Amaru

8.25/10 on Thursday 5 December 2019. 

THE SCENE

The Walrus:  The restaurant is intimate and has a small number of well spaced out tables. We were sitting at the “Chefs table” which is effectively a small bar area off to the side of the action in the open space kitchen. Interesting design throughout. Not bad . 8/10

The Carpenter: South of the city this one was outside our typical radius - well, just a longer ride in the Uber. Oddly dropped off half a block from the front door, so one of the few occasions the Uber system has let me down a bit. A cosy restaurant with nicely sized tables, none of which we got to sit at. We were at the bar for the chef’s table - a special Christmas treat. Sadly the seats weren’t in front of the kitchen - it was off to the side. With a weird set of ceiling mounted mirrors eluded to as our private access to the world of the Chef. Sadly a long way from a special experience. And the bar stools we were on were only marginally bearable. I don’t recommend this as an option for any version of a relaxing degustation experience. 6/10

POTATIONS

W: Breaking ranks, I led with a glass of the house chardonnay to kick things off. A nice light way to start the experience.  8/10

C: For the first time in the history of 2MM I was on my own for the martini - a sensational Dasher and Fisher Ocean gin slightly dirty. An outstanding start.9.5/10

DEGUSTATION

W: We chose the larger of the two degustation menu’s on offer (the Sensory Menu) as well as the Truffle extra. The starters that they brought out (4 separate courses) were all exceptional. We even asked if we could have second serve of the Onion/Garfish dish as it was just so delicious and they accommodated at no extra cost which was a nice touch. The Walnut dim sim is also worth a mention.

The larger courses (6 separate dishes) started coming out next. The asparagus dish was amazing. Very vibrant, crunchy and refreshing. Enormous depth of flavor. The Pastrami Brined Quail with dried pineapple was also interesting. However, the Quail wasn’t as soft as you might expect (a result of the brining I would think), so be ready for that…it tasted wonderful though. The Dry Aged Pork with Blood Orange was amazing as well. Some of the tastiest pork I have ever had. Again, one slight issue was that the crackling layer on the pork didn’t so much ‘crack’ as be a little rubbery so it was difficult to cut through this bit (again, the meat underneath was beautiful and went extremely well with the Blood Orange curd).

The desserts finished of with a 3 course extravaganza which I can say that each dessert that came out was better than the last (and they were all setting a very high bar!) The stand outs were the Kiwi-Grapefruit-Coconut dish and the Goats Curd with Satsuma to finish off. The last dish seems to be their signature dish which is presented as a deconstructed cheesecake (doesnt look like it but the combined taste of all on the plate hits a home run!).

Other than the two minor issues with the Quail and Pork, a truly original degustation menu. 9.5/10

C:  The degustation menu - ahhh. We opted for the truffle kicker - always a tough call when the food is expected to be so good anyway, but it certainly made it’s mark…..will get to that.

The opening palate cleanser, helpful as I arrived a little late and was still on the martini when the appetisers started, was a lovely light and chilled infusion of wild Australian aromatics. Remarkably crisp. I went back to that little cup often as I polished off the Dasher & Fisher!

The four appetisers were outstanding. The onion and garfish was served on the perfect crunchy toastette - perfectly crisped to balance the flavor and texture. So good we were sent another one (probably the best benefit of being there at the chef “table”). Smoked duck ham, smoked eel and a walnut dim sim were all delicate flavors beautifully presented.

At this stage I’m sitting around a 10/10

There was a very tasty sourdough that we enjoyed with some house butter.

Still hovering around 9.5/10

Then into three mains that let the house down.

The brined quail was tough (I suspect it’s meant to be) and not particularly tasty or exciting.

The Sweetbreads were about as good as you could hope for sweetbreads - probably a habit after being at Vue de Monde before starting this restaurant, but I don’t particularly see the point. Helped immensely by a massive slathering of truffle. Yum. Didn’t change that sweetbread flavor/texture…

And then the Pork - the actual pork was delicate and very tasty, especially with the blood orange mustard sauce. BUT the crackling was anything but - it was extremely chewy and took an honest effort to saw through with sturdy knife. It really ruined this one for me.

At this point the mains have taken me off the coming back list - I’m down at the 6/10 region, despite a lavish serve of truffle on the sweetbreads.

And then the desserts started rolling in.

First came the sweet potato icecream - served with crunchy cocao on the walls of the bowl and with several layers of flavor and texture going on it was sensational.

Next came the grapefruit and coconut - yet more textures and flavours and complexity. An engineering marvel with curds and creams and gels. Just outstanding

And finally a gilded goats curd that on its own is overpowering, but when eaten with a balance of the mango and lemon myrtle is out of this world.

The desserts are sitting at a 10/10.

So overall I land on an 8.5/10, but it’s a little deceiving.

STICKY

W: Nothing on the night.

C:. No sticky for me on this one.

SERVICE

W: The service was outstanding. Staff were attentive and also knew when to leave us to our own devices.   9.5/10

C: The service was extremely good - we were well engaged throughout the evening, served when we needed to be and given exactly the right time between courses. 9/10

OVERALL

W: Worth a visit for a special occasion. Impressively put together dishes.  9/10

C: I’m unimpressed by the bar experience at this one and don’t recommend it. I was also underwhelmed by the three main dishes in the degustation menu - they were anchored on either end by an outstanding lineup of appetisers and desserts, but those mains just left me disappointed. I’m sure there are some cracking mains on the a la carte menu but for my money I won’t be going back. 7.5/10

THE CAP

W: No cap on the night.

C: No cap for the Christmas breakup.