cassia restaurant

this cound be the best indianrestaurantin auckland. i don't normally eat indian cuisine, but these are really yum. food presentation is 5/5, flavour is 5/5, service is good, but should be better. staff poured water on table but didn't came to wipe it, and there's no signal in restaurant, not convenient at all.

i had the 5 course taster. my favourites from this menu were:
1) roasted carrots, cashew cream
2) lamb rump, spiced eggplant
3) scampi tail, cured kingfish
...and i can see why this is place wonrestaurantof the year! :)

only negatives i found were that the naan bread (that came with the pork belly dish) were half burnt. at the price you pay you would expect the naan bread to be better made.

price: $$$
food: 8/10
atmosphere: 7.5/10
service: 10/10
overall: 8/10

better the second time around. we had a large group so were lucky to escape the slightly louderrestaurantarea for the private dinning area. the waitress we had was fantastic gong above and beyond to explain the menu and help the vegan ,vegetarian and picky eaters to find the perfect food items to share. we didnt do the detestation which i did last time as the portions are smaller than getting a few to share. so we did this as the staff help ensure you have what you need. the food once again was faultless and we enjoyed each delicious dish between each of us . the fish was my favorite but there was so many to choose from i couldnt possibly list them all .  
reservations are a must and definitely taking on the advice of the waiters as they do not alter spice level etc either which i love but might not suit everyone

some close friends of mine bought me an e-voucher here and having won so many accolades in the metro peugeotrestaurantof the year awards, so we came for the tasting menu.

service is your usual good standard, a little slow but it was a busy night. although if we had waited any longer we would have just left. ambience is nice, i really like the design of the place. it is one of those restaurants that is very noisey. i didn't even converse with the mrs, it was that loud and when the waiters brought each dish out and explained what they were i couldn't them either so i just smiled and politely nodded every time.

in terms of food, once we got our first dish everything followed through in good times. every dish was outstanding, delightful combinations of flavours, textures and spice. i like how they didn't hold back on the heat or maybe they have but the heat was good for us, just slighty hotter than what we like, not a problem though.
great place, great food, not so great ambience. would like to come back to try other dishes on a quiter night but having tried booking here advanced so many times, i don't think they ever have quiet nights here. in saying that, that's great for them.

i have wanted to stop by for quite a while so i probably hyped it up a lot in my mind. therestaurantwas quite comfortable and not overly loud so it was easy to hold a conversation. the lights were dimmed but sufficient so you could see the food and company. the service was nice and friendly and the menu was interesting. the food was a bit of a hit and miss for me though.
i tried the achari fire cocktail and it is exactly as described as it was spicy, but it tasted like a chili sauce. i was expecting more of a mango flavour but the flavours were quite interesting with the spice. the heat mellowed at the end of the night when the ice melted.
most of the food was really nice, particularly the duck and the carrot, both being absolutely stunning. the carrot was an afterthought to get some veggies but was one of the better dishes of the night. i was expecting a bit more pronounced spice flavour in the dishes though, but it was still nice. the tandoori fish had a nice smokiness to it which i liked. the lamb kebab was also quite nice and a little spicier than the others.
i was excited for the crayfish cone but it tasted like cream cheese and i was trying to find the texture of the crayfish which i couldn't find. i'm guessing that the crayfish was made into a mousse which the cone was filled with. the biggest disappointment for me was the pork belly. the pork itself was cooked nicely but the prawn balchao that came with it was on the edge of too salty for me. it was unpleasant to eat by itself and we weren't sure if it would be possible to get more rice as it wasn't on the menu.
it is definitely a nice place for dinner and i would come back to try the other items because most of the dishes were tasty.

therestaurantis one of the best indian food places in auckland right now. the ambience is minimalistic and very comfortable. the food has flavours that i never experienced before. however, the manager was one of the most unfriendly persons i've met in my 27 years within the hospitality industry. he had an aura of entitlement to himself and was completely unsuitable for food & beverage service. i'm guessing he is the owner. if so, he should step away and better leave the service professional hands. his attitude was a huge dampener in an otherwise memorable experience.

a discreet littlerestaurantlocated on fort street. excellent ambience and a great atmosphere for an intimate dining.

the lamb chop was remarkable, well spiced and grilled to the perfect tenderness.

their garlic naan is crispy and crusty. the cocktail was quite delicious as well.

food taste: 9/10
food presentation: 9/10
service: 10/10
ambience: 9/10
value for money: 8/10

price $60 per person (excl alcohol)

this is by far my favourite indian fine dining restaurant, second time coming here and still just as good. the lamb chops and coriander cream were a crowd favourite, and all the curry mains were falling off the bone and full of flavour. service is excellent, and i love the industrial vibes of the place. that said, it is quite a loud and busyrestaurantwith seats close together- so if you are in the mood for a very quiet intimate setting this may not be the place (they do have private dining areas though)...amazing!

technically 3 stars but it loses one because it's so expensive. i was very excited to try thisrestaurant because i love indian food and being metro top 50 and all. for a highly ratedrestaurantthat you have to book 2 weeks and advance (which was actually half empty)and will set you back $200, i was expecting my mouth to be singing with flavour, but from the first mouthful i realised that would not be the case. the flavour profile of every dish i tried can only be described as unbalanced and lacking. ugghh so disappointing.

