Amisfield Restaurant & Cellar Door — Restaurant in South Island

I would like to give you my feedback after inviting two extremely special friends to Amisfield for the evening dining experience.

Such an exhibition of food artistry and flavours. This was such a visual experience and a fun occasion to be part of.

I had heard through various friends of the dining experience at Amisfield and thought this would be something exciting to invite my friends too.

My guests dine globally and have extensive experience of the most fine dining restaurants around the globe. I had high expectations and was excited to give them this new experience and to also see and try for myself.

This is what I/we observed and experienced as a guest/s and what my guests felt also which needs attention.

When charged the prices proposed I would expect when offered a pre dinner drink outside that we be ushered to a table appropriate for three people and if the sun is shining that naturally the waitress/waiter does not hesitate to set the umbrella up or at least offer. However instead we are asked what table we would like and were pointed to all that looked un inviting with umbrellas conveniently down for the day and were suggested a table for 8-10 people which was totally inappropriate.

We were then ushered to our table inside where the breeze was cold and blowing making one of my invited guests cold and having to ask for the doors to be closed.

An attentive wait staff member would always observe these details and ask first the guest if they are too warm or too cold however this was not at all on anyones radar.

The music was so loud that we all had such trouble hearing the wait staff explaining each dish.

My guests at one point had to ask for a napkin and then through one of the demonstrations the gas lighter/burner ran out which was so extremely embarrassing for the poor waiter/chef and myself.

Along with this I noted one of the staff shout while prepping the various foliage for the dinner and then my guests mentioned that we were getting smells blowing through our dining area alike to a food rubbish bin being opened. The smell we all experienced was of food that had gone off or rotting from the kitchen outdoor area

The outside area and the BBQ area I was shocked to see, it looks very unloved unkept and not an area I would choose to show case too high paying guests.

Noted were the various bottles with juice sauce etc were not crisp clean or in anyway presented well to the table for pouring. I expect wait staff have learned to pour elegantly and with bottles of liquid items looking like they are sharp.

To be frank as the host for my special guests I was embarrassed and felt totally let down especially as this establishment is commanding Michelin star prices.

The chef and food presentation far outweighed the surroundings and lack of leadership which is a real shame.

I question the front of house leadership accountability and consistent critique of the premises including the bathrooms.

Please ensure to make the entirety of this experience perfect for guests and please do not rest on your laurels feeling that because you have a world acclaimed chef that guests will not see the many other downfalls of your restaurant.

Finally please do not have anyone suggest they bring the eftpos machine to the table to pay as this is also embarrassing. Payment should be discrete and the “suggestion option" to pay at the table or at the counter can be offered especially when one of a party is paying for all guests.

I will in future be hesitant to encourage guests to this venue after my somewhat underwhelming experience which we were all so excited to be part of.

The wait staff were all lovely however I felt they were not being lead from the top and this is very apparent.

Thank you for the exhibition of culinary delights . The presentation of each course was interesting and fun mostly however I cannot recall one dish that left an impression on my taste...

A deeply disappointing birthday lunch experience – food aesthetics over flavour.

I travelled from Auckland to Queenstown for my birthday, looking forward to an elegant Winter Day Lunch at Amisfield. I made my booking 5 weeks in advance and had high expectations, given Amisfield’s reputation and the $240 price tag. Unfortunately, the experience was a major letdown from start to finish.

My seat was placed in a corner with strong sunlight reflecting off the table, making it difficult to relax or take photos of dishes. I did appreciate the staff offering to move me after having a few dishes, but the other table was equally exposed. I ended up adjusting my chair and sat through the meal with the sun burning my back, not ideal for a long lunch. For future reference, I suggest being more mindful of light exposure, particularly for Asian guests who culturally tend to avoid direct sun for extended periods. A simple tablecloth would also help reduce the harsh reflections.

Now the food. I don’t mean to dismiss creative cuisine. I genuinely enjoy innovative dining when it’s thoughtful and well-executed. But this meal prioritized theatrics over taste. Of the nine dishes, only the black truffle brioche and kawakawa dessert came close to being pleasant. The rest ranged from underwhelming to outright unpleasant. Many dishes leaned overly acidic; some, like the eel on Vogels, had a strange texture and lacked flavour. One course, featuring whitebait, included whole fish with visible intestines still intact, resulting in an off-putting bitter taste. I politely mentioned it to the staff, and the duty manager came over to discuss.

