sidart

the discovery menu (15 servings) was a special dining experience, a wild play on tastes and textures.

sidart presents as a restaurant that is adventurous and innovative with flavor combinations, offering delightful surprises - it's nothing you've ever tasted before.

i have to mention that their desserts are incredibly unique. parsnip ice-cream with dark chocolate cystals, white chocolate and elderflower mousse or something was a bomb of sweet goodness. second to that, i couldn't be more obsessed with their freeze-dried mango, coconut, passionfruit sorbet and ice cream. strangest of them all was the parmesan ice cream with poached pear and garlic wafer, which turned out to be surprisingly good mixing sweet and savory notes.

slightly disappointed by the apple and onion course, but the rest were astounding, where the john dory and beef were absolute stand outs. if pedantic, i'd say it would be better to be seated further away from the kitchen if you're bothered by greasy cooking odor waffling over in your direction.

all in all, sidart is a winner of first-class service, having a neat dining environment accompanied by a goregous view of auckland city and the sky tower. of course i would like to go back and try their next creative menu.

my partner and i booked months in advance for the tuesday test kitchen. we don't often go to fine dining restaurants so this was a big deal for us. it is a very nice setting but it all seemed a bit detached and impersonal.

the food was creative but only a couple of the main courses were stand outs, which included lamb and pork. the two dessert courses were a disappointment as they were both sorbet based with lots of different textures but lacked flavour.

the staff were competent but not friendly and our server was constantly changing, which was confusing. the restaurant was cold which meant we kept our coats on and couldn't feel 100% comfortable. if you like creative, fancy food then this is the place for you but we will be sticking to simpler fare in the future.

great food, excellent serviceand great location with a beautiful view of the cbd. it's a shame the tuesday test kitchen degustation menu will increase in price soon from $80 to $95... so we thought we will go once more before that~~

had dinner on a tuesday for more exploratory degustation . such a nice spot and we got a great seat by the window looking over the city. and great friendly staff very knowledgeable and friendly to chat to throughout the meal which put me at ease as some fine dining places are a bit off putting for me. the menu was really varied great quality food we had some standout trials with great food and one or two not so great but i put this purely down to the tuesday try it out kind of menu and would come back as the feedback was taken in and had great discussions with the waiter on things we liked and didnt ,we will be back again

this place truly makes my heart sing, i don't think i have enough positive words to explain how incredible it is!! seriously highly recommended. you have to book in advance, but it's definitely worth the wait. the staff are highly knowledgeable and the chefs are really good at catering for dietary requirements. i'm dairy free and they were extremely catering, my mind was blown with every meal. we did the tuesday night tasting menu and were so impressed, especially that we weren't actually hungry afterwards! my dad had a bit of plastic in one of his meals and the staff were recently apologetic and very professional. really grateful that this place exists :)

i went to sidart for my birthday dinner and it was exactly what i expected and more! i'm no stranger to tasting menus and gourmet prix fixe menus and i have to say the discovery menu at sidart at the moment, is flawless. i was expecting not to like 1 or 2 things off the menu because i am not a huge sea food fan. however, they noted my preference and altered one of the dishes to be "less fishy". the outcome was great. i loved everything i ate from start to finish. all the dishes are clearly well thought out and have a great mix of flavors and textures. i can't even name a favorite although the duck dish was absolutely perfect. the service was amazing and the ambiance is fancy without being intimidating. i will definitely be going back 💯👌🏻!

amazing. not perfect, but still amazing. so let's start with the good things - great service and food wait was fast. the waiters/waitresses were all friendly and professional. we had a personal waiter who served our food and introduced each dish. we went on a tuesday night so we had the testing menu, a six course with a few appetizers/snacks at the beginning for $80. if you compare the portion sizes with other restaurants and their prices then it's probably totally not worth it. but this is sidart and it's different and you can't compare it so yes, it was totally absolutely worth it and i would definitely go again. i ordered a lemon lime and bitters to begin with, i've had better but it was still really good. their first few snacks and appetizers were mostly delicious, except for one lychee one, but i personally don't really like lychee so that's not their fault. the first few courses also all cleverly had a hint of sourness to it, to leave you wanting more food. then the main was a lamb shoulder with some kind of mushroom, coconut sprinkling and some other ingredients. that was probably the best lamb i've ever had in my entire life, not exaggerating. i've had a lot of lamb and it even beats lamb that have had in overseas places. it was soft, tender, texture perfect, flavour perfect with the authentic lamb flavour not being too strong or too little and the seasoning was perfect, and the combination with the side sauces and complimentary ingredients was almost perfect too (i didn't like the coconut but again, that's just a personal preference). i was really amazed at the weird and wonderful and absolutely delicious flavour combinations that they produced. flavours that you would never think of. it's like you don't know what exactly you're eating, but it has all these hints of different tastes and together it's just one delicious explosion. however the last course was a tiny disappointment, they ended with an ice cream with caramel, pumpkin seeds and ice and some other ingredients. it kinda tasted like popcorn, not sure if that was their intention but it was a kind of strange way to end the meal. i would've liked maybe a hot dessert, like cake or something, as the previous one was a cold dessert too. i was also a little bit disappointed by the presentation. don't get me wrong it was still superbly presented, but in a way that you would expect at any fine dining restaurant. i was recommended here by my mother who kept going on about how beautifully it was presented, i've seen images of the food designed with art to the next level, and plus the name of the restaurant kind of suggests this too. but i didn't quite get the wow factor of this artistic presentation. still though, it was a marvelous experience, and i highly recommend going, at least once in your lifetime but i would definitely return.

