Bennelong Sydney v Ahi Auckland

Bennelong v Ahi

The cuisine

Bennelong

Lunch Magazine’s Restaurant of the Year in 2024 did not let us down. In fact, it may have improved, if that is possible.

The Peter Gilmore fine diner is a masterful experience overflowing with inspiring flavours, ingredients and exemplary service. 

To begin we tried the Western Australian marron with finger lime, cultured cream ume and accompanying buckwheat pikelets. The marron is as we remembered it – fresh, soft, succulent perfection. Kind of like the culinary version of what it must feel like to float on a cloud. Soft, delicious and with little bursts of flavour from the finger lime and creamy ume. The pikelets are delicate, superb and while they work beautifully with the marron, one wonders whether they’re even needed.

The good part though is the waitress did recommend trying a piece with and a piece without the pikelet. Expert advice, like everything at Bennelong.

For mains we went for the O’Connor Black Angus beef fillet Black Pearl and oyster mushrooms truffle purée and the Pasture raised Maremma duck cherry, blackberry, rosehip and Kampot pepper.

It’s hard to believe you could eat a better dish than the duck, with that gorgeously cooked tender duck and bursts of flavour from the cherry, blackberry and pepper. It’s even harder to believe that the better dish was at the very same restaurant and on the very same night. The beef was next level – the mushroom truffle puree insanely decadent and the Angus beef cooked far better than perfect. Potentially the dish of the year.

For dessert we went to where the restaurant has created rockstar status for itself. The Bennelong Pavlova traverses the path between food and art. The artfully floating chards of pav with the cut through of cream and passionfruit make this the ideally balanced dessert that remains on your mind long after devouring it. It’s quite simply the best dessert in Australia – if not the world.

Ahi

The Koura Rangi or poached scampi with Koji butter sauce and crispy wasabi we were informed on the menu travelled 1688km to arrive at our table. It’s a cute little way of expressing the region and distance travelled of each dish on the menu while also giving diners a feel for the huge distances involved in travelling the length of New Zealand – from Cape Reinga at the top of the North Island to Slope Point down the bottom of the South Island. Over 2000km all up.

And for the gloriously well-travelled scampi, thank goodness it did find its way to our table. Luscious scampi perfectly poached with a hit of heat from the crispy wasabi and a butter sauce that you can drink (my colleague did exactly that) this is a divine way to start a meal.

Even better again was the Wild Goat Tart from Awatere Valley (885km for what it’s worth). The braised goat shoulder with sweet and sour mustard and hot sauce was delicious. The pastry was godlike – a pastry that could have easily emerged out of any of France’s most famous Michelin-starred ovens. The delicate crumble tart shell, the softness of the goat and the hit of the mustard and sauce – yes please!

For mains we went with deer and lobster.

The lobster first. 

Koura, from Fiordland (1706km) is wood fired crayfish served with heirloom carrots and mustard butter. An absolute game changer of a dish. Lobster can be hit and miss, some days balanced and beautiful, others overcooked, overly rich and unrewarding. This was the former – a stunning dish that was beautifully conceived and even better executed.

Finally, Tia from Tapuae-O-Uenuku (580km) – wild red deer with black pudding, brussel sprouts, kohlrabi sauerkraut, smoked beetroot and cranberries. The dish we were most looking forward to, but the least satisfying in taste. The deer was cooked well, the accompaniments fine but perhaps it all tried a little too hard. The ingredients were fine, the concept good, but the eating didn’t quite match the aforementioned magnificence on display at Ahi.

For desserts we shared, (if it can be termed that as my colleague ate the lot) a banoffee pie. I understand it ate well without blowing his mind. It did look and feel a little underwhelming considering the earlier dishes. 

Summary:
The cuisine

It would be hard to ever beat Ahi’s food and it’s drastically unfair to compare excellence. But we’ll do it all the same. Ahi is stunning while Bennelong at its best is otherworldly. It’s as simple as that. 

To be fair, Bennelong has had longer to hone its brilliance, but Ahi is well and truly on the pathway to something extraordinary. 

Ratings (cuisine)
Bennelong 10/10
Ahi 9/10

Summary:
The service

Bennelong provides the highest calibre service imaginable. Every person on the floor has a role, which they execute to near perfection. They never wait for someone else; they pride themselves on offering the ultimate expertise whether that is explaining where the butter is sourced, the sommelier providing the most expert wine advice and recommendations or the waiter sharing little bits of knowledge on the ingredients. Always just enough, never too much and never condescending. Professional, expert front of house stuff. Dare I say… perfection? 

Ahi’s service is absolutely first class. Never does a drink remain unfilled, never do you have to hail down service. Water is filled, wine is topped up, additional bread is offered. It’s slick and classy service intertwined with a dose of fun and Kiwi spirit. 

Ratings (service)
Bennelong 10/10
Ahi 9/10

Summary:
The location and ambience

At Bennelong on a wild windy night in Sydney following a near 40-degree spring day, we sat starry-eyed gazing out from one of the world’s most iconic landmarks in the Sydney Opera House. Whether it’s pre-sundown when the natural beauty of the glistening waters of the harbour are incongruously matched in their beauty by the engineering marvel of Sydney Harbour Bridge, or as day turns to night and the flickering lights on the harbour and of the cityscape beyond, this is without doubt the best of what Australia can put on show. There are restaurants and then there is Bennelong. Class, sophistication and style – matched only by the main event… the extraordinary food. 

Ahi

You’d struggle to find a better view anywhere in the world that you get at Ahi. Ahi translates to fire and the whole experience at Ahi led by the remarkable executive chef Ben Bayly and his team, is memorable. The finest local produce sourced from the length and breadth of New Zealand have been toiled over and the warmth and sincerity of service from the very moment you set foot in this stunning stylish, contemporary dining room is testimony to a restaurant experience comparable to the finest anywhere in the world.

Ensconced inside Auckland’s latest retail mecca Commercial Bay, the views of the stunning (still working) Auckland Harbour as the weather ensures an ever-changing vista leaves you wondering why you would ever leave. A magical place to eat, sit and share. 

Ratings (location and ambience)
Bennelong 10/10
Ahi  9.5/10