‘We tried to have a soft launch but … it didn’t really work,’ says chef Alfie Ingham.
Hinemoa St is the new Ponsonby Rd. It now has at least five restaurants good enough to make our annual Auckland Top 50, putting us in the awkward position of devoting 10% of
our list to an obscure street in Birkenhead. Jordan and Sarah MacDonald up the road are largely responsible, having launched three great eateries next to each other (Duo, Osteria Uno, Bon Pinard). I have a soft spot for Moxie, home of Auckland’s only beef Wellington, and now here is Agnes, a cracking new restaurant from the people who brought you Ada.
Agnes in Birkenhead is worth the journey over the bridge, even with petrol prices the way they are. Photo / Babiche Martens
To readers on the south side of the bridge, I’m sorry to again be asking you, with petrol prices the way they are, to travel this far to eat. At least you could take the ferry to last week’s pick in Devonport but Agnes is not quite so amenable to public transport. You will almost certainly end up driving but that being the case you’ll likely save money by having one less drink, like I did.
I might have struggled to fit in three drinks anyway, as things moved fast here and we were in and out in just over an hour. It wasn’t the waiter’s fault – when we finished entrees he thoughtfully asked if we’d like a break before the mains, but we were keen to plough on through. I think the speed was mostly because of how few people were dining at the restaurant that night.
“Maybe the weather put them off,” mused chef Alfie Ingham when I asked him about it on the way out. “It’s been really busy. We tried to have a soft launch but … it didn’t really work.”
I’m not surprised. Ingham is an exceptionally good chef and would be even more famous if he focused on dishes that looked good on Instagram. Instead he devotes himself to things like steak, burgers, fish pie … bistro favourites that are challenging to photograph beautifully (though I don’t doubt Viva’s legendary Babiche Martens will manage it). Luckily he is fairly beautiful himself, so he gets his fair share of media attention – if you cook fish pie and look like fish pie it’s really hard to get profiles in glossy magazines.
Agnes’ tuna crudo. Photo / Babiche Martens
So my only warning before you book is to be sure you’re in the mood for heavy food. Sure, there is a crudo, made with raw tuna and dressed in a beautiful jalapeno vinegar, dotted with capers and the odd sprig of dill adding herbaceous complexity to each bite. But baked camembert and mussel gratin are much more representative of the menu. Both sounded a bit full on for us so we ordered the Brussels sprouts as an entree – their arrival heralding the beginning of autumn and a farewell to sweetcorn and tomato salads.
Those sprouts were magnificently good. Like I said, you shouldn’t confuse Alfie’s love of the basics with a basic approach to cooking. He is a culinary engineer, exacting maximum deliciousness out of every ingredient and so the Brussels were charred, tossed in a honey mustard dressing then scattered with walnuts and crisp bacon. Sweetness works very well with this vegetable – order this dish while it’s still on the Agnes blackboard.
Ah, the blackboard. Nothing makes me happier than a chef whose daily menu has the permanence of mere chalk. It also gives you an early look at dessert options, meaning I had mentally committed to the “Basque Cheesecake with figs” a few seconds after sitting down.
The burger on the menu at Agnes. Photo / Babiche Martens
We split three mains between us, because I wanted to try chef Alfie’s fish and his steak, but also because I wouldn’t have slept that night if I hadn’t ordered the burger. I find burgers almost impossible to resist on a menu – when you’re feeling hungry they just seem such an unbelievably perfect solution – and I was so glad I gave in to my instincts here. It was an incredibly delicious assembly of familiar but exceptional ingredients: great cheese, slow cooked onions, a little sauce and a meat patty that was medium rare in the middle but dark and crunchy on the outside. I know smash burgers are a thing and no disrespect to you if you love them but if you flatten your patty that much and cook it through you really miss out on half of the experience, in my opinion. The Agnes burger is unbelievably juicy as well as tasting distinctively of the grill.
You may have seen me musing in my online Q and A over the price of steak at various establishments around Auckland. Well price-wise we have a winner here, at a total cost of $39 – at least $10 cheaper than comparable establishments. It is hanger rather than the more expensive scotch fillet but you lose nothing in terms of flavour. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that this one tastes even better – he cooks it rare but again gives you plenty of savoury browned flavour on the surface. It arrives pre-sliced, in a delicious peppercorn and cognac sauce, with a lovely bowl of hot chips on the side.
Agnes’ Basque cheesecake. Photo / Babiche Martens
If you live anywhere near Agnes you will already know about it – will perhaps have already tried it. For those further afield, it should be on your radar – as winter approaches this delicious list of rich bistro dishes will make even more sense.
Address: 98 Hinemoa St, Birkenhead
Opening hours: From 8am Monday to Sunday, dinner available Wednesday to Saturday.
From the menu: tuna crudo $30, Brussels sprouts $18, fish of the day $42, hanger steak $39, burger $28, Basque cheesecake $16
Score: 0-7 Steer clear. 8-12 Disappointing, give it a miss. 13-15 Good, give it a go. 16-18 Great, plan a visit. 19-20 Outstanding, don’t delay.
According to dining out editor Jesse Mulligan.