Sakimoto

Good location but poor service. Food just ok. We were hoping for a nice Asian/japanese fair but not impressed. We were seated at a dirty table and had to ask for it to be wiped down. Waitress barely spoke English and asked us to check off on a menu what we wanted. Before our food came out they asked if we wanted to order anything else because the kitchen was closing! This was at 8:45 pm! We both ordered Japanese fried rice with teriyaki chicken. There was barely any chicken... do not recommend.

We stumbled upon this place while walking through Christchurch late one evening, looking for some dinner. Even though they were closing, they squeezed us in and we had the most amazing teriyaki chicken and steak dinner. Food was hot and fresh, the steak melted in your mouth, and the flavors were delightful!

Wonderful service. I would recommend for a great dinner.

This is the most ridiculous place. Went yesterday to eat but was told they are fully booked and to come back. So I made the reservation with the lady for tomorrow who took my information was really looking forward to eating there. But when I went to the yesterday today, I was told there was no reservation on their books. She remembered took it my reservation but she didn't enter it on there system. We were supposed to be in Auckland but was rerouted to Christchurch because the Auckland airport being flooded and not accepting incoming flights. Needless to say I was very pissed off.

I'm glad she told me to go find other restaurants. Thank God! I found Casa Publica and found what a treasure the restaurant is.

A fantastic find in Christchurch, this small place was always very busy so it would be worth booking beforehand. However, we managed to get a table without trouble on the 2 nights we ate here.

The ordering system is a little quirky - you have to tick your selections on an order form, which the server then takes to the kitchen. I suppose it avoids any linguistic problems with the menu items, but it did seem a little strange.

The food was obviously freshly-prepared and very tasty. Prices are very reasonable too. Thumbs up from us!

An affordable Japanese restaurant with a wide variety of options!

Located just a minute from our hotel, Sakimoto marks itself as a tapas-style bistro with dishes of small to medium size. While it sounds like an izakaya, it's more like a hodgepodge of Japanese cuisine, with options ranging from ramen and udon to sushi, teriyaki chicken, and even pork belly. The restaurant is closed on Sundays, and the kitchen closes at 9. Service is prompt, though we shouldn't have heeded the waiter's recommendation to order more food because the portions are more medium to large size in my mind.

We ordered the $16.50 spicy chicken kara-age, which came with 6 or 7 large pieces of lightly floured chicken thigh. It is truly mildly spicy, as well as tender and juicy inside. They forgot to serve us the Kewpie mayo, but it was tasty as it was. Recommended!

We also got the $15 teriyaki chicken, which is strips of pan-fried chicken thigh with teriyaki sauce, served with a small lettuce salad. The flavor is good, chicken is juicy, but the presentation was pretty messy...and I usually don't comment on presentation for not-super-high-class places.

Lastly, we got the $14 sashimi assortment, which comes with 6 slices of Akaroa salmon and 8+ small slices of whitefish (perhaps sea bream?). It comes with a side of ponzu jelly, which is very interesting! The fish itself is decent, and the portion is generous for the price, but I could taste the freezer in the salmon--it ain't no fresh Mt. Cook alpine salmon, that's for sure.

$3 for a small bowl of white rice, and $2.50 for a very small bowl of miso soup.

Remember, the portions are decently-sized, so don't order too much!

We got the chirashi bowl and the tataki roll. I love the fish in NZ that I've had so far, it is fresh. That's really all I need. The roll was interesting, the ginger flavor was kind of strong for me, but the beef was really good.

Unassuming place, solid food.

A good place for eating and talking, the sashimi is not bad, but sushi is a little disappointed, as the rice is a little bit loose. After all, I will recommend it.

This is a great choice for Japanese food in Christchurch. The food is tapas-style with lots of small plates for sharing. All of our selections were delicious - agedashi tofu, salmon sashimi, chicken & avocado sushi, grilled fish and grilled eggplant. It was very reasonably priced and BYO is a bonus. The staff were very friendly and the food came out quickly. It's a popular spot so if you do't have a reservation, come early or you might not get a table.

I happened to be staying at Hotel 115, which is just next door to Sakimoto. For convenience, I went there for dinner on my second night in Christchurch. I would probably have gone there the first night, too, if they were open a little earlier. The prices are very reasonable for sashimi dishes. Coming from the States, this type of dishes are usually more expensive. The quality is very good, too. The ambiance of the restaurant is nice enough for dinner dates. I expected the sashimi to be very fresh, and it was. I particularly liked the Grilled Chicken with Yuzu Pepper Sauce. The chicken was so moist. I was shocked! I guess I didn't expect it to be so good. I ordered the tempura ice cream, which was okay, but the plum wine jelly was the real star. It had a touch of alcohol in it which was just small enough for me not to get a bad reaction. I am extremely sensitive to alcohol.

I went back there again 2 nights later for dinner after returning from Lake Tekapo. I was surprised the waitress remembered me as she greeted me, "Nice seeing you again."

I wished their hours were a little longer though. I would have gone there on the first night except I thought they were closed. On another day, I tried going there for lunch, and they had just turned the sign from open to close as I stepped off the Tram. They closed 5 minutes early for lunch.

Nice enough little Japanese restaurant with friendly staff, to be fair I could probably go another half a star in their rating though they are missing the mark just a little to be a four star place.

You fill out you order form for what you want to eat which is probably my one gripe, there is no further description for the dishes not their size!

Once you place your order the food proceeds to come out quickly and freshly, it was all well made, however again the food is placed down with no explanation for what it is...

They were very reasonable priced for the quality though they could engage the customers just a little more to get the satisfaction up.