Essence Cafe & Bar

Rating: 3

We ate dinner here in May 2021.

Apple and mint arancini with salad and tandoori mayo
Fettuccine with sundried tomato and spinach
Lamb shank with potato mash and green beans

Essence was delightfully unpolished, it’s a little bit fancy but not quite pulling it off in an endearing way. The menu was actually quite good, they push the boat out a little and have a few really interesting dishes, but they stop short of really pushing the envelope. They know that some Feilding locals want to have something a bit special, but others just want to have a burger. The arancini stood out with a unique flavour combination which worked really well. This was on their specials menu but it was so good that it should be a full time offering. The fettuccine was nice but had too much onion. And the shank was a little dry but came with a delicious jus.