This restaurant is located in Auckland and has the suits queuing out on the pavement for their sushi takeout menu. The owner/chef, designed the interior himself – high-ceilinged, modern and open plan – utilizing a traditional, subdued colour scheme of Japanese red and black.

Bien’s excellent sushi − customers rave about it − comes in a variety of classic combinations. And the restaurant’s buffet counter display makes selecting your sushi easy; you needn’t worry about wrapping your mouth round any diffi cult Japanese words − just wrap it around an exquisite piece of maki or nigiri-zushi. (Bien’s openness to cultural infl uences, and willingness to experiment, is evident in a recent addition to their sushi line, the “Italian Salad Roll” − made with sundried tomato, basil pesto & avocado). Bien is also reputed to have the best udon noodles in town.