Annisa

Delicious food and romantic ambiance; expensive but worth it; smaller than usual appetizer portions; great service
Must haves:
Grapefruit gin gimlet
Foie gras dumplings
Barbecued Squid
Fried oysters
Pork Belly Confit
Beignets

I had the 7 course tasting menu, this was my experience
amuse — chicken moose, tasty well made
first course — raw fish — oily fish with a smokey glaze, it was okay, i’d call it the bacon of the ocean
foie gras soup dumpling — this was good but it could have been so much better, the dumpling did not hold much soup, and could have used a lot more foie gras
2 fish courses — some of the best tasting food of my life
port belly — the flavor profile was very out of place and it stood out, it is only rememberable by how much it failed
cheese course — very nice
dessert — some of the worst dessert of my life
taste of chocolate — death by chocolate, it was not tasty, not the shot, moose, I hope it wasn’t supposed to be a brownie or lava cake
beignets?! I dont think so, not pillowy, overly crisp, huge disappointment
service was excellent, but I would only go back for the fish!
And you need a new pastry chef, really disappointing desserts

I really wanted to like this restaurant. The restaurant is small, with a pleasant peaceful ambience. We sat in a nice corner booth. The restaurant has more mature diners, not a young scene. The service was underwhelming. We had been sitting for 15 minutes without a peep from our server. We had to hail someone down to take our drink orders, and ended up placing our food order at the same time concerned we would have to put up with another long wait. The fried oyster appetizer was tasty, I liked the cooked foie gras on top of the dumplings, more than the actual dumpling. Chicken entrée was solid and the sable with the tofu was light and tasty. People raved about the bread pudding. I thought if was ok. Food was good but not amazing. Given the underwhelming service, I wouldn’t jump at the chance to come back.

Anniversary dinner. The 5 course tasting was awesome. Music in the dining room was ideal — nice but restrained, and the atmosphere was great for conversation. Service was outstanding — attentive without being obsequious, casual without being excessively familiar, smart, informative, and helpful.

Everything from food to service was great. We had the 5 course and I had a ginger vodka cocktail which was not sweet and really good. My favorites were the foie gras with dumpling, which I could have eaten a whole plate of, the steak tartare and the rabbit duo. Both desserts were amazing… the beignets had some kind of syrupy filling and the bread pudding had this amazing consistency and was really good with the lemon curd… which I could have eaten a whole bowl of. I would love to come back to try other dishes… its a shame this place isn’t in SF.

Just had a disappointing meal at Annisa.
(A note: The restaurant has joined the trend in eliminating tip for servers. When the credit card bill comes out, there is no line to add gratuity.)
Tonight, the service was a hodge-​podge of people placing drinks and dishes in front of us, then taking them away. There was no one designated server. Instead, we had 6 different ‘servers,’ many of them dressed differently from one another. The end result was an extremely impersonal experience, with no one checking in to ask how the food was, or whether we needed anything else. Very different from Annisa in the past, which had faultless service, really.
The food was disappointing as well. I used to love Annisa because the food was so damn consistent. Today, it was over-​seasoned, too salty.
It’s too bad. I hope it’s an aberration and not a trend.

The maitre’d who was at the desk turned us off immediately. 5 of the 6 of us arrived and he went into a long explanation on how they don’t normally seat a table until everyone has arrived but he would make a special exception… don’t do me any favors… so we said we would wait at the bar and have a drink since there was plenty of room. Immediately when we sat down the bartender left. The porter had finally kindly offered to help! As mentioned wine by the glass extremely limited. When we sat we then waited at least another 15 minutes for our wine to be delivered. The maitre’d/sommelier was the same sour annoyed man.
We did the tasting menu which is aptly described in other reviews except our amuse was one note.
The food service was spot on except after desert where we had dirty dishes all over our table. This time the wine arrived so late we cancelled it and had an after dinner drink which annoyed our maitre’d even more and he even argued with us miputtering something about the «process» and grabbed up the glasses.
Such a shame as we all loved the food and the food service was impeccable with one small hiccup but not sure I would go back due to the service… is this proof the tip included gives your bad/​arrogant European service…

