Merivale Winter Feasts @ est. – Sydney CBD, NSW

I run. I stumble. I am running late. Very late.

One hour late to be exact. I can’t imagine anything much more embarrassing than showing up at the dinner table full of strangers, especially the hungry ones. It is best not to raise too much attention, I simply tucked my tail between my legs, being all apologetic and quickly sit down on the only empty seat right at the end of the table.

I am honored to be invited by Yasinta, the brainchild behind this new food movement, where a pack of food lovers are always on the prowl for good food, especially during midweek — they called themselves the Midweek Supper Group or MSG for short. I am new to this group, surprisingly so as the others; the only person I know apart from the host is the beardman, who is sitting next to me. Everyone seems to know each other either through the third degree or some form of connections. “Oh, you are the Table For Two?” That’s right, I am known as my blog name, my real name is not so important tonight. But I am mostly impressed by how a group of ten strangers that hardly know each other can gather around at a table, simply because we all have one thing in common, a great passion for “food”. This unusual ritual is held at the three hatted est., the high roller in the Merivale’s group.

We grabbed the opportunity of the extension of Merivale’s Winter Feasts offer and introduce ourselves to some fine dining at this three chef’s hat restaurant. Before I even get the chance to admire the grand dining room with high Federation moulded ceiling and crystals chandeliers, I had to quickly put my order in before the kitchen stops taking order at 8pm. Most of us go for 2 courses of entree and main at $50, and leave the options open if we feel like dessert afterwards for a mere $10 extra.

Since I ordered my meal in a flash, I didn’t even notice until someone pointed it out that one of the entree has been replaced with linguine with chorizo and broccoli, dried chilies, lemon and Parmesan. Some from the group who ordered this dish are a little underwhelmed by its flavour.

pork cheek, hare and pistachio terrine, pear and date relish, cress

I simply can’t go past the pork cheek, hare and pistachio terrine for entree. The beautiful marbled slice of terrine is compacted with velvety smooth pork cheek fat and deep red hare meat which has a rich flavour that is simply sublime, paired with a streak of sweet pear and date relish, and a petite mount of cress for texture.

est. is dressed to impressed. It has this old heritage charming character that makes everyone feel comfortable to sit inside and enjoy a meal. I am mostly impressed by the waiters and their efficiencies, a highly theatrical performance with no less than five waiters marching out from the kitchen to our table, placing our meal right in front of us in one synchronised movement without a second delay. When a restaurant pays attention to details does make the whole dining experience a lot more memorable.

My fellow MSG companion on my left orders the slow cooked lamb rump for main. I think I have a moment of envy when I saw those seductive dark pink-ish slices of tender lamb rump neatly stacked on top of each other over a bed of lentils and tapenade. Just by looking at his facial expression while devouring the lamb with his head nodding slowly on every chew is a sign of sheer satisfaction.

pan roasted ocean trout fillet, courgettes, spring peas and salsa verde

Among us all, there are only one MSG-er who goes for the fish. Without being mistaken as salmon, the pan roasted ocean trout fillet seems well cooked with a crispy skin from the outlook, served on a healthy greens of courgettes, spring peas and salsa verde.

A few dishes have been swapped around and shared at the table, I managed to have a small taste of the ocean trout. It is nicely cooked through inside and the pinkish flesh is surprisingly smooth and tender. I usually avoid ordering fish due to many past experience of overcooked fish. However, this dish has regain my confident and definitely will put the fish back on the menu.

duck leg confit, roast kipfler potatoes, green peas, jamon, savoy cabbage

But the most popular dish has to be the duck leg confit. Tender flossy duck meat simply falls off the bone, and nicely sealed with a golden layer of crispy skin. The roast kipfler potatoes are buttery smooth, while the green peas and cabbage adds colour and texture. Overall, the duck is nicely seasoned and well cook but a tad salty on the palate, along with the jamon which seems a little lost on the dish.

By now, the ten MSG members are no longer strangers and plenty of interesting topic conversations had been thrown and shared around the table. Once we have finished our meal, the table is cleaned swiftly once again, although we found it is a little unusual for the waiter to sweep the crumbs off the table using a serviette, instead of a metal scraper.

Most of us actually already have our mind made up and ready to pay that extra $10 for a sweet finale to end the night. But Yasinta doesn’t feel for the desserts on the Winter Feasts menu, willing to pay full price and order from the a la carte full dessert menu.

The whole table except me, beardman and Yasinta go for the Tahitian cheesecake with strawberry sorbet. The gelatin-based cheesecake looks airy light with a jelly-like bounciness. I simply love the strawberry sorbet like a perfectly shaped seashell sitting among the red corals of quartered strawberries. My fellow MSG companion on my left declares that this is the best cheesecake he has ever tasted in his life. Big call, I just have to take his words for it. The others also seems to be groaning in harmony on every spoonful of cheesy delight, the chant of appreciation is humming in my ear through the rest of the night.

Me and the Beardman have decided to go for something a little bit lighter and opt for the Tangelo Sorbet served with seasonal fruit. Despite the dessert is a combination of fresh winter seasonal produce, the vividness of colours and tastes are undeniably shouting out for summer.

The tangelo sorbet delivers a refreshing zesty tang, a perfect palate cleanser on its own. The sweetness of the crunchy nashi pear and the sticky fresh dates are infused with cloves for that little hint of spice undertones.

Passionfruit Souffle (20 mins wait)

Undoubtedly, the star of the night has to be the passionfruit soufflé that Yasinta ordered from the full dessert menu. A 20 minutes wait are clearly stated on the menu, and for those who wait shall be truly rewarded. The souffle has to be eaten, fast! I managed to sneak in a few photos of the souffle while Yasinta is rather panicky at the sight of the souffle gradually sinking. It is accompanied by a dollop of light cream and a scoop of tangelo ice cream on the side which is absolutely unnecessary while the souffle itself is already to die for on its own.

“Dig deep,” Yasinta is happily shared her souffle with everyone at the table. I take her advice and scoop up a spoonful of the souffle from top to bottom. The top part is incredibly light and fluffy like a puff of cloud inside my mouth, and it gradually becomes more intense with the passionfruit flavour at the bottom. It is funny to see the reactions from everyone as soon as the intensity hits their palate, some simply let out a sudden nostril-tightened gasp of surprise with eyes widely open reaching the point where the eyeballs can almost pop out of the sockets, speechless.

delicate morsels of Petite Fours

Only a few of us order coffee this evening, but est. is extremely generous and presented us with three trays of Petite Fours to share among us all! As I was urged to hurry up with my photo taking session, another pair of hands already can’t wait and started splitting the morsels with a fork into pieces. Some are swear by the salted caramel tart which I didn’t get to taste, but I am happily settled with the rich “.est” imprinted chocolate ganache.

The Winter Feasts menu at est. is a solid unpretentious well cooked hearty meal with more than just a few fancy mouthfuls, but I can’t really say that there are any particular dishes that really sweep me off my feet. As I always have this perception that dishes on a promotional offer menu are usually prepared in mass and not as refined as the a la carte menu which prepaered individually by the order. But the service are absolutely top notch and wins me over. I shall return for a proper a la carte/degustation meal for that full three chef’s hat treatment.

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est.
Level 1, 252 George St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
P: (02) 9240-3000

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