Est.

Celebrating special occasions is always a good excuse to go fine dining. Celebrated 2 years with my fiancé here at Est. Originally I wanted to do a degustation, or 4 course dinner, but with train delays after work, only had time for 3 courses. Looking at the menu, the second entree choices weren't that exciting either. I've been wanting to come here for a while now, and although I don't blog about food often anymore, I guess fine dining takes a priority when blogging (in between organising a wedding etc).

 

One of the last to leave

Located a level above the Establishment bar where it is super loud, you arrive at this restaurant which is a stark contrast. The sound proofing they used is on point, because you wouldn't even know it's a very loud bar right under you. They have a champagne, wine and whisky/rum cart around the restaurant, but didn't opt for any drinks (not a student anymore, but as a new grad with minimal savings, I can't afford to drink when going out). Three courses were $135pp.

homemade sourdough

The crust was crunchy and a little bit sweet, which actually paired well with the butter. A simple non flavoured butter, which melted straight away as the bread still had steam coming out. Halfway through the dinner I asked them to clean the bread crumbs from the crust, but they misheard and thought I asked for another bread, so we got another bread. This bread was pretty big to start with, and so I was already starting to get full.

entrees

The drink in the top right was a cocktail of lychee and other fruity flavours, but tbh, for around $20, it just tasted like pineapple juice with some edible flowers. The lychee flavour was very subtle. It was nice to have a sweet drink to balance the savoury dishes.

coal grilled marron, salt and vinegar cabbage, laver, lardo dumpling

dumpling as a side dish

First time having a side dish accompaniment to an entree. The marron was cooked to perfection and very fresh. Loved the texture of the cabbage since it gave it a crunch and not too vinergry. The laver helped season the dish a bit more. Not sure what the purpose of the dumpling was though, but it had some peas and a tiny bit of prawn was a clear consommé for more seafood flavour.

handpicked crab, cavolo nero, hazelnut, horseradish, trout roe, lemon jam

There was a decent amount of crab which wasn't overpowered by the different elements on the plate. The lemon jam helped give it a bit of creaminess and lightness, hazelnut and cavolo nero (Italian kale) for some crunch, and trout roe for some more flavour. The horseradish wasn't too strong either. 

Lamb loin and belly, smoked broccoli, young garlic, curd, black olive

Lamb was cooked medium rare wasn't chewy. Loved the garlic sauce, probs the best I've had, and balanced well with the black olives. You could definitely smell smokiness from the broccoli but didn't taste like you were eating charcoal.

Rose veal, eggplant, green shallot, bone marrow, toasted milk, yeast

Veal was also cooked to medium rare. The sauce was a bit more heavy and saltier in this one, probably from the bone marrow. The toasted milk on top was a cute addition and a fun bit of crunch.

dessert

raspberry vacherin, buffalo curd, hibiscus, kaffir lime, raspberry sorbet

inside

Such a fun dessert to eat, you smash the vacherin meringue and inside it has raspberry bits, sauce, and the buffalo curd. Would have been nice to have more sorbet and curd to cut through the sweetness of the meringue and sauce. Meringue was light and crunchy.

baked apple, puff pastry, artichoke, miso caramel ice cream

For the second dessert, wasn't sure which one to pick, since I didn't want a chocolate dessert. This was the most popular one after the chocolate dessert. The puff pastry was super light and loved the bits of apple inside. The artichoke added a bit of a different dimension to it helping to cut back the sweetness. The ice cream only had a subtle hint of miso flavour. I would've liked more, but I guess miso is a strong flavour, and anymore would be too overpowering.

Complimentary special occasion chocolate cake

Cute dark chocolate mousse cake with a candle. This was quite dense so definitely shareable even though it was small.

petit fours: beignet and dark chocolate + white chocolate truffles

The beignet were served warm and very light and fluffy. The dark chocolate had a good bitterness to it, so went well with the sweet white choc. Wasn't expecting petit fours for a 3 course meal, so it was a nice little treat afterwards. We were so full by the end of the night. Lucky didn't end up getting 4 courses or the degustation. I guess we could've eaten more courses, just probably cut back on the complimentary bread (but bread was so nice, and it wouldn't make sense to not eat it). Overall, it was a nice dinner, but nothing mind blowing. I think these days I'm easily pleased with all food, since I've travelled to both Europe and America only in the past year, Asia the year before, and have conquered a lot of Sydney top restaurants. It just takes something extra for a dish to be mind blowing or create flavours never heard of before.

