Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:36a.m.
By Charlotte Purdy
I was recommended this restaurant by my sister who sent me a text saying she’d found the new French Café. Wow, a big call for a place only open two weeks.
I gathered up three friends who were prepared to pay the $200pp menu tasting with matching wines. The nine course tasting is the only option on a Saturday night, ($120 without wines) but on other nights it caters a la carte. One friend is English and, true to form, he’s rather prone to a moan so I knew if anyone could help me review by finding the smallest flaw it would be him.
SidArt is found at the back of the small, somewhat ghastly, Three Lamps Mall on Ponsonby Rd. Perhaps the owner, Sid Sahrawat (previously from The Grove), knows that people will always find fine food even if it is in a peculiar place. The start to this culinary excursion is the secret sliding door which reveals an intimate and luxurious room overlooking a great city view.
The great thing about the tasting menu is you don’t have to decide what to eat. I have to go into detail about the food because frankly the food is very detailed; in fact this is the signature of the restaurant. Each dish was small but perfectly formed and included gems like turmeric mousse, oxtail with celeriac and smoked foam. Here’s a quick sample.
Cured Salmon with liquorice, avocado, puffed barley and rice, crumbled gurnard.Confit pork belly, quail breast, smoked parsnip puree, smoked foam.Ostrich, eggplant, coriander and sesame foam.
Beef fillet, oxtail with celeriac, slice of espresso pannacotta and burnt hay. Roquefort cheesecake with redwine jelly.
The chefs combine different ingredients and flavours to achieve optimum taste, texture and presentation. It’s modern, intricate and delicate. And it’s not just the food that is detailed, the service was too. Our maitre d’ knew everything we needed her to know including great descriptions of the (mostly European) wines all served with a down to earth manner.
I found it hard to fault SidArt but the Englishman did have a few grumbles;
‘F*#king foam for fricken Rome’.
I suspect some of the more finicky foods were too convoluted for his liking.
‘Desert’s a bit bloody bland’.
Ok the deserts were a little bland but by now our incredibly indulged palates were overworked by all the complex tastes.
‘What the f*#k is burnt hay’?
An original idea but we sussed it was dried olive.
The truth is there’s not a lot to criticise about SidArt, unless you do not like the style of molecular gastronomy. For some people the food may be too fussy but for me it was a great adventure.
SidArt Restaurant
Level 1, 3 Lamps Plaza
283 Ponsonby road
Ponsonby
Auckland
Ph:3602122. Fax 3602125
Open Tues – Sat for dinner and Thurs - Fri for lunch.
