truckloads of dollars have been poured into setting up this japanese place in auckland cbd, and the effect is generous. high ceilings open up a commodious dining space in the centre of the restaurant, like a large medieval court. the restaurant's title reflects in the spartan airy esthetic, deliberating eschewing prettiness and using lots of provincial-style wood.
the menu is packed with numerous items, titling more towards casual eats rather than elaborate presentations. some dishes are an absolute joy, whereas many others are ho-hum. service by young japanese ladies can be decent when the crowd is thin, but as its gets busier , they seem newly hatched from the izakaya nursery, perambulating in their kimonos, perhaps lacking the time and certainly missing the savoir faire to pamper their patrons.
industry zen plays its best game with sashimi, as in the fatty sashimi platter($28. flat-out wonderful presentation and beautiful colours seduce you much before the tasting, with a long catamaran-like platter over which wooden boxes obliquely flow, decked with glistening maple leaves and jewel-like garnishes. there's lean tuna, subtly brilliant, almost like watermelon, but with an unmistakeable marine undertug that distinguishes its identity. creamy lushness oozes from the beautiful orange of salmon striped with fat. and there's kingfish, sashimi-grade no doubt but with a little fishy sharpness, more intrinsic than extrinsic, the only one of the trio that significantly benefitted from the counterpoint of soy sauce.
jumbo prawns ($14) are excellently crunchy and very tender but the desired delicate, infinitely haunting flavour is stymied by the pre-applied sauces. chicken katsu (excellently rendered here) by itself is teenager grub, and drizzling sauces on it makes it toddler cuisine. the nice waitress briefly checked my permission before thoroughly drizzling mustard and teriyaki sauce on that resplendent expanse ($20) , and i regretted not having the sense to ask her to limit those unholy anointments on just one half of the golden hide.
the menu had changed subtly yet significantly on the second visit. the previous one sported interesting sections like "seasonal specials" , "the tofu", "the blue fin tuna" , "the bigger bites". the new one, though it retained most of the dishes, jettisoned this episodic flavour and lumped most of them into more generic sections, shoving the narration style closer to a mass-market izakaya.
tako-wasabi, pegged at $6 had predictably had a sharp wasabi nip no doubt, but the crashing downer was the cold octopus cut up into little pieces, still having a crispy bite, alas sporting zero flavour aside from that alien wasabi. agedashi tofu ($9) looked like large luscious scallops, the tofu voluptuously slippery soft, its exterior roasted to a pleasant crisp, nestling in an umami-forward soy broth bolstered by bonito flakes. "hokkaido scallops with yum yum sauce" ($24) were doused in unremarkable mayo-based spiced sauces which alas danced in vain around the main ingredient that lacked luscious sweet flesh.
zen industry ultimately offers limited treasure to the patron looking for cultured japanese fare of elaborate proportions. there's no omakase either. what you do find are small eats offered in two dozen other innocuously "ambitioned" japanese joints in the city. i entered expecting some true japanese quiddity, while eventually discovering only more overseas pusillanimity. (2.75/5 = close to good) more pics @upnworld