Ante is a newly opened restaurant in Newtown, focused on a good time with lots of sake and chill beats. They don’t call themselves a Japanese-fusion, but more of an experimental kitchen serving unique flavours from all around the world. They don’t accept reservations so it is a first come, first serve basis. It was $180 for the two of us.
Warning: we don’t think this food is for everyone. You need a cultured palate to really appreciate and enjoy their food.
Warning: we don’t think this food is for everyone. You need a cultured palate to really appreciate and enjoy their food.
Food
We started off with a plate of pickles. This was surprisingly different and highly addicting. The acidity made us salivate and opened up our appetite for more food. The artichoke was vibrant and sweet, not too sour, with a wet crunchy mouthfeel.
The green beans were an even better choice of vegetable. The soft outside shell retained its crispiness with minimal pickling absorption. And then we were hit with bursts of sweet vinegar from the crunchy beans inside.
The green beans were an even better choice of vegetable. The soft outside shell retained its crispiness with minimal pickling absorption. And then we were hit with bursts of sweet vinegar from the crunchy beans inside.
We were loving the A.P. Bakery sesame and fenugreek bread with kasu cultured butter. The sourdough was very good. It had a fluffy interior with a crunchy, thick crust. The seeds enhanced the aroma. The butter was light, with an enjoyable thin layer of salt on top.
This was the beef tartare, smokey almond, green olive and wow! 😍 Every bite was a umami bomb.
The wagyu was diced properly into tiny perfect squares, instead of a random mess, allowing us to appreciate the marbling of the cow. It also gave it a tender, constructed mouthfeel.
After tasting the richness of the meat, the pickled olives cut through and restarted our tastebuds. The added roasted rice was a unique twist, giving it a crunchy enjoyable texture that set this tartare apart from other restaurants.
The wagyu was diced properly into tiny perfect squares, instead of a random mess, allowing us to appreciate the marbling of the cow. It also gave it a tender, constructed mouthfeel.
After tasting the richness of the meat, the pickled olives cut through and restarted our tastebuds. The added roasted rice was a unique twist, giving it a crunchy enjoyable texture that set this tartare apart from other restaurants.
The prawn casarecce, kanzuri, clementine was absolutely delicious 🤤. It was a good blend of Mediterranean and Japanese flavours, with an umami base and some pops of floral acidity.
The prawn were soft with an intense oceanic briny taste. This was cut through nicely by the lemon squeeze. The choice of al dente casareece was great, adding dimension to the bite and retaining the savoury flavours of the sauce
The turbot, lemon, capers, crispy potatoes, nicknamed “fish and chips”, had strong flavours of tangy mustard, creamy sweet fish and salted potatoes. It reminded us a bit of McDonalds. The fish was fresh and tender, with a nice dense bounce to it. We did find some bones in the cut though. Overall it was a very smooth bite with accented pockets of salt and sourness.
Drinks
The Mannen from Kirei Shuzo in Hiroshima was a Junmai sake with 60% rice polished. It was floral; very light but complex at the same time. It started off strong but as the meal progressed, the sake became easier to drink.
Service
The service was robust. They were quick to set down our dishes. The only informative service we received was for our sake. The ambience was soothing, making it easy to get lost in the music and in our own personal conversations.
Review
It’s important to have an open mind when eating at Ante. I found that the more food we had, the more tolerable our sake became so don’t come for the food alone.
We really enjoyed our night and look forward to bringing friends back next time. It was like Mediterranean tapas meeting a Japanese bar. We loved the interesting twist in Asian and European flavours, and having a bottle of sake or two made for a great dining experience.
Thank you for reading. Happy eating! ☺️
We really enjoyed our night and look forward to bringing friends back next time. It was like Mediterranean tapas meeting a Japanese bar. We loved the interesting twist in Asian and European flavours, and having a bottle of sake or two made for a great dining experience.
Thank you for reading. Happy eating! ☺️
