Sidart, Ponsonby

I hadn't heard about Sidart until I saw them receive the accolade of Metro's Best New Restaurant in Auckland for 2010, early in the year.  Since then, they had been on my To Do list and for my birthday Jane booked us in for what was to be a superb meal.

Located upstairs in the dated Three Lamps Plaza in Ponsonby overlooking Auckland city, Sidart has seating for ~34 people.  Seating is not as private as some other top restaurants in Auckland, however this did not detract from the meal.

A 7 course tasting menu was on offer, of which we could order any items as entrees or mains if we desired, but we opted to go for the 7 course degustation; I also decided to go with the accompanying wines.

Each dish was prepared with love and a lot of thought.  The accompanying wines also worked well, and were generously poured.  From manuka & coffee-smoked dishes where there was a glass over the meat and the smoke released at the table to creative morsels such as crab ice-cream, soy & mirin whip and inky black parsnip puree, each dish was something special.  I was expecting a bit more molecular gastronomy but was not at all disappointed in each of the fine dishes I was presented with.

We thought there may have been an amuse bouche and possibly a palette cleanser such as a sorbet but this was not to be.

From a service perspective the wait staff were exceptional and explained each dish in immense detail including being able to answer any probing questions we had along the way.  In terms of the wine, our waiter explained the characteristics of each wine and why it was a good match.  The food arrived in a timely manner and the wait between courses was quite appropriate.

It was a magnificent meal and we will very happily return.