We had an excellent experience at Animae. The freshness of the ingredients is beyond excellent, and Chef Tara Monsod really knows what she’s doing here, as her creations feel progressive but always meaningful for flavor, richness and presentation. Only warning I have are the prices, which are definitely on the excess/expensive side, but it’s still worth a try at least once in a lifetime.
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Best service
Wow. I hate to write a bad review, but it's completely necessary. My boyfriend and I came here to celebrate our 3 year anniversary, we made reservations 2 months in advance thinking this was going to be one of the top restaurants in San Diego we had to check out. We had such high hopes, and we were extremely disappointed. The building was 86 degrees and they said the air conditioning was not working for over a year and they can't do anything to fix it. The sun was glaring into my eyes and they said if we need to move to a different table we could, but I tried to fight through it. The tables are inches from each other and very invasive, non private for such an intimate setting. It was so uncomfortably hot we couldn't have more than one cocktail each because we were burning up. The food was nothing special either, we had to send the beet salad back because we did not like it. The food was way overpriced and the music was blaring like we were at a night club. I thought this would be fine dining, the hostesses were not dressed appropriately, I was not impressed by how short and uncreative the menu was. We tried very hard to enjoy ourselves and we could not handle the extreme heat. I had to wait at the front while my boyfriend paid our bill because I couldn't take the temperature anymore. They also forgot to mention it was our anniversary we were celebrating, we definitely won't be back to try the food. :/
WOW! Everything was absolutely delicious. This place is definitely not cheap and a splurge but SO worth it for a special occasion. Our waitress Mackensie was spectacular!
Amazing service, food and cocktails!
We had a fantastic dinner. The service was truly top notch. The atmosphere was lovely, with great music, but not so loud that we couldn't carry on a conversation. Our party of 4 shared 6 appetizers and 3 entrees, and we all had different favorites. I personally found the lamb chops to be overpowered by the seasoning, but they were tender and others liked the heat. My faves were the tuna kinilaw, short ribs and crab noodles. The one miss was the cabbage, which was tough. Overall, an amazing meal with creative flavor combinations and fantastic service. I would definitely return and recommend this place to others.
Hands down it is in my top 5 favorite restaurants. The Japanese A5 wagyu tenderloin was delicious, especially with the side of pickled cucumber. The wagyu wontons were phenomenal and had so much flavor! I wonât forget to mention the bartenders and their great selection of drinks, especially the coconut one I had, YUM. Last, but not least, I had the Ube Sundaeâ¦wowâ¦so creamy, light, and the crumbles and pineapple went perfect with it. Wish I had this place back home, I would come here at least 4 times a year. Itâs pricey but well worth it!
The hostess stand graciously changed my reservation from 5:00 to 5:15 when I called about my confusion over the reservation time. But when we arrived, they seated us at one of the restaurantâs worst tables, seemingly as punishment for the time change. It was a tiny table shoved into the corner near the entrance to the kitchen, and the sun was always directly in our eyes which also made that area very warm. However our server, Matt, was turned the whole experience around with his professionalism and courtesy. He was fantastic, one of the best servers we have had in recent memory. The food was fantastic, especially the hot plate special, hamachi kama: it was the very best hamachi kama we have ever had! They also brought out a tasty birthday dessert for my husband. Overall, we had a wonderful time, despite our punishment by the hostess stand, lol!
Espectacular
The food was amazing and the portion size was good