I expressed my disappointment honestly but respectfully. Despite the poor food experience, I made it clear I was prepared to pay the full amount. I view paying for a set menu as a matter of personal responsibility, regardless of my enjoyment.

The 9th dish，called spiker antler, looked dramatic but was hard to enjoy. It had a long pointed shape covered in bright red sauce. I took a few bites but could not finish it. The flavor was strange and the texture was unpleasant.

To be honest, the presentation reminded me of a feminine hygiene product in blood. I understand the intention may have been artistic, but it made me lose my appetite. This is not the kind of image I want to associate with food.

The final course is an extra birthday cake — was a kind gesture, as I had noted my special day in the reservation. But even that was overly sweet and poorly executed.

I was ready to pay the full bill. But the manager insisted on offering a discount. When the Efpots portal showed an amount of $215, I realized I got 10% discount.

After payment, I had a quick chat with the manager, we both talked calmly and respectfully. In short, I don’t question the skills or intentions of the kitchen. But there is a fundamental disconnect here between the restaurant’s vision and guest satisfaction. I came hoping to be delighted — instead, I left feeling let down, and honestly a little sad. I love New Zealand’s natural ingredients, and believe simple, well-balanced cooking often shines the brightest. Unfortunately, this meal felt more like performance art than nourishment.

Food should taste good first. If it doesn’t, no amount of dry ice or plating precision can make up for it.

I can only give a 1 star rate, because Google doesn’t allow any...

We highly DO NOT recommend this place. Now I know why it’s got only 4.1/5.0 on Google and I’m not surprised at all that it doesn’t have any Michelin star and not even on Michelin guide, even though they “claim” to be the top in NZ.

Creative presentation but pretty disappointing food to a point that we think they spend 90% of their effort on the presentation than the food itself, making it all gimmicky rather than creative. Food is the essence of a restaurant, isn’t it?

They also use no premium ingredients (which they claim all locally sourced) - the only “main” courses we had were 1) a quarter piece of abalone which tasted just salty and buttery and didn’t have any sophisticated flavour/seasoning at all, 2) a sandwich with some fully cooked minced/shredded lamb meats, 3) a small piece of crayfish which again tasted plainly salty and the crayfish meat was cooked too well and therefore a bit too soft (crayfish meat is already softer than lobster meat so it needs better handling). Other than these meats, all we had was some low-cost food (presented in a gimmicky way, of course). It’s totally fine to use less premium ingredients if they are carefully cooked but very disappointingly all the food we had was very mediocre.

For one of the desserts, they took us to a glass house which was indeed quite fancy but the dessert itself was just some plainly sugary sorbet…

Now to their service, it was equally disappointing and we even felt a bit disrespected. First of all, they never responded my message (email, instagram inbox) or call before my arrival. I tried contacting them at least 5 times but heard no response at all. Second, after we got seated at the restaurant, we were left at the corner table for almost half an hour with no waiting staff coming to even greet us or bring us the menu or pour us some water, literally no one spoke a word - Can we have some water?is there a menu? do we need to order anything or it’s all set and we just need to wait?

Also they reiterated a few times in their system emails that it would be an “interactive” dinner with their chef Vaughan Mabee but the reality was the chef only came out once during the whole night and only very selectively talked to people at ONE specific table, which appeared to be his VIPs. Even their waiting staff wasnt interacting much with us, let alone the chef himself. What I want to say is, it’s totally fine for the chef not to entertain each guest but then please DO NOT reiterate it in the emails, please do not reiterate things you wouldn’t do at all.

All I can say is they have done an excellent job in their marketing to lure you into visiting the restaurant (and paying!) - the pictures and videos on social media, the reservation emails reiterating how nice the experience would be (but it’s exactly the opposite in reality).

Guys, PLEASE DON’T GET FOOLED BY THIS PLACE. It’s no way worth the price, no way. For this price (3-4x more expensive than a decent restaurant in Queenstown), the experience we had there was truly disappointing, and even a little irritating. We had much better food and more attentive service with 1/4 of the price at other restaurants in Queenstown.

I rarely bother and spend time to leave reviews but this one I feel like I have to let people know so they don’t waste...