a truly unique dining experience. a winner of metro’srestaurantof the year, cassia is well-known amongst aucklanders. owned by celebrity chefs sid and chad sahrawt and managed by engaging and fun craig lovie, you are treated to a range of flavours while being humored by great service.

before diving into the dining experience, the cocktails at cassia were fantastic. particular favorites being the dragon breath, monkey sours and the spicy mosambi. in terms of food we ordered a mixture of entrees and mains. the snapper was a personal favorite fresh tasting it was a perfect contrast to the flavorsome tandoori chicken. the naan bread here has that smoky flavor and crisp on the bottom providing a great texture every bite.

overall a magnificent evening at one of auckland's premier restaurants.

if you don't like spicy food, there is a good chance you won’t like cassia.

after seeing so many glowing reviews and knowing thisrestaurantis from the same family as sidart (which is absolutely amazing) my expectations were high.

i suppose going to an indianrestaurantcomes with the implicit risk that some food will be spicy. however, as someone with a milder pallet and accustomed to either menus or waiters pointing out what food is spicy and what is not, we were caught off guard by the heat of half of our dishes — the tandori chicken main and seehk kebab entre were too hot for us! given the otherwise excellent service, if not the menu, we would expect the waiter to brief diners on the menu.

beyond the spicy food, highlights include the cocktails, an absolutely delicious carrot dish and our waiter (notwithstanding the spice issue). we note our waiter got the kitchen to make the main a little less spicy for us, which we appreciated, but cassia’s ‘ultra mild’ was still quite spicy.

the ambiance was also nice and cozy.

i saw this place while i was moving around with auckland walking tour! i saw couple of people come out from an undergroundrestaurantand this fascinated me! i booked a table for me and my guy for my birthday and i've never been so happy with indian food so far!! it's one of those places where the presentation of the food is masterchef like! :)
i fell in love with the ambience, dasha helped us run through the menu and suggested us to go for 2 starters but we ordered 3:) , one main and one desert! we had a cocktail by the side.
starters:
celeriac tart,yogurt,paneer,onion seeds: 5/5 ! loved the presentation and this just melted and with loads of flavors as soon as we gulped it:)
panipuri:5/5
we ordered 4 pieces, panipuri had spicy feeling at the end of each one and tasted perfect
seek kebab :5/5
loved the south indian touch to it and super soft! not chewy at all! well cooked and the gravy brought the best flavor to it
main:
spinach,fenugreek,paneer:5/5
we ordered this with one garlic naan. rice was by default served with the dish
paneer was freshly made, melted right away as we mixed it with rice or garlic naan.
cocktail:
la pondicherry :5/5
mandarin,gin,tamarind flavor! never had this combo ever! spectacular presentation
desert: 5/5
we went by dasha's suggestion with the desert which was pineapple,pistachio and coriander! serving was small meant for one but we were too full so we shared it between two people:)
dasha was very friendly and everyone who served us always had a smile every time we spoke to them :)

the ambiance of therestaurantis good. someone takes your jacket and the staff are friendly. the menu is limited but the food items are interesting. the taste was fine. no wow factor for me. the serving size looked small but it was enough. it's good to give it a try but i won't be in a hurry going back here. nevertheless, it was a nice first time.

therestaurantthat made me feel like i was sitting in a masterchef or my kitchen rules set.

therestaurantis hidden away in fort street (back entrance of everybody’s) and has some really great vibes giving the place a classy and vibrant ambience.

the food was delicious and very different to what you normally get at indian restaurants ~ this had a modern touch to the classics.

for entree ~ we had the lamb seekh kebab ~ which was very soft and flavoursome ~ we couldn’t get enough!! the texture of the kebab was soft, so you could easily cut it and it just melts in your mouth!

for mains ~ we had the tandoori chicken, fenugreek, lemon (one dish) with naan bread and rice.

this was the just amazing, it was just such a different type of tandoori chicken, the modern twist made it stand out so much. the flavours were just wow, the curry and chicken complimented each other so much. i have a low tolerance for spicy food ~ but this was edible for me.

the seekh kebab was $22 and the tandoori chicken was $34.

overall a great experience and i loved the modern and classy touch to therestaurantand food, plus the staff are so friendly!!

please excuse the photos. i was shaking in excitement and did not want to waste time settling the brightness or focus!

down a dingy alleyway is cassia. if you did not know it was there, you would easily walk right past it. as you enter you are greeted by the host and taken to your table. reservations are a must.

this place is auckland’s toprestaurantfor a reason. the ambience, food and service are of a very superior quality.

to start, we ordered the lamb chops, tandoori fish, fried eggplant and chicken tikka roll. the portion sizes are decent. one could easy have an entree, with a naan and still have place for dessert. the highlight had to be the sauce served with the lamb chops.

for our mains we ordered the tandoori chicken, free range pork, paneer and parsnip, and lamb seekh kebab. the ingredients used are of very high quality. please let your server know your spice level.

the portions of the mains are very large. you do not need to have a main each. the menu is designed to share and so are the portion sizes.

we shared the feijoa sorbet for dessert and only had enough place for a spoon each.

the food definitely showcases their skill. you must dine here - a perfectly balanced meal awaits you.

keep in mind that your phone service/network will be down while you are in the restaurant. focus of the food and the company you are with :) happy feasting!