ANONA — Restaurant in Paris

I was invited for dinner in this restaurant. The entire experience is… hmm🤔 like visit a new trend start-up gallery, people points at an abstract painting with two lines on the paper, and told you it worths 200millons and all the main stream comments told you it’s a piece of art. If you don’t agree, it seems that’s your problem.

The menu is over-priced, the potion is extremely tiny out of your lowest expectation. The presentation is not a stunning level. The most important thing: it ‘s not delicious. There’s no layer of flavor, no complication of delicated combination of different food material, the main plat is just too salty. And guess what, they use “eco-friendly” story-telling strategy to use low-cost food material for a €135 menu: one dish is 3 pieces of different colors carrots, one dish is brocolli (with the portion served, I doubt one night did the whole kitchen even finished 1 entire carrot or one entire brocolli or not)

You may argue that it’s because I don’t understand gastronomic high level meal. However, I love food and I don’t mind if I find delicious food on street stand or in Michelin restaurant. In Paris there’re a lot of mid-level and high level gastronomic restaurant. By mid-level, I mean restaurant 6-7temps menu in €70-€80 level, and most of their plats are with a reasonable portion(still small but not tiny), and served with various seasonal food material and with complicated work, you can see the passion and thoughts of the chef, you can feel surprise when you taste every dish, you can feel from your heart that it’s delicious and it touches your soul sometimes. By high end restaurants, I mean those 6-8temps menu more than €100+, a lot of these restaurants are not only just with the food materials and complicated work I mentioned before, it also comes with the whole experience: from location, entire restaurant decoration, the unique story-telling of every dish, the ceremonial perfect service… no matter which level it is, the only important thing is, I can feel genuinely that I enjoy the food, that I feel the beauty and I get the passion the chef shared.

Unfortunately, for this restaurant, every dish served is lower than my expectation: portion, presentation, material, taste, imagination, complication… the location and decoration are also average-bistro level. The service is… well, it’s not bad, but they’re trying hard to make it cool-luxurious, as clients, we felt a bit… snob. (BTW the next day we’ve been in Regina to have dinner and the service there was also luxurious, but we felt warm, considerate and elegant. It’s very weird how we as clients can sense the difference from similar service, but that’s how we felt)

I try to be fair for all my reviews. With words you may not see the difference, so I put 3 photos of comparison below: I compare entrée/main plat/dessert from €135 menu Anona with other mid-level bistros in Paris that I tasted. To avoid ad, I don’t put any other restaurants’ name, the dishes are from different restaurants I tried. You can see easily from photos the difference of food material, cuisine complication, presentation art and price range. You can easily tell which chef is more passionate for...

My family and I were eagerly looking forward to dining at Anona, a Michelin-starred establishment reputed for its exquisite culinary creations and sustainability. However, our recent visit did not meet the high expectations.

Upon entering, the ambiance was elegant and serene, with tasteful decor that set the stage for a fine dining experience. The service was attentive.

Upon being seated, we were offered rosé champagne; however, the price was not clearly disclosed to us prior to ordering. This lack of transparency felt unexpected, especially in a setting where attention to detail is typically paramount. We ended up paying 38 € per glass.

When the dishes arrived, I was initially impressed by their artistic presentation. However, the excitement quickly faded when it came to the taste. Unfortunately, while some flavors were intriguing, others fell flat and lacked the depth I anticipated for the price. Specifically, the first few dishes that were served was underwhelming, lacking seasoning, which left me disappointed. We did the 6 courses with wine pairing. We paid 210€ for both. 251 for the whole experience. I expected a harmonious balance of flavor, creativity, and culinary prowess. Instead, it felt like the emphasis was more on form than substance. While some dishes showed potential, they ultimately missed the mark.

In conclusion, while I appreciate the ambition behind Anona, my experience left me wishing for more. For the price, I expected not only premium ingredients but also expertly balanced flavors. I may consider returning in hopes of a better experience, but I would recommend others approach with caution and perhaps consider its reputation as more of a curious culinary venture than a...

The review is in context of a one star Michelin restaurant: Although 2 courses have shown why it has a star, some other together with a totally unattentive service were too much sub par to recommend a visit. The first egg wrapped nuts in basil course was really balanced in flavors and showcased skilled preparation, one of the visits highlights. The second one with fisch, mustard and ice cream was a great combination but lacked the balance and timing of the first course. Too much mustard overshadowed the icecream which was too cold when served. The third course was asparagus with an infusion and butter sauce. Again nice combination however the emulsion of vinegar in the infusion failed and the first half were ruined by acid while later on a small sence of acidity was missing. As main course we had meagerfish with peas as one of us does not eat animals. The taseful sauce could not rescue the overcooked fish and unispired peas. The first dessert course then shined with a great combination of flavors from goat cheese, strawberries and more I can't remember. Finally we were served cocumber with a pretty tasteless kiwi, so everything left in taste was some cocumber. Except for the greeting the service was impersonal and unattentive: They spilled the floor with rests from the plates and didn't notice, so everyone was walking over it. Once I was about to refill our water (like everytime before, as noone recognised empty glasses) when one waiter saw that i was about it he took the carafe without a word out of my hand. Eye contact was largely avoided.

Finally it feels strange that a restaurant with dedication to sustainability charges 20 € for not eating meat even when announced in...