Annata

So great to see someone shaking up the Crows Nest scene. Greeted by the über friendly staff the atmosphere is a great blend of relaxed and attention to detail. Food was outstanding with the chef being given free reign to create lovely combinations. A degustation menu that is perfect in its balance. Seafood was fresh as could be, flavours didn’t clutter the plate but complimented each other. Wine list is comprehensive and varied. Still early on this restaurant is delivering strongly from the outset. Do yourself a favour next time you head out to dine and give Annata a try.

Had a wonderful dinner at Annata last week. It was our anniversary, so we ordered up big, with 4 small plates, 2 mains, a dessert each, plus cocktails and wine. (Expect to spend $ 200 for 2 people to do the place justice.) Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of the menu, and the menu on the website is slightly different, so I can’t name all of the dishes, but will try.
First up were the oysters with pickled black fungus. I’ve eaten plenty of oysters, but have never previously had them served this way, and it was a delicious flavour combination, the kind that makes you love oysters all over again. The other stand out for us was the duck ham from the dish with the heirloom carrots — so, so tasty! We also had a standout vegetarian dish (I think it involved cheese?) plus the prawns with corn, which was a quirky but good combination.
For mains, we had the fish dish and the pork, sharing both. I think it would have been easier to have one each, as they were difficult to share. My pick out of the two was the fish, with a superb combination of flavours. However, the next table along had the beef skirt, and it also looked excellent.
The highlight, however, was probably the dessert. I selected the passionfruit tofu, while my husband had the cherries with dark chocolate. They were very different flavour-​wise, but we each loved our choice. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from passionfruit tofu, but it was just like crème caramel in consistency, but with a strong passionfruit flavour. Loved the toasted rice, coconut and basil — such an excellent combination of flavours!
After the Belle D’Annata cocktail, I had a glass of rose and the French dessert wine. Loved the tasting notes supplied for both (skip forward to the section on wine by the bottle for most of the notes), and both were excellent choices. Would love to go back and try more of the wines — they have a very eclectic selection, just what I love.
Good luck to all the crew and thanks for a wonderful dinner!

Unexpected stop by. The name caught my attention because I heard they have incredible food and wine. They weren’t open, but Christian was setting up to prep for the night. Asked him about the food and he opened the door to tell me about it, I quickly had it on our plans by the end of our conversation. Great menu. I thanked him and asked if he had a recommendation for great coffee nearby, then he told me to take a seat and he’d make us some lattes. Incredible service, beyond friendly. Can’t wait to come for dinner. Oh and how’s the coffee? Great!

New kid on the block in Crowie. Open a week so and in we go.
Originally slated to be a bar with food, now a restaurant with apparently great drinks.
Really wanted to love it. Liked the fitout, dark and moody and tasteful, staff solicitous and generally excellent. Pre dinner martini was excellent, wine list seems wide and eclectic, menu looks very interesting if a little pricey.
Waiter suggests 5 – 6 dishes — 3 from the small plate menu (entrees) at $ 12-​$ 18, 2 from the larger dishes (mains) at $ 24-​$ 30, and maybe 1 – 2 deserts. Ouch.
So, we did. Four from the small list, one from the large and a desert.
Smalls, sashimi, artichokes and asparagus w smoked feta, parsnips and duck ham, and prawns with corn and corn butter. Main, choice of fish, chicken or beef, waiter suggested chicken ‘the best i have ever had’ so we went that, although the flathead in filo did sound nice. Desert, raspberries w stuff
But. A few buts, regrettably.
The sashimi was a little dry, although with the compressed cucumber it was served with it was v nice.
Prawns, cooked sous vide, actually a bit rare for us, but the corn and corn butter was lovely.
Artichokes, by far the tastiest dish of the evening, the smoked feta a delight, and all in all flavoursome.
Parsnips and duck ham — well, we had a problem here. Evidently the chef had substituted carrots for parsnips, since it seems the duck ham was the hero. Sorry, we wanted parsnips and the waiter didn’t mention the substitution. To be fair, when we pointed this out they deducted it from the price, so can’t complain on that front. But rather have been told and known, so no surprises.
Chicken, breast cooked in stock from the carcass, indubitably soft and tender, but frankly a little tasteless.
Desert, raspberries with honeycomb crumble (I think) and ice cream.
So, observations.
Food presentation was outstanding, as was the service. But, to our palates, it was all fairly subtle flavours. Bland even. Hate that word.
The hero of the dish should be first in the description. Twice we were told the hero was (duck ham and honeycomb) yet they were listed s secondary ingredients. Guys, sort out your menu descriptions.
Also, the venue is quite noisy. Think they might need to engage a sound guy and put some baffles around.
To be fair, first week, should improve, waiter was grateful for our feedback rather than resentful which is often the case.
We’ll be back tor another look in a month or two.