Est

On Saturday night in Sydney we went and experienced one of the meal of our lives. We totally splashed out, and dined at Est.

Our aim was to soak up the experience of a three hatted restaurant, and with the popularity of Masterchef over the last few years, we have a better knowledge of some of these places and the chefs behind them. Confirming our booking during the day, we were reminded that we had booked back in October - our anticipation had been building since then!

All dressed up, we took a taxi and arrived at the Establishment building, before being transported upstairs by the lift and door greeter. On arrival to Level 1, the six of us were shown to our table, with a sweeping view of the room for half of us, and a mirrored version for the other side of the table.

The head waiter gave us an overview of the menu, even though we had been pouring over it for weeks and had discussed at length our choice of the Tasting Menu, and the sommelier fussed over pre-dinner drinks.

Once our order was taken, with the matched wine option confirmed, we were served our Dom Pérignon to match our entree of Tartare Scallop with Preserved Lemon and Nasturtium Soup. The arrival of the dish to the table had a procession of 6 waiters, all perfectly choreographed to place a plate at each place, and then pour the soup. Magical!

Our next entrees included Lobster Claw, with green peas, mini radish, and black truffle vinaigrette, followed then by Ocean Trout with shaved abalone and ginger, presented perfectly. Upon landing, each dish was facing the same around the table, with the tiny eatable and decorative viola with the claw, the eye-catching detail. Then the Roasted Duck Foie Gras, which I hadn't had before, which was delicious with the flavour combinations on the plate!

I chose the Pan Roasted Lamb Rib Eye, with fresh ricotta and pickled lamb’s tripe - another culinary first for me! I was a bit nervous about the tripe, and wondered about my choice as most others picked the Venison, but was happy with my decision in the end.

The room was filled, and then with some turn over, there was just the right amount of smooth hustle around the tables. Surely there were regulars to this amazing type of dining, whilst the six of us tried to contain our wide eyed excitement and delight throughout the night!

Rhubarb Sorbet, with cucumber and Hendricks gin gel was served as the palate cleanser, before Jessie and I had selected the Passionfruit Souffle over the Cannoli for dessert, much to the menu envy of the rest of the table! This fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth dish of heaven was to die for! We were pretty pleased with our choice!

After coffees and tea, and little chocolates to finish, we marveled at the wines that were carefully selected, presented and explained at the start of each of the 7 courses, and loved the feeling of attention from the staff all night. They certainly made this decadent night even more special.

At the end of our 5 hour feast, we glided out of the restaurant on a high. Encountering two people in the lift coming down from the cocktail bar above, they smelled of booze, which seemed so very far away from the experience we had just had. Spat out of the lift on the ground floor was an assault with the pumping music and rowdy drinking Saturday night - definitely not a match for our evening, so we walked back to our hotel marveling at the meal of our lives!