Phone: 09 394 1416
Rating out of 10: Food: 8.5 Service: 7 Value: 8 Ambience: 8.5
Lettuce doesn't usually make me lick the plate. And I didn't actually lick the plate at Amano, but we did order bread specifically to mop up the extraordinary cultured cream dressing that pooled on our plate of charred cos.
At last, a menu offering definitive proof of life beyond green beans and almonds. The "vegetables" list includes a strawberry, radish and ricotta salad and witloof with an anchovy dressing. There's a cucumber dish, asparagus and spuds, and the tomato salad comes with butter and charred bread. Yes, there's a lot of charring going on, but what's the alternative? Scorch. Burn. Cauterise. Nobody is going to order cauterised chicken, even if it is organic ($30).
Amano is a 120-seater Britomart behemoth brought to you by the group behind Ortolano, Milse, The Store, etc. It was, mostly recently, a carpark and it's been heaving since opening night.
Half of the restaurant is available for bookings. I wish we had, because despite clearly telling the waitperson we were a party of three, the offer of a seat at the bar while we waited for a table (20 minutes) came with only two chairs.