Inati restaurant — Restaurant in Christchurch

Mixed experience for us at INATI on Saturday 26 Nov 2022. On arrival there was confusion whether we could sit at a table or had to sit on barstools at the “watch the chef” bar. We would have preferred a table but weren’t given a choice. They assume that the preference is to watch the chef (on the website too), don’t assume please, we wanted to focus on the food not the show. As our space wasn’t yet cleared we were shuffled into the cocktail bar and when we had no interest in a cocktail were given a glass of luke-warm water. Not a good start. Dishes served were of variable taste to us, some absolutely great, some not so and a bit flat, lacking dimension/umami in particular. We chose the Trust Us 6 plates with wine. Started great with the cured fish, glorious taste. But couldn’t see the fuss of the duck pate/foie gras with rhubarb jam in cones with (regularly appearing) toasted seeds on top and when asked by the chef what we thought of it, we indicated that. He took offense to that and gave a petty snarky comment that wasn’t it a bit late for us to be out. Yes we have some grey hair, but what the xxx, if you can’t handle less than glowing comments don’t ask for feedback. I suppose being a Brit he is used to British people who typically don’t want to offend and don’t give honest feedback. The meat dish with the venison and “haggis boudin” sausage was glorious as was the leek dish. The broccoli stem dish suffered from poor prep with stringy bits left at the bottom. Strawberry dessert was ok.. The wines were mostly well balanced with the dishes, although the dessert wine was missed in the rush but compensated with a fortified red, which was a nice touch. Nice also to see a local Lyttleton potter being used for plates and the little pinched jug for the jus over the venison. The pinched little jug was recognisable in similar shapes in the exhibits by Cheryl Lucas on at the time at the ChCh Art Gallery. Inati is not the best restaurant in NZ in our opinion, but it is pretty good, so maybe it is a bit depending on what is in Trust Us on the day. And yes different people have different taste preferences so a chef needs to accept that. Overall our experience at a faultless Trust Us at AHI in Auckland a few weeks earlier was...

Upon entry we were greeted by a young blond lady, she seemed a little ‘moody’ like she wasn’t having a very good day. After being seated we were given menus and talked through everything and how the evening would run. We ordered the ‘ 6 course Trust the chef ‘ setting ( the chef chooses what you eat for the evening ). Our first plate was super yummy! However we found the fish a little hard to cut. Second course was my favourite, the duck parfait with jam in a house made waffle cone. It was sooo delicious I could have eaten both to myself haha, loved it so much. Third course was grilled corn with polenta & Parmesan mousse, I must say this was the best corn over ever had in my life, again super yummy and flavourful. The four course… we really didn’t enjoy it, it’s pretty much the only reason why I’m giving 4 starts and not 5. It was basically zucchini two ways, 6 slices of pickled zucchini & 1 rehydrated zucchini with a fennel type sauce (not sure what the sauce was exactly but it tasted like fennel). Didn’t really like the flavour and even for a small plate there wasn’t much there, just didn’t like it at all (not to my taste). The fifth course was PERFECTLY cooked chicken topped with truffle, with a side of green beans & I believe a chicken broth mousse. The👏 Chicken👏 Was👏 Perfect👏!! Moist, juicy, flavourful & just beautiful, as was the side. Just an absolutely delicious main course. Finally for our sixth course we had a chocolate dessert with plum & I believe it was a berry sorbet at least that’s what it tasted like haha, it was just amazing! I normally don’t like milk or dark chocolate but it was so yummy the sorbet was a perfect addition with the chocolate. We did order another dessert as well, we got the champagne, strawberries & yogurt dessert. Omg I loved it so much, it was everything and more. Definitely the best lemon curd I’ve ever had in my life. Was the perfect way to end a beautiful set course meal.

As for service, I kinda felt like our waiter was lingering a lot. Made me a tiny but uncomfortable, but once they started getting busy I didn’t feel like I was being watched the whole time. Other than that it was just a over all lovely evening & I can’t wait to come back!

Thank you...

I am by no means well-off financially; this was my first “fine dining” (for a lack of a better term) experience, and I was completely out of my element walking through those doors. I wanted to treat myself to a one and done experience.

The service at Inati is incredible. What the chefs are doing here is simply extraordinary. Being sat in front of them, getting to watch them work their magic, was part of the reason I enjoyed my time here, but the food itself is what I’m going to hold in my memory.

I already knew I was going to order the six courses and the “Boeuf Nut” before I came here, but the rest of the menu sounds really great too. I won’t pretend to know or even remember each element of each dish, but the first course was this oyster dish with some kind of savoury frozen ice. Really refreshing; a palate cleanser. Fresh. A great opener.

Every dish from then on was just as amazing, and just as fresh. A citrusy beef tartare dish with crumpets and a beef fat jam. A crab dish with risotto. A grilled oyster mushroom dish with this sweet black pepper sauce, which was by far my favourite dish. The main plate was venison prepared two ways—the fillet was cooked perfectly, and there was another, absurdly tender cut in a bowl with this cream sauce and mushroom cereal which was enjoyable to eat exactly LIKE cereal. The “Boeuf Nut” is a must buy, though, it was on another level. Sweet and savoury, indulgent.

I don’t remember the dessert, but it was a great way to end it off along with the cocktail I ordered which tasted like an alcoholic Bounty bar.

The whole time the waiters (and even the chefs!) were asking how everything was going, and even made small talk about the dishes and their experiences, which was comforting to someone who walked in shaking with nervousness. They also made sure I had water at all times. The atmosphere itself was great, the music not too loud.

I know it’s not an option for everybody, but if you CAN go to Inati, you really, truly need to go. I may not come back, but this is an experience I will remember for the rest of my...