EyeBall 2018

I can't believe it's already half way through my last rotation. Only 3 weeks to go before 3 weeks to cram for 5+ years of knowledge. Help. EyeBall was three weeks ago, but CFEH has been so draining with at least 8.30-5 everyday. Or sometimes say behind till after 6. Even though you're sitting there sometimes doing nothing is tiring. Also somehow squeezed time to visit a rotating restaurant at O Bar and Dining, and going up Sydney Tower. Not enough time to upload photos. Haven't even gone through my America photos yet...

Decided to still do this post, since did it for all the other EyeBalls. This year a person in the cohort pretty much single handedly did all the deco, and it was definitely lit for the theme 'A Starry Night'. There were like lit up fake cherry blossom trees, branches, and a massive Eyeball sign. Held at the Hilton this year, so fancy again. If we didn't have sponsors, the tickets would've cost so much (at $100 each they're still not cheap). There was one photographer who actually took decent pics (well not overly exposed), but the photobooth this year was pretty bad. Photos weren't focused at all, hence I think that's why they never uploaded the photoboooth pics, but I don't mind. I like the instant printouts.

Table

menu

Food was pretty nice (I think at this rate I have over 20 places to blog about in Sydney, and let's not get started about NYC, Melbourne etc where I had 6 meals a day...) Yeah, the food blogs and insta posts can continue after I graduate. Probs only rant here on random things in the next few weeks. I don't even have time to review this food lol. They only had one choice of dessert, would've been nice to have 2, but maybe they compromised that to choose more expensive entrees or mains..

not your traditional creme brûlée 

snap chat filter

BW finally debuts on my blog (after over a year lol)

One of my fav photos of us. Thanks for accompanying me this year (and driving me after I had over 4 glasses...) It's different this year since no going with the usual optom crew, but going with this one was super special. Thanks for all you do for me, and also letting me crash at your place to save about 45min-1hr of bus commutes. Much appreciation and thanks. So lucky to have you in my life. 

No time for food adventures since here on in it's all writing reports/preparing to be grilled and trying to squeeze study in. 

257 Home Kitchen

I actually hardly come to Eastwood, so didn't know this restaurant existed. Came here with relatives for some Shanghainese food. This place is well lit, clean with modern decor, and staff were quite attentive. Not gonna lie, I don't really eat Chinese food out since I feel like places aren't really clean, in terms of food/table stuff.

food spread

names of stuff we ordered

didn't have heaps of soup, but decent bit of meat inside and skin was quite thin

love a pan fried bun with a crunchy base

I found it was really cool how they just get a live fish then add some batter and deep fry it, so that the skin ends up 'popping out' and can pull a part out and have deep fried fish. The sweet and sour sauce went really well with it. Would recommend, even though it's turning something healthy into not healthy at all...

Dishes in general were quite nice, well portioned, not overly salty and decently priced.

Jamie's Italian Take 3 and 4

The first time I came here for lunch was way back in 2013. Came here again for dinner since they had the $10 pasta special. The wait is definitely long for a Saturday night since they only accept walk ins for the special, but managed to get in after 2ish hours. (Long overdue post, but really don't care haha).

 

Fresh crab spaghetti: Hand-picked Blue Swimmer crab with chilli, fennel, capers, white wine & garlic-$28.50

This dish was quite fragrant as you could smell the crab and sweetness of the sauce. There was also a decent amount of crab and relatively fresh. The sauce was a more thin sauce, but tasted quite healthy and flavourful at the same time. Pasta was cooked al dente.

pasta lift

Primavera ravioli: Buffalo ricotta & black pepper pasta parcels in a lemony butter sauce with peas, mint & pea shoots-$26.50

There were only 6 pieces of ravioli, and was hoping for more filling inside. The sauce had a nice acidity to cut through the richness of the butter and ricotta. Again, pasta was cooked al dente. 

