est.

To celebrate our 2.5 year anniversary, Josh and I dined at est. Part of the Merivale family, est. is a 3 hat restaurant with Peter Doyle as head chef. I had heard great things about the restaurant and Josh and I were very excited to finally try it for ourselves! 

We arrived right on time for 6pm booking, took the elevator up, and walked into the beautiful restaurant that is est. with its high ceilings, dim-lighting and beautiful architecture. We were greeted with service that was just as beautiful and promptly seated at our table for the night. 

Faced with the dining options of Chef's Menu ($150pp), Tasting Menu ($175pp) and a la carte, we opted for the Chef's Menu as opposed to the Tasting Menu as we normally would've done, because it just didn't sound as appetising to us. We did not regret that decision in the slightest. 

Fine dining would not be fine dining with the fancy, but delicious, bread and butter. I went with the sourdough whilst Josh enjoyed wholemeal. 

We also decided to indulge in a bottle of Dirty Three Riesling ($60) which was a sweet accompaniment to our meal. Cheers!

The Chef's Menu involves 4 courses of deliciousness. My meal started off with a bang, with a sashimi of ocean trout, dashi, tapioca, ocean trout roe, puffed quinoa, white soy and lime. The sour, sweet, soft and crunchy elements of the dish complemented each other so well. The dish was just so delicious, fresh and lovely on the palate. I definitely wanted more and I will come back to est. just for this. Definitely my favourite dish of the night. 

Josh's first course was also a winner, with a refreshing salad of spanner crab, cauliflower, apple jelly, white radicchio, nasturtiums and avocado. 

Due to our excitement in ordering our main meals, we forgot to order some oysters to start with. Thank goodness we didn't completely forget because these oysters from Merimbula were amazing! The freshly shucked oyster accompanied by a light sauce and a dash of lemon was just a match made in heaven! So fresh, tangy and tasty. At $5 a pop we had only ordered two, but after tasting them, we just had to order another round. Best oysters we've ever had. 

After settling down from the excitement of the oysters, it was time for our second courses. I had grilled scallops with white carrots, pickled pear, foie gras and hazelnuts. The scallops were fresh and perfectly cooked and the rest of the dish complemented them well. 

Josh had caramelised pork belly with bug tail, pickled cucumber, buckwheat and bonito jelly. The pork belly was well cooked and the jelly was surprisingly very tasty!

My third course was lamb rib eye with trompette mushrooms, green peas and goats curd beignets. I love lamb and I was expecting a cracker of a dish, however I was pretty disappointed. Whilst the lamb was well cooked, the black coating tasted burnt, and to me, the dish just wasn't tasty overall.

Josh's third course was duck breast with toasted oats, celtuce leaf, yams, hazelnuts and verjus. The duck was well cooked and tasty, however Josh did remark that he enjoyed the duck he had at Meze Me (see earlier post) more. 

We also ordered some mashed potato ($12) which was creamy, puffy and delicious.

And finally, it was dessert time. My fourth course was a valrhona chocolate delice with wild rice praline, caramelised pear and toasted rice ice cream. It was chocolatey, rich and yummy. 

Josh had a mango dessert which consisted of fresh mango pieces, mango ice cream, and a sort of deconstructed rice pudding. It was light and fresh, though I wasn't a fan of the pastry. 

To celebrate our anniversary, they served us a lovely chocolate slice which we quite enjoyed. 

But wait, there's more! Just when we though we were done, we were served with a patter of petit fours. Some were a hit, some were a miss. 

After nibbling our way through the petit fours, we were full, satisfied, and on our way, with a little box of est. chocolate mints in hand.

est. was a fantastic dining experience. I thoroughly enjoyed myself thanks to the amazing food and service... and company, of course. Though our third and fourth courses weren't the best, the outstanding oysters, first and second courses well made up for it, as well as the beautiful restaurant itself, service and ambience. I can't wait to try other dishes on the menu and I can't wait to go back!