we came with very high expectations and guess what? onemata exceeded all our expectations in every single aspect.
apart from the rather odd entrance from the hotel side (you feel that you are entering from the back of the restaurant), the moment you are greeted, seated and served, to the presentation, quality and flavour of all the dishes, the whole experience was consistently outstanding.
this restaurant places a very strong focus on representing the diversity of culture and the high quality ingredients nz has to offer, and it did not disappoint. all dishes are made to share, and even though this is not a 'traditional' fine dining venue, this is not really a problem for us. authenticity may restrict creativity, and what they have to offer here is simply remarkable.
for drinks we ordered cocktail #4 and a mocktail "like a margarita" - the cocktail is very creative and the mocktail was simply pleasant. both were definitely a positive surprise and paved the way for what was going to be a great night out.
for starters we ordered the cauliflower caponata and the 'curd' - octopus. cauliflower caponata may appear humble but the freshness of the dish was unquestionable - it was literally flavour explosion. the octopus is cooked in an extremely interesting way. traditionally they are either grilled, charred or boiled for salads however whatever they did here turned the octopus into something that'll almost melt in your mouth. unbelievable, in a good way.
for the mains, we ordered a bavette steak from the hearth oven with hasselback potatoes and the paua risotto. bavette steak is certainly interesting as we haven't really seen them served alot but the meat was cooked to perfection, is lean and very tender. the potatoes albeit slightly too salty to our looking, was crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. the paua risotto is certainly the highlight here - it's served with a 60 mins onsen egg that's meant to be broken and mixed with the risotto. serving risotto with an onsen egg to some may be sacrilege to risotto purist but this is exactly the beauty of new world fusion cuisine. the end result, oh boy, this is surely one of the best risotto i've ever had, right up there with those we've had in italy. period.
for dessert we ordered the honey thymecakeand a goat cheese sponge (cheese)cake. the coffee sorbet and the chocolate ganache served with the honey thymecakecompliments each other very well for a dessert that's more 'substantial' in profile. whereas my personal favourite is definitely the goat cheese spongecakewith keffir lime served with milk sorbet. this is very refreshing and although personally i'm a fan of strong goat cheese, the flavour here is very balanced, even, and refreshing. we have absolutely no qualms with any of them.
in summary, everything was cooked to absolute perfection.
this is no regular hotel restaurant. this restaurant is right up there and will be a disruptor to what is already a bustling f&b scene, and is definitely a rightful challenger to the more entrenched establishment here.
well done onemata, and well done to all the crews involved!