. While I’m not sure Soto was going for a shared dining style restaurant when the place was created, we definitely made it one!

At Soto you will experience some of the best Japanese dining Auckland has to offer.
From setting foot in the door, it is immediately obvious that the décor has been done immaculately. The service is excellent and the food even better. We had several plates to share but my favourite was the duck (a meat which I had previously fallen out of favour with). It had been cooked perfectly, so much so that it was just melting in my mouth. Another dish was the beef, which can be cooked at the table to your personal preference — complete with hot plate. Finally a dish that I have recently become a huge fan of, Karaage chicken which comes with cos lettuce, was deliciously refreshing. The meal is meant to be had so that the meat is wrapped in lettuce — something also done particularly nicely with raw fish.
The only drawback was the tables, which if at a seating of 2, are positioned within 20 cm of each other — something I don’t really appreciate when dining with my other half.