Zen E Private Kitchen

Reviews

1. Juanita R. Vallejo ★★★★★

   I had a wonderful dining experience at Zen E Private Kitchen. The food is incredibly authentic — beautifully balanced flavours from Northern and Southern China — and every dish feels crafted with real skill and care. What really stands out is the shared dining style. Sitting around the round table, passing dishes and enjoying everything together creates such a warm, connected atmosphere. It’s the perfect place for celebrating with friends, family, or even work groups. The private dining rooms and elegant spaces make the whole experience feel extra special, and the service was attentive and welcoming throughout. If you’re looking for somewhere to enjoy meaningful moments over amazing food, Zen E is an exceptional choice. Highly recommend!

   almost 6 months ago
2. Bing Ong ★★★★★

   We booked through first table and the food were so delicious and generous portion. Lovely ambiance and private seating area. The guy who served us was so friendly and explained to us the food that we were not familiar with. Highly recommended and we will definitely be back to try some more of their amazing menu.

   almost 7 months ago
3. Nischal Gurung ★★★★★

   I booked through First Table (50 % off) and was a bit sceptical after reading mixed reviews, but I’m so glad we went! The place is beautiful, and the lady who looked after us was lovely—super friendly and helpful with recommendations. Yes, live fish and seafood aren’t included in the discount, but everything else on the menu was, and the variety was great. Food portions are generous, so don’t over-order like we did! The truffle fried rice, pork buns, and sea urchin egg soup were standouts. Service was great, food was delicious, and honestly it’s worth dining here—First Table or not.

   almost 7 months ago

1. Keith C ★★☆☆☆

   This might be the worst Chinese restaurant I’ve tried in Auckland. The food is overpriced and portions are small. The cold dishes tasted like they had been sitting around for days, either bland or overly greasy. One dish took so long that after we had already finished everything else, I asked the staff to just cancel it — but they immediately brought it out, lukewarm, as if it had just been reheated in a microwave. Honestly, it’s been a long time since I had such a disappointing dining experience. Definitely not recommended.

   almost 8 months ago
2. Mona Boon ★★★★★

   We enjoyed the food and environment while we were there. Big menu selection, food was very good and the plating was nice. We loved the plum juice in a jug. They were short staff and gave us a plate of dessert while we were waiting- a nice gesture. Some dishes required booking in advance. Overall, worth it especially with First Table booking.

   almost 10 months ago
3. Tracy Huynh ★★★☆☆

   Quite a different chinese restaurant...some different dishes to try and nicely presented. However weird things for me were paying $12 for pot of tea (2 zealong teabags) given no other basic complimentary tea. We didn't enjoy the Peking duck as had high expectations...while beautifully presented felt like half the duck was missing?! Soup was not nice. I won't be rushing back but other dishes looked interesting so might give it a second chance!

   almost 2 years ago

1. Siyin Wang ★★★☆☆

   Waited a while before being given the menu. Dishes arrived in a timely manner. Theres curtains around each table you can pull shut for privacy. Ordered 4 dishes: 1. Peking duck- skin quite thick and easily torn, not enough sauce given, quantity of duck small...pretty sure they took out half or its a tiny little duck! 2. Eggplant- tasty and interesting preparation 3. Steamed egg custard with sea urchin - tasty but because the ratio of egg vs sea urchin/crab tomalley was out of balance about half the dish had no flavour where there wasn't any sea urchin or tomalley. 4. Fried lamb with cumin and flapjack - tasty Would have given 4 stars but when I realized they charged $3 for extra sauce for the duck, I was quite annoyed. Firstly they should have given enough sauce that I wouldn't have needed extra, secondly they should have advised beforehand there was extra charge, third they should have absorbed the cost as they charged so much for the dish anyway. Even though this a small issue but it irked me. Take home message: don't order the duck.

   almost 3 years ago
2. Catherine Yung ★★★★☆

   Atmosphere - this restaurant has a great ambience, nice decorations and is very clean. If you want to make your dining experience more private you can pull down the curtains. Service - most staff were very polite and helpful. Food was served quite quickly. Food - beautifully presented. Our favourite was the boneless duck feet, sliced pork knuckle and the golden fried shrimp balls. The boneless duck feet is a cold dish, perfectly marinated (not too salty or spicy). The boneless duck feet’s texture was and nice and crunchy. Slice pork knuckle was nice and tender, it came with scallion pancake, so for those thinking of ordering another set of scallion pancake, think twice . Also, the pork knuckle has a longer preparation time. The golden fried shrimp ball is yummy! The shrimp is huge, and cooked perfectly. The shrimp is coated in mayo and then coated with crispy coating. The coating just melts in your mouth. The Peking duck was average. While the duck itself is ok, the whole dish was let down by the pancakes wrappers. Perhaps I am use to very original thin pancake wrappers that you get elsewhere. The pancake wrappers were thick, they stuck together and some become broken when trying to separate them. The duck soup (second course) for the Peking duck was delicious! Will be back to try more dishes!

   almost 3 years ago
3. Julia Tsang ★★★★☆

   Service is lacking a bit as staff seems too busy to take our order or top up the teapot. But I did appreciate the staff who took our order that we might be ordering too much. Otherwise, selection on the menu is good food is decently nice.

   almost 3 years ago

1. Grace Peng ★★★★★

   this restaurant was surprisingly good! don’t know why the rating is low, much better than Huami! the food portions are large and very tasty! very friendly staff and great service. the ambiance of the restaurant is very relaxing and visually pleasing.

   almost 3 years ago

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