Anise — Restaurant in Waitematā

Ok - I loved this experience. It was my first restaurant for my birthday week. From start to end: booking was easy. A very welcoming entry - both in physical space and friendly staff. The seating in Anise is spacious - we weren’t crammed up against other tables. The music was present but not overpowering. The vibe of Anise is ‘Accessible quality’. It’s definitely a high standard but it’s not pretentious. It’s comfortable with itself and knows itself well. Which is great. Staff? Very attentive and obviously were enjoying their work. Very focused on our comfort and happiness. Food. Oh this was good. Snacks too small to share but we managed as we both wanted to get a sense of all the flavors. The presentation of the snacks was great. Entrees: interesting list to choose from. All delicious. And really good to eat with your eyes first. Mains: we went with the market fish (gurnard) with sides of sprout salad and coconut rice. Delicious. Finished with a rice, pavlova dessert. All up, the meal itself was a delightful journey. Not heavy and overwhelming. Flavors in balance. Not too spicy - spice was there but not the feature. And a birthday surprise at the end was appreciated! Absolutely...

Great to try the latest Sid incarnation. Felt a little weird to be walking into the French Cafe at first with a minor decor change (did miss those paintings :)). It was hard to work out what the "vibe" was - its not fine dining, but its not an Asian 'bistro" either. Perhaps that's because of the history on the location? It did feel like a special occasion place to go.

The food was as expected very good. Highlights the ceviche style - fish, the wagyu beef and the fish (three sauce). The little bite size tasters to start were yum - probably the reimagined scallop wonton the favourite, though you cant beat a small bite size rendang pie ? Dessert was a bit hit and miss with the feijoa dessert just a little too bite'y (maybe fruit not quite ripe enough?) but I'm being picky!

Service was also overall very polished, though one young guy seemed very rushed to describe the dish and walk away (often mid-sentence) which was a bit funny.

All up two bottles of wine (a French Chablis and an Otago Pinot), - bites, 3 mains, 2 desserts was $640 for 4 of us. So, for the quality of food and...

We absolutely loved the food at Sid's newest restaurant 'Anise'. As expected from a chef/restaurateur of his calibre the food was excellent. The scallop wonton and crab croustard were beyond what I expected....delicious mouthfuls. The 'beef pie ' was a very moreish mouthful in the lightest of crust. Soft shell crab cooked perfectly and remained crisp even though it was on top of eggplant kasundi and cashew cream. The flavours married together well. The peppers in waffle was just the right heat. Our highlight was the main we shared.. probably because the 3 dishes we chose complimented each other so well as I guess the chef planned. Dry aged duck, shiitake mushrooms and rice with chicken skin and coriander. I'd have it again in an instant. The service was a delight.. professional yet personable. The food cost was $193 for 2 which I thought was excellent value for such great food. Thanks Anise for such a great night. PS we were seated in the courtyard and could have been at any exotic setting...