Overall, a very good experience.
I had several friends from Connecticut visiting the city last month (3÷14÷16), and they were interested in trying a tasting menu for dinner. I have been meaning to go to Annisa for quite some time so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Luckily, I was able to make a reservation via OpenTable with relative ease given the timing of our meal (early on a Monday).
The dining room features classy table settings and décor. Although the space is not large, there was ample room between tables resulting in an intimate atmosphere rather than feeling overcrowded. Service was excellent throughout the meal. The waiters did a nice job of surveying my group for dietary restrictions and preferences in order to customize courses as necessary. They also demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the food and wine menus for the evening.
The food was pleasant. We ordered the seven course chef’s tasting menu (note — the entire table must participate for tasting menus). There was good variety between the courses. Some notable dishes included the sea bream sashimi, seared foie gras dumplings, and miso marinated sable with crispy silken tofu. We were provided four to five desserts to share among the group. I enjoyed them all, especially the pecan and salted butterscotch beignets with bourbon milk ice.
I recommend coming here for dinner regardless of whether you choose to enjoy the food a la carte or through one of the restaurant’s tasting menus.

3.5 stars for food, rounding up for ambiance.
Great dining space — upscale zen — great for two person parties and large groups at the same time.
From start (amuse) to finish (beignets) the food was great. The bourbon ice milk was amazing (can I just order this as a cocktail, please?!).
The famed foie dumplings: BF noted it was a bit one-​note with the hoisin-​sauce overpowering the palate. The piece of foie on top was perfectly executed though and the dumpling itself had a good texture.
The Mackerel was a touch overcooked but the fried milk was solid. The Korean chili sauce was a nice kick (again, BF said he thought this too was overpowering) but with some careful fork-​work on my part, I kept the sauce to a minimum in each bite.
Wine list by the glass is pretty limited. Wine list by the bottle looked good, but with two people having vastly different vino preferences, we were forced to order by the glass.
Service was good but not great (had to ask about bringing water for the table) and server spoke ever so quietly, almost a whisper.

I was pretty disappointed with this restaurant to be totally honest. My boyfriend took me for Easter and as we’re total foodies, I had very high expectations. The place itself is small and intimate which I liked. I did like the ambiance, romantic, quiet and comfortable. The waiter came over and asked us if we were interested in a cocktail or some wine. I looked at their cocktail menu which was rather limited and asked him if they could make a Pisco Sour; he said they couldn’t make that cocktail, but he would have the bartender come up with something using egg whites (my favorite). The cocktail was good, I believe it was a whiskey sour with egg whites. They then came over and gave us both a cold roll. Really? Not that I[’m all about bread, but that’s all you can do? My boyfriend then opened the wine menu, which was very very selective and we went with an unoaked Chardonnay. We decided the five course tasting menu.
I have been to many restaurant with tasting menus, some places you get more food than others, this restaurant gave you very little. First course was the Sea Bream Sashimi with beats, bonito and Shisho. Very small dish, came with a piece of seaweed and gummy like beets I’ve never had before. Very Asian style salad. My boyfriend liked it. I wasn’t a fan. Too fishy and the unique combination of flavors did nothing for me. To add to that, the waitress who came over to describe the dish (and every fish thereafter, seemed absolutely miserable, maybe she was upset she was working on a holiday, not sure. She never smiled or acted the least bit happy. I digress. For the second dish we both had the seared frois gras with soup dumplings and Jicama. One dumpling with a small piece of frois gras on top. The soup dumpling was good, great flavor combination, this was probably my favorite dish. 3^rd course for me was Miso Marinated Sable with crispy silken tofu in a bonito broth. I really liked the crispy tofu, that was tasty. The fish itself was rather bland, white fish, little crispy on top in a light sauce. I wasn’t impressed. Course 4 was Grilled Bluefish Wrapped in Grape Leaves with Black Chickpeas and Lemon Anchovy Vinaigrette. The concept was interesting. I’ve never had a fish wrapped in crispy grape leaves. The lemon anchovy sauce was light and a bit sweet, it did pair fairly well with the crispy grape leaf flavor. For desert they gave me Poppyseed Bread and Butter Pudding with Meyer Lemon Curd. I don’t necessarily think high end restaurant when I think of Bread and Butter Pudding, it seems like a cheap desert. It was tasty though. The bread did pair really well with the lemon sauce. Fair enough. Taking another glance at the desert menu now, it’s rather limited and nothing really excites me, so bread pudding was likely the best option.
Overall, I thought the place could have been better. I’m thankful we did the tasting menu because $ 50 for my fish dishes is absolutely absurd. Probably my least favorite high end restaurant my boyfriend has ever taken me too. Aside from the bread pudding desert, I would have left starving.