Seafood risotto: Oozy risotto of saffron, garlic & shellfish sauce with squid, prawns, bronze fennel & crispy capers (entree)-$17.50

You could smell more seafood in the risotto, but I guess I would have liked the saffron to be more prominent (again, saffron is pretty much the same cost as gold…). The saffron is more subtle in flavour. Decent amount of seafood for a smaller size risotto, but it is pricier for the size.

Gnocchi genovese: Potato gnocchi, basil pesto, green beans & truffled potatoes, with ricotta & pine nuts-$28

The gnocchi was more on the chewier side, as I normally expect a more fluffy sort of gnocchi. Could have had more pesto flavour, since I love my pine nuts (why do I like expensive food?) I loved the fried bits for a nice crunch. 

The Cuban Place

First time having cuban food, although I’m not really sure what Cuban food entails. It's sort of like Mexican but not really. You actually go upstairs to go to the entrance, which had surprisingly quite a lot of seating and relatively expansive for a CBD restaurant. Thanks Dandelion for booking the group dinner. It was a ‘surprise’ location for dinner, and she took us here since they had 50% everything from a Dimmi deal, and it’s also nice to try something different (this post is more than 2 months delayed...)

food spread

 

entrance

Didn't realise this restaurant was just behind the QVB on the other side of the road.

Can't bribe me to give 5 star reviews. also, it's only a draw to win, you don't even get a voucher if you give 5 stars. only honest opinions here.

I think we sort of over ordered since it's half price and we wanted to try a few things. Didn't take a photo of the menu at the time, only a photo of the receipt.

Drunk crab taco-$14

It's not cheap for a taco, but you do get a whole soft shell crab. The crab was deep fried well, and the taco (tortilla?) was nice and soft. Paired well with the guacamole and tomato.

Toastadas de camaronês-$16

This was a prawn and octopus (?) on top of a tostada. This was quite nice as well, but expensive since you only get 3 pieces.

Linguine with tomato and quinoa sauce, okra, parsley & a duo of Parmesan and Manchego cheese-$16

The linguine was pretty average. It didn't have much flavour, not much sweetness from the tomato and under seasoned, just like my mum's 'healthy' and bland cooking. I also think Dandelion could make a better pasta with her mad cooking skills.

Pescado varadero:Sustainable fish of the day with Varadero sofrito confit, kipfler potatoes and crispy leek-$34

They didn't say what fish it was, but we figured it was barramundi. It was just on the tad bit overcooked, but I liked how it was garnished with crispy leeks. There was a decent amount of potatoes hidden under as wel..

Quesadilla chorizo-$22

Loved the toasted wrap/bread stuffed with cheesy chorizo, one of my favourite dishes from the night. The chorizo wasn't overly salty either.

Lamb-$32

Lamb was booked well and not dry. From memory, it was well seasoned and tomatoey in flavour.

Pork ribs cuba libre-$36

These ribs were just a tad bit dry, but they did come with a pesto/mint sauce. Meat would have been cooked with more marinade.

Yuca chips-$8

Had to Google what yuca was. It sort of tastes like taro and polenta but without the grainy texture, and it's quite light inside. Tasted quite healthy with a good crunch and not drenched in oil.

dessert

Lava Galleta: white chocolate and macadamia cookie with guava ice cream-$15

Wish the scoop of ice cream was bigger, since we ordered this dessert mainly for the ice cream. The guava flavour was subtle but quite nice. The cookie was too sweet.

Cafe y Caramelo: coffee and chocolate mocha dome with candied peanuts, sweet peanut roll and salted caramel ice cream-$15

This dessert was also overly sweet, and couldn't really taste the coffee in the dome cake. We shared this between 5 people and still found it sweet. The ice cream was already melting when it got to our table, and had more caramel than salt which didn't help with the sweetness. Candied peanuts weren't;t really necessary.

Total price of food was $208, so after half price for 5 we paid around $20 which is cheap for dinner and the amount of food we had. Full price, I wouldn't go again since the food wasn't amazing.