amisfield bistro & cellar door

fantastic service, warm fire, trust the chef and a bottle of their rkv 2008 pinot noir summed the place up for us. if warm enough, it is a great location to sit outside and have a few wines in the country air.

the best part of having trust the chef is not knowing what is going to turn up at the table. if you do want the pork however whisper in the waiters hear.

we will be heading back.

delicious food! could not recommend more. best food we have had since arriving in queenstown almost a week ago. did read a few reviews on here before coming so we were dubious but the staff were lovely and friendly. we had the three course trust the chef and did not mind not having an a la carte menu. it was nice to leave it up to someone else to choose for a change. if you're looking for an average kind of meal with meat and five veg don't come here, but if you're looking for excellent dishes with outstanding flavours give it a go. oh and the presentation of the dishes was like art on a plate.

the service was horrible. we called ahead and they said to come through but when we did they refused to seat us inside or outside despite the empty tables. the host was very rude and was judging us based on age and looks. will not recommend to anyone as it was an insulting experience.

not worth your time. pretty views, ruined by some of the worst service i have ever experienced. very lazy and un-accomodating staff, refused to move us inside because he said he “couldn’t be bothered clearing and re-setting up a table despite the fact that it started raining and we were outside. did not ask if we wanted drink top ups, refused to give us a meal menu, honestly waste of time and waste of money, read the google reviews on this place and they will suggest better places to go.

all round a fantastic experience. a lovely setting and a really professional set up.

having no menu is a bit random for me, this is a set menu where you don’t know even what is coming “trust the chef” which is fun but u might get a dish you just don’t eat as it’s not something u like.

but the food was all super fresh and tasty. a few dishes lacked a bit of punch but the 2 fish dishes were tasty, and a huge lamb leg to finish of was one of the best bits of lamb i have ever had, that was 11/10. another highlight was the bread with a lamb butter spread. amazing the lamb flavor it had

over rated. don't know how to manage booking

service, wines, atmosphere, architecture all amazing and is the reason i made my rating a 4, rather then a 3.

we got the 3course set menu for lunch, we weren’t that hungry and thought we’d go the smaller course. matching wines to pair with.

all portions are small! snack was a sweet potato biscuit which was ok but nothing amazing. first course - bread and asparagus/oyster leaf soup. the soup was quit tasty and bread served with lamb fat butter. all was good but i really feel like the bread was just there to fill us up.
second course - blue cod in cray fish sauce. the taste in this dish were too overpowering! everything seemed to clash and overpower the cod.

final dish - duck. the duck was cooked to perfection with crunchy skin. the sauce (which i cannot remember what it was) was revolting. it taste like spiralina or something.

matching wines were good. though when we did our tasting we picked different.

i’d go back and give it another try if i was to come back to queenstown. as i said everything else was perfect.

while the wines were delicious and the location is well positioned next to hayes lake the staffs delivery of the wine tasting (nz$10) was sub par. passion lackin!

a beautiful restaurant vineyard located in arrowtown. amazing interior, elegant and spacious great for intimate dining.

ordered trust the chef tasting menu. excellent techniques with in-season local ingredients. the venison was nicely flavored, with yummy truffle sprinkled on top. the abalone was fresh and tender, dipped in abalone juice, maximizing its flavor. loved the tri-set canapés, nice in taste with beautiful presentations.

the main dish was a duck, excellently cooked, firm but tender, matching fairly well with the orange sauce. the caramelized kumara with quite innovative for dessert.

the 2007 pinot noir was one of the best red wines i’ve had. fruity and light bodied, super easy to drink.

service was great too. the waiter/waitress was attentive and knowledgeable.

slightly pricey compared to degustations in auckland. but definitely worthy of the visit.

food: 9/10
food presentation: 9/10
service: 9/10
location: 7/10
ambience: 10/10
price $140 per person excl alcohol

the set menu was creative, delicious and eye opening~~
the service,ambience and wine was great
highly recommended! would definitely return if i'm back in arrowtown

freaking love this place. the food is awesome, they have a great drinks list and the view is to die for. we come here every year when we visit queenstown and have never been disappointed. they have a trust the chef menu and it is awesome!

best part was the pinot noir however it’s far cheaper to buy from the cellar door. would highly recommend it though. yeah yum. i had the vegan 3 course degustation and personally found it to be a collection of vegetables with olive oil all over them. maybe this just isn’t my thing

go for the wine, but definitely do not stay for the food.

front of house was a bit pompous, the rest of the staff were generally friendly.

the food was absolutely nothing special, every meal we have had in queenstown / wanaka over the past week has been better. including hole in the wall type cafes. the price you are paying does not match up to the food that is being served. ($140 pp, 8 course dinner)

to much “thought” has gone into the presentation, silly stories about the food and not enough into the actual taste.

our waitress would repeat a script she had probably been fed by the chef that was completely absurd each time a dish was brought out. a block of charred butter was placed on a plate with a group of rocks, the waitress said that one of those rocks was actually a piece of butter. she suggested we might try to figure out which one was butter by gently tapping on each rock. it was extremely obvious what “rock” was in fact butter, it felt like some absurd type of theatre. every time a dish came out some other anecdote went with it, it always felt like they were trying to hard.

amisfield might have had an excellent restaurant from looking at the reviews, but it is definitely not one now.

new zealand. we’re a young country. it would be fair to say that for most of our existence, we’ve hung our culinary hat upon cuisines from other cultures and lands – british, french, asian. we’ve fought over who invented the pavlova, whether marmite is better than vegemite and which three veg should accompany the meat. things are changing rapidly, however, with a group of passionate chefs and restauranteurs working feverishly to change the way we see new zealand food and ingredients. at the pointy end of that charge is chef vaughan mabee of queenstown’s amisfield bistro. with renown forager peter langlands at his side, vaughan is creating a symphony of sublime dishes that showcase native new zealand ingredients in ways this country has been missing.

came here for a lunch with a party of 9. we had wine tasting first which was complimentary when ordering a meal, otherwise it's $10 per person for 5 samples. for the meal we ordered the 3 course set meal with wine pairing. there was 2 additional taster courses and 4 wines in total. the meal was excellent. we were all very satisfied at the end. the wines were very nice too. the main highlight was the roast lamb, absolutely superb.

we also ordered the dessert surprise, which was a delicious souffle.

the atmosphere was good and the staff excellent. the weather was perfect, which always helps. we enjoyed a game of petanque at the end and strolled the grounds.

all in all an excellent experience and i will definitely be back.