Yum! I was saving this up for a special occasion, and an anniversary dinner seemed like the perfect opportunity. We came here on a rainy Wednesday night, so while OpenTable made it seem like there weren’t tables available available, I think any walk-​ins would have been sat immediately. Like every other review says, this is a quiet, intimate place with great, efficient, and professional service. The table was cleared between every meal and specific silverware was provided, and every dish was explained carefully (down to a recommendation of how to rest the silverware on the plate so they wouldn’t fall into the bowl).
We decided to go A La Carte and got 2 apps and 2 entrees:
1) Beef Tartare — fine, but didn’t stand out. I could have used another chip. The 2 sauces were good compliments to the tartare. But, I wouldn’t get this again.
2) Seared Foie Gras with Soup Dumplings — I agonized over ordering this dish because I don’t agree with the typical «farmed» method of harvesting foie gras (a quick Google search will reveal what I’m talking about), so I asked the waiter where they purchased their Foie Gras. He said it was from Hudson Valley Foie Gras. A quick search revealed a farm that raised their fowl ethically and «cage-​free», so that made me feel better about ordering the one dish that everyone raves about. So I got it, and my partner was so happy I did. It’s just as good as everyone says! [However, I did later read some negative reviews about the farm so… meh. It truly is a wonderful dish though — the foie gras plus the salty soup is a really great pairing. The dumpling skin itself is a little thicker than real dumplings, but that didn’t take too much away from the dish.
3) Roasted Chicken — Great! Moist meat and crunchy skin. I wasn’t a huge fan of the pigs feet sauce (though I do love pigs feet!) but my partner enjoyed it very much.
4) Miso Marinated Sable — My favorite part of this dish was the bonito broth, which was a salty, miso-​y broth with a bunch of roe! It added a extra layer of flavor to the sable, which had perfectly roasted skin, and the crispy tofu. This was a salty-​sweet dish all around.
The amuse bouche and palate cleansers were very nice touches! I liked how these dishes aren’t trying so hard to be Asian Fusion; they are just very solidly executed dishes. 4 stars only because I’m not dying to go back. But this is worth putting on every MUST TRY list.

From the time you walk in, to the time you walk out, everything is perfect. That even goes right down to the bread and butter you get with your dinner. We ordered the five course and every dish was an absolute delight.
Do not miss out on the famous duck soup dumplings.

So sad to write this but I’ve been a few times now and have found that Annisa only shines when Chef Anita Lo is there. The nights when I’ve spotted her in the kitchen, the food has been truly exceptional.
But after a pretty mediocre experience the other night without her present, I can no longer stand by my old 5 star review… The sashimi was too salty, rabbit dry, and those foie gras soup dumplings that I once dreamed about, were average at best.

KenScale: 9.0÷10
Among my top NYC restaurants, Annisa is always there, as evidenced by the fact that it is one of those places I keep going (no less frequently than at least once a year). How can you not love the dishes from chef Anita Lo? They are sophisticated without being stuffy, and the level of execution is always superb.
I revisited recently in a group of three and had an opportunity to sample a lot of new dishes while also savoring the old classics that I very much loved. The famous seared foie gras with soup dumplings is still one of the best appetizers in the city, and my friend fell in love with it so much that he ordered another dish (consisting of three pieces). Scallop and uni sashimi, despite its promise, didn’t come out as well as I had expected, but the fried oysters with cucumber, fennel and yogurt were very delightful, and the steak tartare with bulgur, cinnamon and a sesame tofu sauce was one of the better ones I’ve had recently, with outstanding texture and delicate balance of flavor. I’ve had the signature miso marinated sable with crispy silken tofu in a bonito broth multiple times now, and this dish still deserves more praise. The impeccable texture of the fish combined with the aromatic broth is still a winning formula that will make me keep coming to Annisa. Duck with foie gras and pickled verjus grape toast was another nice discovery among new dishes that I’ve tried, as was the olive oil poached arctic char with black olives and fig-​sumac purée. For dessert, a tasting of chocolate and malted desserts was as delightful as I had remembered, and the assortment of ice cream and sorbet, as well as roasted pineapple with pink peppercorn, pandanus ice cream and rice paper were also flavorful without being overly sweet.
The restaurant is still hard to secure reservations, so always booking in advance is a good idea. A lot of things change in New York dining scene, so it’s always satisfying to know that there are some wonderful institutions that do not change and still churn out excellent dishes with consistency and continuity like Annisa does. I sincerely hope it sticks around for a long time.