great service and food. especially loved the chefs table. quite expensive for the average person but it's wonderful. the wine is fantastic! love it heaps. do visit

creative, refined and interesting degustation in a tucked away little restaurant down the alley & up the stairs, off trendy main st ponsonby. unexpectedly the back of the restaurant overlooks the auckland city skyline too with large open french doors. unexpected twists with textures and flavours in the courses makes the whole menu delicious. great value for a degustation of this caliber.

i would say the food was pretty amazing. i can't really find many proper molecular gastronomy dining in auckland. sidart is one of the place that might be close enough to those michelin restaurants. my favorite dish from sidart was their parmesan ice cream and the coconut beef. which reminds me a lot of sumatran food. i wish they can do more with the place. it's cozy but it doesn't really pair with the food.

located humbly in ponsonby, sidart overlooks the city skyline. once you step afoot into the restaurant, you simply forget everything. it is such a surreal feeling; forgetting where you are and that you just walked along some everyday, not so fancy street to a boastfully beautiful restaurant. in no ways is the interiors extensively lavish. just simple and beautiful to match its three hatted appraisal , yet somewhat comforting too. there is a sense of closeness, and home. there is integrity; something that i had wondered would be lost at a high end restaurant.

for drinks, dad had a glass of red - pinotage, while i decided to try the herbalist - a perfect blend of bombay sapphire gin, benedictine, cointreau and apple. the alcohol was subtle, and there were fresh nuances from citric flavours to waken the palette. later in the evening, i had the fresh passion mocktail. the passionfruit provided played forte on the taste buds, while the mint combination was quite rejuvenating.

the typical bread and butter was served before our courses began, but not with your average butter. from memory - a sourdough rye with butter using fig leaves. the butter was nice and smooth and spread easily on to the bread. the flavours were well balanced; the crust however a little too hard.

science art & food.

this contemporary dining type has been out for some time. but not many auckland restaurants can perfect it.

perfect location, amazing tasting food, decent size set course, friendly staff.

environment: 5/5
food quality: 5/5
food quantity: 5/5
service: 5/5
price: $80-$120pp

came by for the friday 5 course lunch menu for an end of year lunch. although the room was very formal the atmosphere was very relaxed so it was really easy to just sit back and enjoy the up coming meal.

the fantastic service was coupled with fantastic food. each course had its own range of tastes and textures with each having their own unique flavours. my favourite plate was the cured salmon with the sorrel granita and squid ink bread.

at $50 for the 5 courses it was well worth the price.

very happy with this place, first time dining here with my family for a dinner. ambiance is lovely and we were seated quickly (booking is recommended) staff were very attentive and provided us with wonderful service. food wise very good and excellent quality and flavours.keep the good work

can't comprehend the fuss is all about. we had 7 course meal with interesting range of food. although the service was great they took little time to explain(rushing), the food was absolute bland. we had macadamia dish, there was neither hint of nutty flavor nor complexity. duck dish - all we could taste was salt and a bit of gourmet cream and you would expect some kind of flavours swimming in your mouth, just cream. beef fillet, medium rare was perfect and that's it, again bland no flavors infused. we had a shot of kefir and mushroom soup, this was the best of all. kale dried chips - not even close to clooney's. deserts were fine, 2/3 deserts were a citrus blast in the mouth. all in all visual presentation of food, staff reception were very good. place was a bit compact with a nice view to skytower, although the room was smoky as we entered which was from the kitchen obviously. it was definitely an experience nonethless