Anise
"ANISE, prior to my visit, was mainly known from social media posts with beautiful influencers posing in front of crystal curtains, yet the word of mouth I heard was mostly 'not recommended' and 'haven't heard of anyone who went there on their own dime.' Still, I went, and not because I was invited. In fact, this is an opportunity to set the record straight for the restaurant. Chef Julien’s cooking is solid and assured, and the sommelier and other front-of-house staff are very dedicated. As for the ubiquitous posing for photos, everyone understands that ANISE's starting price is already the highest for Western dining in Shenzhen. It's cold at the top and lacking in accolades, so an initial investment in marketing is justifiable. However, I don’t believe the current promotion is on the right track; to some extent, it even overshadows ANISE’s essence.
What is ANISE's core? The core, or the restaurant's fundamental 'self-introduction,' is how it defines and sells itself. On ANISE’s own menu, it's written as: 'ANISE offers a complete tasting menu and drink pairing combined with relaxed and sincere service to provide an ultimate modern culinary experience to our customers.' A lengthy, meaningless statement that could apply to any high-end Western restaurant in Shenzhen, the phrasing is also quite careless.
How would customers perceive ANISE's core? I'd describe it as 'that restaurant that’s quite Robuchon but also somewhat Ducasse...' For the influencers, it's 'that restaurant with the wine-red crystal curtains that are perfect for photos...' Of course, I wonder, would Chef Julien feel his efforts were in vain upon hearing such descriptions?
The real uniqueness of ANISE actually lies in its traditional and classic feel amidst the plethora of fusion cuisines. Chef Julien, having honed his skills for six years at Robuchon and four at UV, is a chef with a genuine decade of international fine dining experience, which is already scarce in China’s Western culinary circle. The kitchen team is well-staffed with 20 people, serving single-digit numbers of diners daily (the day I went, there were only four including myself). The menu produced is indeed bona fide fine dining, aesthetic to French cuisine, not a wild mix but a set of 'classics' honed from years of practical experience. Considerable effort has also been made in pairing dishes with plates, purchasing white plates then spray painting the rims to match the color and pattern of each dish.
Yet at ANISE, this 'classic' seems to be the least valued aspect. Taking photos is more important, 'experience' is more important, tea and wine pairings are more important. All sorts of elements are piled on madly, and the dishes themselves seem to be forgotten. After all, if you stack up an unbeatable long menu of 17 dishes and 9 drinks, who remembers what they ate? If not many are truly focusing on and critiquing the food, how can there be recognition?
Who can say Shenzhen is a desert for Western dining? On the contrary, I feel that high-end Western dining in Shenzhen is moving too fast, with too much haste. A meal overfeeds customers with information, as if lacking in numerous elements or moving stories would result in no patrons. But what's the reality? The horse is panting, and the riders are weary and confused. After a four-hour dinner, it's late into the night, and digestion for sleep doesn’t come until four in the morning.
A good restaurant isn’t like this. I can’t forget the comfort felt after dining at several traditional French establishments years ago: moderate pacing, elegant chapters, works that resonate with patrons. Such affection for high-end dining has grown spontaneously over many years, occupying a long stretch of my limited age. But now I'm always tired; you ask me to judge whether a new high-end restaurant is 'good or bad,' I can't tell anymore. Different restaurants, after all, don’t vary that much, a case of changing the soup but not the medicine, and it’s harder to feel truly touched. It's all routine, without emotion.
Back to the food, high-end restaurants typically start with three appetizers at once, Julien turned them into three dishes. The menu structure is three appetizers followed by three starters (cold, hot, cold), then bread basket, followed by three seafood and three meat dishes, interspersed with a palate-cleansing dessert, ending with two desserts and a tea set, with a chocolate cake as a parting gift.
In terms of drinks, guests start at the bar with a welcome sparkling tea, followed by seven drinks of wine or tea during the meal (I chose a pairing of four wines and three teas), and finally a pot of tea with the tea set, totaling nine drinks. Pairing is mandatory, no unpaired menu is offered (though there is a price, set at 2288). My whole set came to 300
0 with service.
The first dish, Mexican corn roll, gives off a vast autumn prairie vibe, a small corn roll brings a wave of grain aroma, but tastes salty and a bit spicy.
The second, a peanut tart, a concentrated peanut butter mixed with raspberry jam, topped with an amber peanut, but lacking in nutty fragrance, so-so.
The third, a tomato symphony, a flower-shaped spiced biscuit layered with tomato slices, supposedly with three types of tomato flesh underneath, paired with clarified tomato water. A beautiful presentation, but the touted triple tomato texture isn’t distinct, lacking in acidity and sweetness.
The fourth, marinated geoduck, looks adorable like it's covered with a little milk blanket. But in reality, the buffalo milk skin has almost no milk fragrance or sweetness, instead, it highlights the high-protein milk's salty taste. Underneath are marinated geoduck meat, white acidic zucchini strips, and popping candy. But it lacks the tactile sensation inherent in marination. I also think if there had been the strong peanut oil aroma often found in raw fish salads, it would have had more of a Guangdong taste. This dish feels like it was created to integrate Guangdong elements, taking geoduck and Shunde's famous double-skin milk, but the presentation is flat, missing the essence. Additionally, because the milk skin is very thin, it breaks easily with a fork, making it difficult to eat.