Every time I meet up with A and Z, i know that a good meal is gonna happen. When they announced that they were coming to visit me in NYC, it was the perfect time to try the soup dumplings… with foie gras. These foie gras dumplings were reputed to be so delicious that a friend was able to persuade her vegetarian girlfriend to break habit and cave in… but only for these dumplings.
The funny part is that we get there and the foie gras dumplings are not even our favorite part of the meal! Blame high expectations and maybe my cheap taste buds for the soup dumplings at Joe’s.
However, lessons of the evening…
The best way to navigate the Annisa experience is to come here with your foodie friends aka people who really enjoy fine dining. Order a couple of appetizers, entrees, and desserts to split. Do not order the tasting menu unless your party is less than 3 people.
Pass on the gnocco. Those maitake mushrooms may fight cancer and HIV, but I still prefer my home cooked oyster mushrooms sautéed in butter and salt and pepper.
Do order the sablefish. One bite is all it took to realize that this was the best bite of fish that I have ever had in my entire life. I’m serious.
You must order the lemon poppyseed bread pudding. The waitress told us that it was her favorite and after one bite, it was mine as well. The lemon curd is on point and it’s sacrilegious to say this, but Annisa’s bread pudding is better than my mama’s. It’s crispy, it’s soft, it’s savory, it’s sweet. It’s just a symphony in your mouth.
Overall, delicious meal and even found some of my all time favorite dishes, so why the 4 stars?
Hostess was super sweet and my water glass was never empty, however, I never got the feeling from the staff, that this experience revolved around me or around the food. While the staff were very polite and professional and checked up on my table, I never felt like it was a priority to make sure that my table had the best experience possible. Also, every time, I asked the staff what their favorites were, I typically got the response, oh this dish is one of our most popular. The only passionate food response I heard was about the dessert, where the waitress told us that it was her favorite.

It’s a jacket dinner affair in a modest sized restaurant in the heart of West Village. First and for most, every dish is a masterpiece created by an acclaimed chef. I was very impressed with all the flavors that were brought out through an interesting combination of ingredients. Headed by a celebrity female Asian chef, the restaurant is exemplary for Asian Fusion dishes complimented with a great wine list.
One has to try Annisa’s famously known seared fois gras soup dumplings. Every plate serves 3 dumplings and the first bite of dumpling with the fois gras brings the richest concoctions of flavors. Secondly, if you like sushi and sashimi, order their scallops and uni plate. This was the most impressive dish in my opinion because of the Japanese art inspired plating. The scallops and uni were plated as the flowers on a bed of branch-​like seaweed. The yuzu with every bite of scallop and/​or uni created the perfect ensemble on my taste buds with every crackle of the yuzu beads. Another appetizer that I would recommend is their beef tartare. At first, you’re going to be such confusion when you see cinnamon as one of the ingredients, but I would not have substituted the cinnamon for anything else in the world. It was the perfect complimentary spice.
As for the entrée, I ordered their chicken with truffles and stuffed with pork feet. The chicken was fried perfectly as it was not oily or leave a greasy feeling at the pit of my stomach. The stuffed pork feet in the boneless chicken was an interesting twist as it offered another savory dimension and texture to the chicken. I wish there was more truffle flavor in every bite though. If you like fish, definitely try their Miso Marinated Sable with Silken Tofu and Bonito Broth. It was the first time I tried sable. It’s comparable to cod fish, but this does not have a fishy stench. It was so amazing with the bonito broth too!
Before coming here, one have to note that this is not a completely intimate restaurant. If you are situated by the stairs, you would be right in front a large table of about a party of 8. For a more romantic space, ask for seating towards the back of the restaurant where you can sit across from each other. If you enjoy people watching and looking at other people’s dishes, definitely opt of the seats where you can sit next to your partner.

