est., Sydney

est. is one of four three-hated restaurants in Sydney – the top notch of Sydney eateries.  The “hats” are awarded annually by The Sydney Morning Herald and those restaurants serve up some of the finest food in our fair city.

To be honest est. has never been somewhere that has been on my radar – too fancy and way out my budget. But when I found out they were having a dinner special for the month of January it quicly became dead centre in my food radar - $50 for two courses PLUS a cockital! Hello est.

You've gotta love complimentary bread - carbs are MY friend I tell you...lovely lovely carbs. In fact I asked for an extra roll half way through the dinner just to make sure I'm well and truly full by the end of the meal.

Our meal begins with a refreshing Sunset cocktail - a mix of Vodka, cranberry, elderflower liqueur and apple with a Kaffir lime leaf getting drunk in the concoction and adding a nice flavour to the drink.

As part of the deal we get to choose from two entrees and two mains. For photographic purposes we order everything on the menu...and because we want to try everything. The BFF choose the Italian Buffalo Mozzarella with fresh peach, Serrano jamon and Belgian endive and I opted for the Oysters with Ponzu Dressing. Both were lovely, light dishes - perfect for a summer night.

For mains I choose the Pan roasted Palmers Island Mulloway fillet, tahini yoghurt, broccolini, green peas, dukkah.  Back in "the day" my parents used to own a small house on Palmers Island and I would spend some of my school holidays there - so I guess there was a little bit of nostalgia involved in this dish for me. It didn't hurt that the fish was marvelous, with a lovely crunchy skin.  The BFF ordered the Pan roasted black angus beef fillet (grain-fed so I decided not to try any) with wasabi miso and shallot butter, pak choy which he said was FANTASTIC!

The BFFs sweet-tooth couldn't be quelled so dessert was ordered - Morello cherry souffle with pinot noir rosé sorbet ($29.00).  I helped myself to a spoonful of three and can tell you this was BEYOND delicious. The souffle was sweet and sugary and there was no taste of egg what-so-ever.  Very very VERY nice.

Postscript: Holy mother of food blogging batman, I published this post without mentioning the Petit Fours tray. Too much sugar has obviously addled my feeble little mind.  I promise it won't happen again (and good news was I was allowed to eat ALL the petit fours at The BFF was too full from his HUGE souffle).

est. is at Level 1 Establishment, 252 George Street, Sydney. Phone them on 9240 3010.