Gengy's Restaurant on Broadway Ave in Rotorua is the local branch of the New Zealand Mongolian barbecue chain, where you pick your own raw ingredients and watch them cooked in front of you. It holds a 4.3 rating from 745 Google reviews, with the all-you-can-eat format, pancakes and birthday groups among the most-mentioned favourites.
At a Mongolian barbecue, the trick is in the bowl: sliced meats, seafood and vegetables, then your own mix of sauces and oils, all handed over for a fast, theatrical stir-fry. Go easy on the sauces on the first round and you can go bolder with the next. Kitchens of this kind wind down before closing time, so arriving early means the fullest spread and an unhurried meal. Freshness of the spread, and how often it is restocked, tells you most of what you need to know.
For a birthday dinner or a relaxed night out in Rotorua, Gengy's on Broadway Ave fits the bill.