janken

what a lovely little gem. we made a booking last minute and got a table on a friday night. for entrees, we had steamed buns with eggplant and beef tataki. then we ordered the kimono bowl and lamb steak for dinner. delicious. every single bite. we even ventured out to try their sugar free lemoncakefor dessert. overall, the food is fresh and yummy. and the staff were friendly and attentive. will be coming back again.

the best thing about eating here is the excellent service.  i really appreciated how attentive and friendly the staff were.  and the food was amazing.  we had the vegan tofu buns, the vegetable sushi and the creamy vegan hotpot.  and topped the night off with the tofu panna cotta, the green teacakeand the chocolate cake.  we had a wonderful night and can't wait to come back!

janken is great for veggos as there are tonnes of appetising vegetarian options. i found it hard to cull from my list after scanning the menu - i ended up ordering four different dishes. the eggplant entree, the green sushi roll, tofu buns (amazing) and the vegan chocolatecake(amazinger). customer service was great too. will be back!

one of our favourite japanese restaurants in auckland!
great atmosphere, the service is impeccable, we are always treated like friends coming to visit. 
the food is divine! leave room for dessert, the chocolatecakeis to die for!!! 
would recommend janken to everyone.

organised a surprise birthday party for my girlfriend, booking a table and coming in earlier to preorder and pay for the menu and have them store thecakei had bought from somewhere else (dietary problems means she has to be paleo for sweets). the manager was mostly pretty accommodating at the time, though a bit short, and rude later.

basically, i ordered $150 worth of entrees and a few sushi rolls for 6 people. i had experienced most of the food i ordered already, and it was okay for what it is, though expensive. i come from a chinese family, and eat a lot of japanese too - i don't rate this place for taste or price, but girlfriend loves it as she can eat most of it. 

anyway, the manager became snippier throughout the evening until we had finished and basically ushered my girlfriend's friends out by being brusque, brushing through us to wipe down the table, not checking how they found the experience, and being short and impatient with them at the cashier for their drinks. it wasn't very busy and it's a small, chill restaurant anyway, and her friends are very kind, mild-mannered people. 

he must have been unhappy that he would have made twice as much had we each ordered a main. so although she was really touched and they brought out thecakei didn't buy from them, and the waiter was sweet and service was quick, i wouldn't otherwise go to pay more for food that isn't any better than renkon (in my opinion) or to chance having an evening tainted by a money-faced attitude.

i am hopelessly impressed with janken. 

their small space is well utilised and beautifully presented. the waiter i had (a very kind japanese man) was incredibly attentive, happy to chat with me and went to town explaining each and every layer of the dessert (gluten free, vegan, green tea cake). he was absolutely wonderful and clearly was passionate about food and his job. 

for entree i went for the janken spicy edamame ($7.0) which was a really delicious start to the meal - just the right amount of spice to get the kick without needing to guzzle down 4 bottles of water! it was well presented, came on beautiful tableware and they'd thought ahead and provided an extra dish for the empty pods - nice touch. 

for my main course i had the shitake tofu pattie ($23.0). it was admittedly a very small portion, but the patty itself was divine and came in the most delicious broth/sauce. there was a token effort of steamed cauliflower, broccoli and carrot around the plate - that's the only thing where i would perhaps suggest improvement. something like a carrot and edamame salad would've been lovely. 

dessert was the star for me - the green teacake($14.0). the presentation was absolutely fantastic, and thecakeitself was free of animal products, gluten, and even refined sugar. the waiter explained that it was a cashew based cream which i am of course very familiar with and love. to be honest, janken pulled off vegan desserts about ten times better than any vegan cafe i've ever been to in auckland or sydney.

all food came really quickly, there wasn't even a gap between entrees and mains.

thank you janken for catering for vegans and doing a brilliant job at it! i will for sure be back. 

