[T2DMan]

Add your review of Charlie Whites Restaurant (Charlie Whites Bar & Brasserie) and be part of the fun . Charlie Whites used to be Anglesea Grill.

Contact Details:
147 Ponsonby Road
Ponsonby
Auckland
ph.0-9-360 5153

Very disappointing experience Sat.12 March

Tried to book through the phone : a man tells me there will probably be some room for 2 people at 8.30 pm and suddenly hangs up the phone at me, without taking any name or phone number.

Over noisy restaurant : we had to shout at each other to be heard. We had fish cakes as an entree, OK but nothing worth $14. Then as main, an angus eye fillet, well cooked but almost cold, served over 10 broad beans and a handful of tiny pieces of kumaras - $28; and a spicy "bouillabaisse" which happened to be an unspicy tomato soup, with a tiny piece of fish, a lot of fish skin (!), 3 prawns and 4 HUGE mussels, not at all a bouillabaisse, not even a fish soup. The whole thing untasty and overfeeding - $24. We did not dare to try a dessert.

Good points : a good wine list and a very smiling and helpful Maltese waitress.

Véronique.

(by T2DMan - I received this email review from Véronique 13/3/05 and posted it on her behalf)

[Flossy]

We had a great night at Charlie Whites last night. Much better than our previous 2 experiences. We were drawn to the low carb thing - that minute steak was really good - and we were sad to see it wasn't on the menu any more but apparently you can still order it at the bar.

The lighting seems to have changed for the better. Their was a good vibe in the place, the music was unknown but we all liked it - and the food was delicious.

So the new chef we were told is a guy from the French Cafe...and we thought his new menu was great. It's much more simple than the old menu and theres 2 -3 specials a day.

We started with the tempura beans - seemingly the only thing from the old menu. Delicious, crispy tempura batter and an excellent asian dipping sauce. And we shared a duck and swimmer crab salad. With a tangy chilly dressing that inspired ever taste bud in our mouths - it made us all ravenous. It could be bigger for $18.

I ordered the lamb rump served pink with olives, roasted tomatoes and baby onions. It was a melt in the mouth experience. My co-diners had the eye fillet with pistachio butter which they both claimed to be the best steak they'd had in years. We aslo ordered home cut fries which were amazing - crunchy and potatoey. YUM. And green beans with almond butter. We forced pudding in. A white rum pannacotta with a salsa of coconut, lemon and pineapple. Really good.

Service was quick, but not too quick and we too were served by a very nice maltese girl.

We'll be back.