Superbly executed Asian fusion menu, which says a lot because it’s hard to do a good Asian fusion menu right. This has a similar vibe as Benu, which is the epitome of really excellent Asian fusion.
Run by a Chinese female chef, the only female chef who’s ever prepared a state dinner in the White house, this West Village place is ideally located (especially if you are staying in Soho) and is of course easily accessible by the subway as most places in the village tend to be.
My last supper on this trip could have been done in so many places but I’m glad that I got to have it at an Chinese chef’s run restaurant. It’s got a very affordable tasting menu but you could also order a la carte.
Chicken mousse to start. My friend got the grape leaf wrapped blue fish and I got the the mackerel with fried milk.
Octopus, definitely get that.
I’m going to say a couple of things about Asian influence in these fish dishes. Instead of banana leaves, she used editable grape leaf to wrap and steam the blue fish in, very Balinese in its style and therefore it’s tasty and moist.
I ordered the mackerel because she used fried milk in the dish. There is something very special about fried milk. This is basically a fried milk custard that is often served in Cantonese restaurant (Note to San Franciscans out there: Dragon Beaux on Geary in Richmond district, serves that dish in their usual dim sum fare and is exceptional).
During the last meal I ate in my homeland, in the heat of summer 1988, before my life was forever altered in ways no one could ever have predicted o anticipated, I had ordered the fried milk dish. I had never had that before, at the time I was just a teenager and had only lived in Canton for two and half years. I was swallowing my tears saying goodbye to my parents, who I did not have an opportunity to see for many years after that meal, and I remembered thinking how sweet and soft this fried milk dish tasted. It was a Cantonese special, and is not available in all those other regional cuisines.
I arrived in San Francisco later that week, and started a new life, a life that I did not realize, at the time, turned out to be a permanent one. On very many occasions, I dreamed about this fried milk, which was not available in the States back then, not even in Chinatown of San Francisco.
when I bit into the fried milk in Annisa, my childhood memories were evoked. Very much like that sour restaurant critic Anton Ego from the movie Ratatouille, I was too transformed. It is, at the end of the day, all about the perspective.
It was at that moment, that I realized that Ms. Lo had a rare talent of making subtle flavor combinations like a biochemical engineer, with precision, imagination and originality.
Fried mackerel and fried milk. You must get that. It rocked my world.

Annisa has been on my list for a long time, not only because it was one of those falling angels that used to belong to Michelin family, but also because of its popularity among my friends. The room was filled with dim light, yet it did not introduce the feeling of anxiety or crowdedness at all; instead, it brought a feeling of relax.
Talking about food, as I’m not starving, I chose the a la carte as opposed to the tasting menu. The sea bass sashimi was definitely a must try. Soft yet chewy fish meat was the best! Shanghai soup dumpling with foie gras was another recommendation, yet the savory flavor was probably a bit strong. Main course and dessert was also exceptional, make sure to order rabbit if you are a big fan of it, the way they cooked here made the rabbit meat very juicy.
I liked the atmosphere, apart from the food. No wonder it was so difficult to nail the reservation!

Chef Anita Lo’s spot serves up some of the most delicious food ever! I came for the soup dumplings, but there were so many unsung heroes on the menu! We ordered the 5 course tasting menu with wine pairing! It was amazing! The fried oysters over cucumbers were refreshing and great reminder of the summer! The fish and duck courses were divine as well as the desserts!!! The bread pudding and the beignets were so amazing that I didn’t want to leave the restaurant! I ordered sorbet on top of it all!
You have to put your name down in advance which is well worth the wait! The servers are extremely attentive and can address any questions.