food - 4.5/5
service - 5/5
ambiance - 4/5

just in front of the bus stop on jervois road, janken is extremely easy to get to ( especially from uni) :d after many months of wanting to come here, i finally did with 5 other friends for their $16 lunch deal on a friday afternoon. i was surprised to see how tiny the shop actually was but the interior and layout was beautiful; especially the yellow flowers each table had that smelt so good @.@

upon sitting, we were served with water and given menus and recommendations as to what to get. although the lunch menu was extremely small ( dinner menu not available during lunch :( ), half of us opted for the crockpot chicken and the other half got the salmon x salmon bowl. our dishes came out after around 20 minute and was presented beautifully on neatly arranged trays. each meal came with a bowl of multigrain rice ( mostly white rice tho mixed with a little bit of quinoa i think it was, a cup of green tea, a small side salad that was dressed with a delicious sweet sauce, a little egg and onion salad and a small cube of cake)

crockpot chicken: 8/10: perfectly cooked and extremely flavoursome, this heartwarming broth was a good balance of sweetness and salty with a hint of teriyaki (unlike most jap places that go hectic with the sweetness). it came with two chicken thighs which were amazingly tender and moist, and a large chicken meatball as well as with some beans and carrots. for me, it was a generous amount of meat and defs worth the $16; would recommend!

salmonxsalmon bowl: although i didnt get this, i kinda wish i did as this was probably the best salmon i'd ever tasted. brimming with freshness, several pieces of salmon sashimi was laid on top of multigrain with with flaked pieces of cooked salmon; this also came with slices of avocados nomnom. 9/10: would highly recommend .

unfortunately, none of the combos came with miso soup and you had to pay extra for this, but the side salads were super yum and the little cube ofcakewas nothing to complain about ( quite flavourless tho ).

after our meals, we knew we had to try their famous healthy macrobiotic chocolatecake( $12), so between the 6 of us, we shared one haha. i was extremely impressed with the way they served it, with a white chocolate shard on top and raspberry and mint on the side; thecakeitself was beautifully rich and had a mousse like texture. this was similar to what you'd get  at lil bird in the fact that it was made out of cashew nuts, but i'd choose thiscakeany day as i thought it was perfection on a plate! really recommend sharing tho as it was quite filling after a few bites. 10/10 get the cake

janken was a really good experience overall. service was fantastic ( run by jap people), and ambience and food was amazing; definitely returning for dinner to try their infamous tofu steamed buns. well done janken :)

wow, what can i say. i came here for lunch and it well exceeded my expectations. i ordered the vegan dish they had on offer which was tofu and vegetables, and was impressed with the little condiments and side salad. then we got green tea and a piece of beautiful green teacaketo finish off with, which was a part of our meal. because they boasted having all vegan desserts, i just had to have some. i ordered the white chocolate and strawberrycakeand also the coconut icecream which came with diced fruit at the bottom. thecakewas incredible! absolutely delicious. and the interior was really up-market and had a cool, industrial vibe. i definitely recommend this place. can't wait to go back and see what they have to offer for dinner.

two of my girlfriends are gf/df and one is vegetarian so we are always on the hunt for something that can meet all our needs. we found janken after one of us googled "vegan restaurant auckland" and we're so glad we found it!

menu was clearly labelled w gf/df/veg options and held a good variety. edamame to start, and then a mixture of dishes - warming hotpots and steamed fish, alongside more common dishes such as sushi and steamed veg.

the (literal) icing on thecakewas the "macrobiotic" dessert section - gf/df/refined sugar free dessert options! my friends often don't get to have dessert when they eat out so this was a real treat - we shared the dark chocolate and white chocolate cakes - delicious, and beautifully served with a tropical compote.

service was prompt and really friendly. i'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys fresh, tasty foods but especially for those with intolerances or allergies, i think you'd find yourself well served here. arigato!

we had a great dinner at janken. the food was amazing and so healthy. really enjoyed the sushi, salmon and the delicious pork belly steamed buns, yum! the dessert was the highlight though, the chocolatecakewas the best i've ever had and the blueberrycakeso light and delicious. the staff were so lovely and friendly. cannot wait to go back!