The fifth, wow! Truffle, even the bowl cover and plate are printed with black truffle patterns. This dish may still have a Western form, but it already has a hint of Guangdong dim sum flavor. A thin pastry layered with another, reminiscent of Guangdong spring roll skin, with a bit of 5J ham powder and onion shreds underneath. Again, the problem is the thin pastry is not very convenient with a fork. Also, the minuscule amount of 5J ham is not worth mentioning on the menu.
The sixth, spawning flower crab, a tribute to Chef Julien’s time at Robuchon, better than the lobster jelly at the original Robuchon, but not by much. The crab jelly is quite fresh, dotted with sweet pepper spots, and piled with crab leg meat and 10-year fish roe. The upside is the noticeable freshness of the crab meat and jelly, and the symmetry of the spots. Still, it's a dish on the saltier side.
The seventh, the bread basket, contains baguette, brioche, etc., well-baked, paired with caramelized butter and tea butter; the former is a bit too sour, the latter is rather subtle.
The eighth, red and green, the shrimp claw crisps in the plate and the painted shrimp claw on top correspond. The main feature is a large Spanish red scarlet shrimp, but I think it's made too complex. The natural flavor of the shrimp is already rich, adding too many elements might be overkill. For example, the sandy cilantro cheese, shrimp shell sauce, basil sauce, lemon sauce, sweet pepper sauce, etc., are all unnecessary, more for looks than taste, but different from the complex aesthetics of traditional French cuisine, in China, 'simplicity is a form of sophistication.'
The ninth, Chris’s Secret, baked scallops wrapped in buttered bread, a dish that uses the fermentation process of bread to break down proteins in seafood into flavorful molecules. The scallops are topped with sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, etc., with bonito flake sauce. Indeed, it’s rich in flavor, but scallops aren't a very exciting ingredient.
The tenth, standing scale tilefish, possibly the tenth time I’ve had tilefish prepared this way in a restaurant in the past year, and if judged purely on the quality of the scales, it’s top-tier. Compared to other restaurants that typically pair it with fish sauce, this dish is quite original with an eggplant purée base and a layer of herbs to cut through the richness. The border is purely decorative.
The eleventh, an unprecedented pigeon egg, is indeed good, with a layer of wonton skin and perilla leaf wrapping a runny pigeon egg, paired with Parmesan foam and sautéed black truffle chunks. On its own, it might be too heavy, but when paired with that particular French yellow wine, it’s a match made in heaven, evoking a clear blue sky without a cloud in sight. But I must say, this is the only memorable pairing of the evening; the other drinks didn’t match as well.
The twelfth, crispy-skinned flower chicken, I sincerely hope Julien would do less of these thematic fusion dishes and more of what he truly excels at. I didn’t like this dish. The flower wine foam was almost tasteless, the skin wasn’t crisp, the chicken was dry and lacking in flavor, the duck liver and porcini mushrooms added heft, and while the breadcrumbs added some interest
, they were also baffling.
The thirteenth, Passionate Yakult, named somewhat nonsensically after the English name of passion fruit. It’s just a passion fruit-flavored probiotic dessert, not very memorable.
The fourteenth, Fat as Jade, a very special dish. Unlike the traditional steak for a main course in Western restaurants, this one takes a novel approach, first showing off the jade-like beef tallow, then serving the dish, which at first glance resembles a chopped pepper fish head but is actually a slow-stewed whole beef head, rich in collagen, topped with pickles, sweet peppers, etc. It also comes with a side of mashed potatoes, which has a Robuchon flavor. I acknowledge the quality of this dish, but also believe that at this point in the menu, it's just too filling and fatty; I could only eat a few bites before giving up.
The fifteenth, chilled yogurt ice cream, topped with a chocolate crisp that you break to reveal a yogurt ice cream with berries, the ice cream has a proper creamy flavor, and even for such a small dessert, the rim still has a meticulous dot of jam, well-crafted.
The sixteenth, Coffee Toffee, coffee-flavored ice cream paired with a crisp containing popping candy. How to say it, not bad, but for the main dessert position, it's too simple, feeling like the dessert part of the menu is rather weak, revolving around ice cream without any more complex structures.
Finally, the post-meal tea set, including gummy bears, cheesecake, chocolates, macarons, and a hidden wine-red bursting chocolate in a vase, served with a pot of tea.
The parting gift is a white bag with a black stripe reminiscent of Ensue, containing an Ensue-like wooden box with a piece of chocolate dessert, which tasted average. For parting gifts, I suggest not to be too similar to a nearby restaurant.
In conclusion, my assessment of ANISE is that the kitchen is solid, and rather than 'innovative' or 'delicious,' I’d prefer to describe it as 'classic' and 'composed.' Throughout the whole menu, the dishes created to blend Guangdong traits are the weakest, while the several standard French dishes showcase the restaurant's traditional elegance.
On one hand, the promotional style is too internet-famous, somewhat burying the restaurant's core and giving the impression that the core selling point is 'photogenic,' likely deterring food enthusiasts; on the other hand, the dining pace is too drawn-out. Amid the bombardment of 17 dishes, 9 drinks, various explanations, and stories, a meal contains too much quasi-relevant information, yet fails to create a very surprising experience. Dining here, I felt as if I was always on the road, very weary."
