Mariko Japan is a Japanese restaurant at B/1 Greenwich Way in Unsworth Heights, on Auckland's North Shore, holding a strong 4.9 Google rating from its diners. A good Japanese restaurant lives or dies on freshness and restraint: fish for sushi and sashimi must be impeccably kept, and the rice, seasoned with the right balance of vinegar, sugar and salt, matters as much as what sits on it. A short menu of dishes done properly is usually a better sign than a laminated book of everything, and the day's specials written on a board are where regulars look first. If the tempura arrives light and grease-free and the miso tastes of proper dashi, the kitchen cares about the details. A rating as high as Mariko Japan's, in a quiet North Shore suburb, suggests exactly that kind of care is being noticed by Unsworth Heights locals, for whom it is a handy stop whenever the mood for Japanese food strikes.