When it comes to dining, Auckland’s SkyCity has had a bumper year. First, Peter Gordon’s Sugar Club opened on the 53rd floor of the Sky Tower; next, Federal Delicatessen, owned by Al Brown, opened at street level. And now, Masu, helmed by Nic Watt, has opened on Federal Street.

The vast restaurant specialises in Japanese cuisine, more specifically, robata (skewers cooked over coals on a hearth). There’s a sake and shochu bar too (masu is the name of the small wooden box in which rice was traditionally measured in Japan and in which, these days, sake is often served).

As well as chicken, lamb and Wagyu beef on the robata, Watt (who ran Japanese restaurants in London, the US and Hong Kong for many years) is serving fish – salmon and tuna tartare with house-made rice crackers, tempura yellow belly flounder with chilli ponzu, sushi and sashimi – and chocolate pudding roasted in a cedar masu.

Designed by Moller Architects, the room manages to be both upscale and earthy. “We have employed natural tactile finishes including earth walls, handmade Japanese washi paper, natural-edged granite and solid slabs of Suar wood,” explains Watt. “It’s about allowing the natural beauty of the materials to shine in their own right, just as the cuisine gives full expression to each of the ingredients in each of our dishes.”