\u2018We tried to have a soft launch but … it didn\u2019t really work,\u2019 says chef Alfie Ingham.<\/p>\n
\n 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
\n 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\u2019s only beef Wellington, and now here is Agnes, a cracking new restaurant from the people who brought you Ada.\n <\/p>\n
Agnes in Birkenhead is worth the journey over the bridge, even with petrol prices the way they are. Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
To readers on the south side of the bridge, I\u2019m 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\u2019s 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\u2019ll likely save money by having one less drink, like I did. <\/p>\n
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\u2019t the waiter\u2019s fault \u2013 when we finished entrees he thoughtfully asked if we\u2019d 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe the weather put them off,\u201d mused chef Alfie Ingham when I asked him about it on the way out. \u201cIt\u2019s been really busy. We tried to have a soft launch but … it didn\u2019t really work.\u201d <\/p>\n
I\u2019m 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 \u2026 bistro favourites that are challenging to photograph beautifully (though I don\u2019t doubt Viva\u2019s legendary Babiche Martens will manage it). Luckily he is fairly beautiful himself, so he gets his fair share of media attention \u2013 if you cook fish pie and look like fish pie it\u2019s really hard to get profiles in glossy magazines. <\/p>\n
Agnes’ tuna crudo. Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
So my only warning before you book is to be sure you\u2019re 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 \u2013 their arrival heralding the beginning of autumn and a farewell to sweetcorn and tomato salads. <\/p>\n
Those sprouts were magnificently good. Like I said, you shouldn\u2019t confuse Alfie\u2019s 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 \u2013 order this dish while it\u2019s still on the Agnes blackboard. <\/p>\n
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 \u201cBasque Cheesecake with figs\u201d a few seconds after sitting down. <\/p>\n
The burger on the menu at Agnes. Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
We split three mains between us, because I wanted to try chef Alfie\u2019s fish and his steak, but also because I wouldn\u2019t have slept that night if I hadn\u2019t ordered the burger. I find burgers almost impossible to resist on a menu \u2013 when you\u2019re feeling hungry they just seem such an unbelievably perfect solution \u2013 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. <\/p>\n