Absolutely incredible! Though it is important to note that this place is definitely not as affordable now as it was before. We opted for the $xx five course tasting menu. As this was our first tasting menu, we also opted for the $xx wine pairing option. Unfortunately Chef Anita Lo wasn’t in that day, so no photo op :(
Our waiter asked us if we wanted to order any cocktails — mostly because the wine pairings were not full glasses. Do not order any cocktails! Especially if you’re just looking for that extra zing with your food. We got hefty half-​glasses of wine for every «tasting» — which really put us at 2 – 3 glasses of wine by the end. Also because most of the dishes are seafood, be prepared for mostly whites. I’m a fan of whites, so I liked each of the wine tastings (with the exception of our dessert wine — too sweet, imo). They do a good job balancing the dry wines with the sweet wines.
Starter
0. Piquillo Pepper Purée with White Anchovy and Chives — Basically fancy nachos, but delicious fancy nachos nonetheless. At this point we asked the waitress if she could write down all the dishes we got — for memory sake. And we got a nice stationary at the end, written in pretty handwriting! Nice touch!
Appetizers
1. Black Sea Bass Sashimi with Trout Roe & Yuzu-​Orange Pearls, Shiso, Radish (Paired with Verdezho — Ashbrook Estate 2013, Margaret River, Australia) — This dish really blew my mind! There was just so much complexity of flavor. It was soft yet also had a chewy tendon consistency. Not to mention the sour with the sweet — just overall great Asian fusion (Japanese and Korean) dish.
2. Shanghai Style Soup Dumplings with Seared Foie Gras (Paired with Riesling Kabinett — Gunderloch ‘Jean Baptiste’ 2013, Rheinhessen, Germany) — So the first downer is that you only get one with the tasting menu. I know this is Chef Anita Lo’s signature dish, but I thought it was pretty disappointing. It just tasted like a well-​executed XLB. You could barely taste the foie gras…
Entrees
3. Broiled Spanish Mackerel with Satsumaimo & Garlic Fried Milk (Paired with Fermint — Dobogo 2012, Tokaj, Hungary) — Incredible cook on the mackerel. The skin was nice and crispy and the fish fell apart in my mouth. It was finely seasoned — enough to be delicious but not enough that it overpowers the taste of the fish. The garlic fried milk was also incredible — you bit into it and the liquid gushed out. I’ve also never heard of satsumaimo — it’s reminiscent of spinach, but so much better!
4. Koji Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Smoked Avocado, Radish, Egg (Paired with Ruche — Luca Ferraris 2013, Piedmont, Italy) — I’m usually not a fan of pork when it comes in large slices. It tends to be dry and ends up tasting like chicken — losing a lot of flavor when you’re trying to get an even cook. But this pork tenderloin was really something! I’m guessing they over-​marinated to keep it from drying out, maybe? either way, it was really something and the Korean inspired sides gave it a nice extra zing! All the different radishes were great and the eggs were vinegar marinated! It’s a cheap way to add so many flavors to the dish. I personally liked the mackerel better — but my dining companion preferred the pork.
Dessert
5. Pecan Beignets with Slated Butterscotch Sauch & Bourbon Ice Milk AND Grapefruit Posset with Elderflower, Basil, Lemon Merengue (Paired with Botrytis Semillon — Elderton 2011, Barossa Valley, Australia) — So up until now, we’ve had the same dish on two plates. As for the desserts, we got two different desserts. I wasn’t a huge fan. The beignets were aiight, but nothing I’d get a second time. They were a little bland and the butterscotch sauce was too sweet to use. The birthday shot that came with it was a nice touch! (It was my birthday.) The posset was significantly better — but even that I thought was slightly too acidic and should’ve been sweeter. Overall dessert was sort of a downer.
Was this a great experience? Yes, definitely!
Would I do the tasting again? … Maybe a few years down the road.
Would I do the wine pairing again? Probably not.

GUARANTEED PERFECTION. Last night, to celebrate the Feast of the Three Kings and job promotions, I had the 7-​course tasting menu which ended up completely different and still mind-​blowing from my last time here. It’s basically TAPAS ON STEROIDS! Served with perfect timing, every dish was the «total package» –a head-​turner in beauty while well-​balanced and super delicious in flavor.
While all courses were f-​ing delicious, three standout dishes were the Foie Gras Soupy Dumplings, Bream fish, and the Venison. The dumpling was so good that any soup that leaked onto my plate ended up poured into my spoon then in my tummy! The Bream fish was prepared with major justice– perfect buttery texture and crusty skin while the venison was also eye-​closing, buttery smooth. During the meal, I had the Annisa cocktail — a prosecco infused with ginger and a ginger-​based cooler. I wanted some ginger and got it!
The last course had a couple of gems including an elderflower grapefruit compote and my all-​time favorite dessert– Lemon Poppy Bread Pudding with a sweet crusty top, poppy seeds within, and a sweet-​sour lemon curd. I love it so much I would marry it!