They say fine dining is dying, but if that’s true, no one has told Kazuya Yamauchi. With a hushed quiet, white tablecloths, gloved waiters and a warm towel on arrival, Eden Terrace restaurant Kazuya leans right into the traditions of fine dining, but its full commitment to the genre is, funnily enough, what makes the whole thing so different from what other restaurants in Auckland are doing right now.

Despite all the formalities, Kazuya thankfully doesn’t feel stuffy or awkward. Thoughtful table staging gives all diners a veneer of privacy, creating an intimacy that makes it an obvious choice for special anniversaries. Service is deliberate, efficient and a little bit charming: at the end

of the night, chef Yamauchi will spot you getting up to

pay and shuffle over to the door, where he’ll open it, thank you, and hand over a little goodbye gift (a palm-sized bag of biscuits).

What else you’ll be eating here isn’t traditional Japanese fare, but rather a fusion of European and Japanese flavours. There’s a delicacy and thoughtful restraint to the dishes, with appealing textures (yes, there’s foam), particularly in the aptly named “texture” course, which is an arrangement of 30 seasonal vegetables we don’t think has ever been off the menu. There’s also an option to upgrade to the premium dégustation, where dishes will have ingredients swapped out for premium versions (say Japanese Wagyu, crayfish or caviar).